Introductions

[Susanna]

hi everyone
my name is Susanna I read just about anything. and I love to read classics mysteries history. Could someone about this format do I have to provide reviews? who di compete against? is it wo reads the most pages Thanks

[Drew]

Hi, Susanna, we are a group of readers who follow the Tournament of Books every year. It's sponsored by The Morning News and here's some information about it: http://themorningnews.org/tob/2016/ho.... We also have had our own alt.Tob twice since we couldn't stand to wait a whole year for the competition. Welcome!

[Susanna]

thank you

[Kristina]

Greetings, all! I've been vicariously following ToB via my good friend Sherri's commentary. This year I want to participate more actively! Looking forward to joining you all.

[Ace]

Hi Kristina. Welcome.

[AmberBug]

Welcome Kristina!

[Ruthiella]

Hi all, I am Ruth and I have been following the TOB since 2013. I am really sorry I missed your alt TOB from this year. I like the idea of keeping the TOB alive all year round. I look forward to discussing this year’s Tournament and participating in future alt TOBs in this group.

[Alison]

I've posted as RidgewayGirl on the ToB comments for a few years. It's my favorite of the awards and dominates my reading for much of the year (Will this book make the list? I should read that book, it looks like a likely choice for the Rooster, etc...).

Fun to find this group here. I've previously just used GR as a place to catalog what I've read.

[AmberBug]

Great to have you both!

[Jenny]

Hi all, I've been following ToB for a few years but have never really participated in discussion. Hoping to be more active this year! Looking forward to the next couple months for sure. :)

[Lisa]

Hi there, I'm Lisa, I'm originally from South Africa but recently moved to Mauritius. I'm a mother of three young kids, writer, baker and performer at different times and in different places...

I'd never heard of the ToB, but this group was recommended on the only other GR group I've joined (also recently). Until very recently, I felt very much isolated and at sea trying to find new literature. Even at times I was in real-life book clubs, I often seemed to hit dead ends with my reading tastes. I'm finding these two groups are keeping me utterly saturated with amazing new reading material - thank you and looking forward to chatting to some of you about new books.

[AmberBug]

Welcome Jenny & Lisa!

[Cordelia]

Hi. I've just joined. I finish my exams in a week and then I will have time to read. This looks like a group who read good books.

To tell you the truth I cant really figure out what you do. Is there a thread I can go to to find out.

[Joshua]

Cordelia wrote: "Hi. I've just joined. I finish my exams in a week and then I will have time to read. This looks like a group who read good books.

To tell you the truth I cant really figure out what you do. Is the..."

I'm new, too. This will be my first TOB and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be following along, but not sure how much I'll post.

This group is following something that happens every year at The Morning News. You can read about it here: https://themorningnews.org/tob/2017/h...

[Cordelia]

Thanks Joshua. So, in the meantime do we just pick books to read from the list in the first thread "2018 contenders" ?

[Amy]

Hi Cordelia! Welcome! That's a great place to start - "The Millions" anticipated first and second-half lists usually hit almost all of the shortlist but are themselves long lists (links to them are in the Contenders thread). So start there and then eyeball what people are loving and what they think have a good shot of making the long and short TOB lists. And then read what interests you since it should still be fun!

[Dianna]

Hi! I’ve been following ToB for awhile and I’m part of a few other groups on goodreads. Excited to participate this year!

[Martha]

Hi folks - I've been silently lurking for a year, but decided to come out of hiding with the release of the 2019 long list. I've read 10 books so far, and I hope to target my best guesses for the short list.

[[deleted user]]

Hello everybody. My name is Neale and I am from Queensland Australia. I didn't even know what the ToB was before last year but I am hooked. My plan is to read the entire longlist now that it has been released but I have a pretty strong feeling that I am going to fall short. :)

[Amy]

welcome Martha & Neale! it's a fun community!

[[deleted user]]

Amy wrote: "welcome Martha & Neale! it's a fun community!"

Thanks Amy I have started with the longlist that they emailed out. I should finish Alice Isn't Dead today. :)

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Martha! 10 is a very good start on the longlist. I'm glad you came out the shadows to join the conversation.

Welcome, Neale! Reading the entire longlist is an admirable goal. Are you planning to read them in alphabetical order? I hope you don't get literary fiction fatigue before the main event in March.

[[deleted user]]

Tina wrote: "Welcome, Martha! 10 is a very good start on the longlist. I'm glad you came out the shadows to join the conversation.

Welcome, Neale! Reading the entire longlist is an admirable goal. Are you plan..."

Hahaha, I am reading them in the list that was emailed out. I have finished Alice Isn't Dead which I enjoyed but it didn't light my world on fire and am 10% into America is not the Heart which I am finding quite exceptional. :)

[Neale]

Hello everybody, I am new to the Tournament of Books. I am an avid Booker fan and while waiting for it to start up again I came across this Tournament. I am intrigued. I don't know what I'm in for with this, but it looks like lots of fun.

[Neale]

Oh also I have just started this goodreads account so don't have any friends or anything yet, so please be gentle. I am going to start working my way through the longlist starting with The Book of M.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome to the group, Collin! You've joined us at the perfect time of year to get the full ToB experience, five months from longlist to champion. I hope you will jump into the conversation in the "2019 TOB Longlist" thread, and no worries, we are a friendly bunch.

[Neale]

Thank you kindly Tina, I will definitely jump into the conversations, I love talking about books. So glad to hear that you are a friendly bunch. I have never seen a literary prize like this where books face off against each other, I'm quite fascinated.

[Sophia]

Hello! Last year was my first year reading through the Tournament of Books, and I'm looking forward to participating this year!

[Neale]

Sophia wrote: "Hello! Last year was my first year reading through the Tournament of Books, and I'm looking forward to participating this year!"

Hi Sophia, I am new here too and enjoying it very much, :)

[Saya]

Welcome to all of the new folks who have joined since last year. I love that this little group keeps on growing. So exciting to see new faces (and, of course, I love seeing the 'old' faces, too). :)

[[deleted user]]

Sophia wrote: "Hello! Last year was my first year reading through the Tournament of Books, and I'm looking forward to participating this year!"

Welcome, Sophia! I'm glad you decided to join the conversation.

[Navi]

Hi everyone! My name is Navi. This is my first year attempting to read as many books as I can on the shortlist. I have read four so far and have really enjoyed them (Milkman, The Mars Room, Washington Black & So Lucky).

I look forward to interacting with you all :)

[Bryn]

Welcome Navi and Sophia! It is excellent to see new faces here.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Navi! Welcome to the group!

[Navi]

Thank you, Bryn & Tina. I'm excited to be here! :)

[Neale]

Welcome Navi. I'm new here to. It's a great group with some great people.

[Carmel]

I'm new to this, also. I've loved finding a place to discover newer books that are more to my liking. And a place to see what others think of them. :)

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Carmel! I'm glad you found us!

[Amy]

Carmel - some of the best fun is finding the people who have similar tastes - or the people with polar opposite tastes! - to discuss the books.

[Carmel]

I'm hoping so! I don't mind polar opposite tastes, because sometimes I get a new perspective to consider! But it's also fun to get recommendations from people with similar tastes. I'm sticking my toes into this water, hoping for some fun literary swims. :)

Thanks for the welcome, Tina and Amy!

[Rachelnyc]

I was so excited to find this group! I always seem to remember this tournament too late so this is the first year I will be fully participating and am glad to have a place to discuss the books.

Unfortunately, most of the long list books I've read didn't make the short list so I have some catching up to do!

[[deleted user]]

Welcome to the group, Rachel!

[Alison]

I'm so pleased at all the new people showing up! Please feel free to have opinions and join the conversations.

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks Tina and Alison.

[Neale]

Rachelnyc wrote: "I was so excited to find this group! I always seem to remember this tournament too late so this is the first year I will be fully participating and am glad to have a place to discuss the books.

Un..."

I always feel weird welcoming people because I just joined myself, but life is too short to worry about such inane thought, so welcome RachelInyc.

[Carmel]

Collin wrote: "Rachelnyc wrote: "I was so excited to find this group! I always seem to remember this tournament too late so this is the first year I will be fully participating and am glad to have a place to disc..."

I like how you think, Collin. I held back for the same reason. So, hi Rachel. :)

[Rachelnyc]

Awww, thanks Collin and Carmel! I appreciate it because even though it's virtual, it is intimidating joining a group and being warmly welcomed definitely helps put me at ease to join in the conversation.

[[deleted user]]

Seventy-six new members have joined the group in December 2018!
Welcome, everyone!

[Rachel]

Hi everyone, my name Rachel. I have been hearing about this on book tube. I know I'm coming in late for this years tournament. So I thought I just start working off this years longlist, And participate in next round.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Rachel!