FINALS Round 2016 TOB March 31st

[Amy]

March 31st Final 2 - multiple judges

[Amy]

The Turner House vs. The Sellout votes are in!

[Sherri]

Are we just all out of things to say? :)

[Kristin-Leigh]

What a birthday present! Honestly I'm more sad about the tournament-in-general being over than I am happy that my pick won the whole thing.

Ng's was definitely the most surprising judgment, most of the others were what I expected them to choose!

[lark]

I'd predicted The Sellout v. The Sympathizer in the finals (The Turner house losing to Our Souls At Night, then Our Souls losing to The Sympathizer). It made me think again about the interesting weirdness of TOB where what happens in the early rounds has such an impact.

[Sara G]

That was my original prediction too, poingu!

[AmberBug]

I'm tickled by the mention of the Octopus from Ng and one of my favorite books last year The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness.

[Beverly]

poingu wrote: "I'd predicted The Sellout v. The Sympathizer in the finals (The Turner house losing to Our Souls At Night, then Our Souls losing to The Sympathizer). It made me think again about the interesting we..."

I too was predicting (or should I say hoping) for a The Sellout v The Sympathizer final.

But it has all been very interesting - I learned a lot about my reading habits, learned how to appreciate books that were not my cup of tea and added more books to my tbr list and just had a wonderful time!!

[Beverly]

Kristin-Leigh wrote: "What a birthday present! Honestly I'm more sad about the tournament-in-general being over than I am happy that my pick won the whole thing.

Ng's was definitely the most surprising judgment, most ..."

Happy Birthday!
I hope you enjoy your day!

[AmberBug]

Kristin-Leigh wrote: "What a birthday present! Honestly I'm more sad about the tournament-in-general being over than I am happy that my pick won the whole thing.

Ng's was definitely the most surprising judgment, most ..."

Gah, I missed that. Happy Birthday!

[lark]

Beverly wrote: "poingu wrote: "I learned a lot about my reading habits, learned how to appreciate books that were not my cup of tea and added more books to my tbr list and just had a wonderful time!!
."

Beverly, it's so different every year. Last year the two zombies met in the final, for example, and the tournament had a completely different flavor because of it, especially because these two zombies, All the Light We Cannot See and Station Eleven, had been chosen in their respective zombie rounds over what might be the two most challenging and no-holds-barred novels ever in TOB, An Untamed State and A Brief History of Seven Killings.

I still get tbr ideas from looking over past years' brackets and the books are always interesting, even if not my favorite reads.

[lark]

Sara wrote: "That was my original prediction too, poingu!"

And I thought The Sympathizer would win that final, if only because it felt like more of a 'novel' to me, vs. The Sellout which felt more like a continuous (amazing) riff on some very painful/very funny themes. I liked reading The Sellout better though. So frankly I can't get a handle even on my own judgments and how I make them when it comes to literature.

[Beverly]

poingu wrote: "Beverly wrote: "poingu wrote: "I learned a lot about my reading habits, learned how to appreciate books that were not my cup of tea and added more books to my tbr list and just had a wonderful time..."

The two zombies meeting in the final round. :)

I am so glad I am a reader - so much fun discovering and discussing books.

[Rachel]

This has been a fun year. Looking forward to the altTOB and getting into some 2016 books with you all. Think I'm going to take a break and read some older stuff for a few months though.

[Kristin-Leigh]

@Amber and Beverly - thank you for the birthday wishes! I didn't mean to fish for them, haha, I just love the coincidence of having an end-of-month March birthday (both for ToB and "yay no more March Madness!" reasons).

Rachel wrote: "Think I'm going to take a break and read some older stuff for a few months though."

Same, at least largely. Most of the stuff languishing on my to-read shelf is pretty old, and I'm resolved to deplete the pile or donate everything that's been there pre-2016 this year. There's a good selection there, though - Zadie Smith (On Beauty), Ann Patchett (State of Wonder), and Mary Shelley (The Last Man) included!

[Trish]

So, dare I ask: alt-TOB winner vs. TOB winner? Delicious Foods or The Sellout??

[Gayla]

For myself, I would say Delicious Foods hands-down. But I didn't really like The Sellout.

[Beverly]

For me it would The Sellout

[lark]

me too--The Sellout.

I had trouble understanding the tone of Delicious Foods.

[Sherri]

poingu wrote: "me too--The Sellout.

I had trouble understanding the tone of Delicious Foods."

That's a tough one. It would have to be The Sellout for me too, but I loved Delicious Foods, and was disappointed it wasn't in the TOB.

[[deleted user]]

The Sellout over Delicious Foods. Though it didn't make either tournament or win any awards, I still think A God in Ruins was the best book of 2105.

[lark]

Tina wrote: "The Sellout over Delicious Foods. Though it didn't make either tournament or win any awards, I still think A God in Ruins was the best book of 2105."

my best of 2015 would be a triple-tie of After Birth and Morte and Satin Island, also none of which made either tournament so I feel your pain! I haven't read A God in Ruins though.

[jo]

Trish wrote: "So, dare I ask: alt-TOB winner vs. TOB winner? Delicious Foods or The Sellout??"

omgoodness. i have entirely forgotten that alt-tob's winner was Delicious Foods. i see such a tremendous synchronicity here. i love it. i stopped reading DF so that wouldn't be my choice, but i haven't yet read Sellout. whoa though. go african american satires!

[Trish]

Delicious Foods 2 (myself included), Sellout 4

[AmberBug]

I pick Delicious Foods but I still need to revisit the Sellout in paper form (I'm a terrible audio listener).

[Sara G]

The Sellout over Delicious Foods.

[Heather]

I would have still voted for Delicious Foods in that match-up. I think both books were audacious and funny, but DF also had a compelling story to hang its funny observations on, whereas for me, The Sellout didn't.

[JenniferD]

delicious foods! :)

[Trish]

Delicious Foods 5, Sellout 5

Did anyone else wake up and go to The Morning News out of habit? I was sad to see only a few more comments. I guess it really is over....

[Beverly]

Yes, I am suffering from withdrawal :)

But I am comforted by the piles of books waiting to be read.
Oh my - I need a plan for that.

[Heather]

I am comforting myself by going back and reading decisions from past tournaments.

[lark]

Beverly wrote: "Yes, I am suffering from withdrawal :) But I am comforted by the piles of books waiting to be read.
Oh my - I need a plan for that."

Maybe we can 'buddy read' a little, Beverly. I see you're reading The Yid, anyway, which is very near the top of my list and makes me want to choose that one next, a nice incentive.

[lark]

To assuage my withdrawal, I just made a group, called "Newest Literary Fiction," and if anyone here would enjoy talking about new books and sharing your finds in more detail than we can here in the 2017 contenders thread, feel free to come on over:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

The bookshelf is open to any member so feel free also to add books you've read and loved already this year.

[Amy]

Trish wrote: "So, dare I ask: alt-TOB winner vs. TOB winner? Delicious Foods or The Sellout??"

I'd have to say Delicious Foods... they have a lot of similarities as far as the humor and outrageousness go but I connected more with Delicious Foods.

[Beverly]

poingu wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Yes, I am suffering from withdrawal :) But I am comforted by the piles of books waiting to be read.
Oh my - I need a plan for that."

Maybe we can 'buddy read' a little, Beverly. I ..."

Yes, we can.

I have joined the new group.

[jo]

delicious foods 5 sellout 6

[AmberBug]

Poingu, I love it!

[[deleted user]]

I just checked the ToB site and was pleased to see that Nozlee created a 2016 list of recommendations from the comments. Here it is:

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad
A Gambler's Anatomy by Jonathan Lethem
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
And Again by Jessica Chiarella
A Song to Take the World Apart by Zan Romanoff
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
Beast by Paul Kingsnorth
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
Black Deutschland by Darryl Pinckney
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets
Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs by Lina Wolff
City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Daredevils by Shawn Vestal
Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe
Dirt Road by James Kelman
Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend
Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo
Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine by Diane Williams
Ginny Gall by Charlie Smith
Good on Paper by Rachel Cantor
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
High Dive by Jonathan Lee
High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
Hystopia by David Means
I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
Innocents and Others by Dana Spiotta
Jerusalem by Alan Moore
LaRose by Louise Erdrich
Lions by Bonnie Nadzam
Loner by Teddy Wayne
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton
Marrow Island by Alexis M. Smith
Monterey Bay by Lindsay Hatton
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Night Prayers by Santiago Gamboa
Ninety-Nine Stories of God by Joy Williams
Not all Bastards are from Vienna by Andrea Molesini
Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch
Peacekeeping by Mischa Berlinski
Principles To Live By by David Adams Richards
Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte
Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett
Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson
Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel
Stork Mountain by Miroslav Penkov
Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue
Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
TBD Hogarth Shakespeare work by Margaret Atwood
Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
The Bricks that Built the Houses by Kate Tempest
The Daredevils by Gary Amdahl
The Fireman by Joe Hill
The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela
The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville
The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
The Lives of Elves by Muriel Barbery
The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales
The Sleep Garden by Jim Krusoe
The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan
The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehea
The Unseen World by Liz Moore
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota
Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías
Travelers Rest by Keith Lee Morris
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennant-Moore
Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin
Youngblood by Matt Gallagher
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa
Zero K by Don DeLillo

[Heather]

She did the same thing last year, and I completely obsessed over it, and immediately started working my way through the list, going in the order of what my library had available first and which sounded the most interesting to me. I in no way completed the list, but I will say that I came into this TOB with 9 of the books already read because of it.

[Amy]

@Heather - out of curiosity, how many 2015 books did you read to hit 9 pre-read TOB entries!?

[Heather]

I read 75 books last year; I think two of the nine I had read for the alt-TOB though.

[JenniferD]

cool. thanks for posting that list here, tina.

the atwood TBD for the hogarth series is her take on 'the tempest'. it's coming 11 october. (i am a bit obsessed with this project. i have Shylock Is My Name and Vinegar Girl coming up very soon in my reading.)

intersting to see David Adams Richards mentioned -- need to get more canadians on their radar! ;)

at the moment, i am most excited about We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Kaitlyn Greenidge has had a few impressive essays online over the past week or so, which have only served to make me even more keen for her book. (while i try to keep expectations in check. heh!)
-- http://www.elle.com/life-love/news/a3...
-- http://www.buzzfeed.com/kaitlyngreeni...
-- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/opi...

The Glorious Heresies is cropping up a lot for me. just this week i noticed it was on 2 award longlists - international dylan thomas prize, and the desmond elliott prize.

[Beverly]

Jennifer wrote: "cool. thanks for posting that list here, tina.

the atwood TBD for the hogarth series is her take on 'the tempest'. it's coming 11 october. (i am a bit obsessed with this project. i have Shyl..."</i>

I too am obsessed about the Hogarth Shakespeare series and I so glad that the books are being released in a very timely manner. I am currently reading [book:Shylock Is My Name.

Another book that I have on tbr list which is a retake on King Lear which is set in the Caribbean is Even in Paradise by Elizabeth Nunez.

I do hope you" enjoy" - We Love You, Charlie Freeman - as much as I did. I am putting together my thoughts for a review. So far one of my top reads for 2016.

[Ryan]

jo wrote: "delicious foods 5 sellout 6"

I would definitely give my vote to Delicious Foods, so that makes it tied now:

Delicious Foods 6, Sellout 6

[JenniferD]

@ beverly -- so glad to hear that greenidge's book has been such a strong read for you. that's great!! :)

[JenniferD]

Ryan wrote: "Delicious Foods 6, Sellout 6"

i think it's now delicious foods 7, Sellout 5.

i think an 'oops!' happened on jo's comment (#36) ... the tally right before that was 5 - 5, in message 29, then amy voted for DF in #34, making it 6-5...

so your vote would bring it to 7-5 for DF.

[Karen Michele]

I didn't get a chance to take part like I planned, but I did read both Delicious Foods and The Sellout and I would go with Delicious Foods as well.

[Julie]

Hmmm ... if I got to vote between Delicious Foods and The Sellout? Drumroll .... I would vote for The Tsar of Love and Techno!!!

[lark]

Julie wrote: "Hmmm ... if I got to vote between Delicious Foods and The Sellout? Drumroll .... I would vote for The Tsar of Love and Techno!!!"

and I would vote for Sweetland! :-)

[jo]

should we discuss the much (impossibly?) higher standards to which we hold women authors, and that male authors seem to have an easier time in TOB than female authors? or is this not the place?