Schedule and Longlist

[Amy]

Discussion Threads are already asking about the 2016 altTOB so I thought I would share some of the plans and create placeholders for the long & shortlists. Eligibility for book selection is June 2015-June 2016. We'll use this Topic to place the call for judges, commentators and moderators 7/1.
July 3 - Longlist posted
July 15 - Shortlist & bracket posted
Sept 12 - Opening Rounds of alt.TOB begin
Sept 30 - Final Winner posted

[Amy]

Bracket & Tourney Schedule linked here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...“
This doc will be updated as the decisions start rolling in. Opening Rounds start Sept 12th.

Shortlist in alphabetical order:
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
Bright Lines by Tanwi Dandini Islam
Daredevils by Shawn Vestal
LaRose by Louise Erdrich
Laurus by Evgenij Vodolazkin
Not Dark Yet by Berit Ellingsen
Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Book of Harlan by Bernice McFadden
The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
What Is Not Yours, Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

[Amy]

THE LONGLIST!!
excel list with details (pg#, publication date, basic description) avail HERE

A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
American Housewife:Stories by Helen Ellis
And Again by Jessica Chiarella
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett
Bottomland by Michelle Hoover
Bright Lines by Tanwi Dandini Islam
Daredevils by Shawn Vestal
Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick
Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
LaDivine by Marie NDiaye
LaRose by Louise Erdrich
Laurus by Evgenij Vodolazkin
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Not Dark Yet by Berit Ellingsen
Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Relief Map by Rosalie Knecht
Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart
Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue
Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Blizzard: A Novel by Vladimir Sorokin
The Book of Harlan by Bernice L McFadden
The Bricks That Built the Houses by Kate Tempest
The Cauliflower: A Novel by Nicola Barker
The Children's Home by Charles Lambert
The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The New and Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mckenzie
The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
The Yoga of Max's Discontent by Karan Bajaj
War and War by László Krasznahorkai
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
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
Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa

[Amy]

Job descriptions:
Opening Round Judge (8)
7/15: Receive Book Assignment
8/19: Make and submit decision
9/2: Submit Decision Write-Up for edits
9/12: alt.TOB uses the decisions

Quarterfinal Round Judge (4)
7/15: Know 4-books in bracket
8/19: Receive Book Assignment/decision
9/2: Make and submit decision
9/9: QF decision write-ups due
9/22: alt.TOB uses the decisions

Semi-final Round Judge (2)
7/15: Know 8-books in bracket
9/2: Receive book assignments/decision
9/16: Make and submit decision
9/23: SF decision write-ups due
9/28: alt.TOB uses the decision

FINALS JUDGES
9/16: Final two books known
9/26: Decision and paragraph due
9/30: alt.TOB uses the decision

[Drew]

I'd like to be a judge, Amy. Opening round would probably work best with my schedule or maybe quarterfinal. After that, I'll be getting busy.

[Ellen]

Woo hoo! Couldn't be more excited. Hey -- am I a judge?

[Rebecca]

I don't have time to be a judge this time around, but it was tons of fun last time, and I'll be watching what everyone does with interest!

[Heather]

I'd like to be a judge too; I'm a teacher so I can get through a lot of books in the summer, and I would be happy to be a later-round judge.

[[deleted user]]

I'm willing to be a judge. I'm out mid-July though, so a later judge.

[nomadreader (Carrie D-L)]

I judged last go around, and I'm happy to do it again, but I will gladly sit this one out if there are enough new judges. I would prefer first round or quarterfinals.

[JoLene]

I am new to the group, but excited to see how this alternate tournament plays out -- are they completely different books or trying to predict the books for next year?

I just finished The Sellout a couple of days ago.

[Lark]

JoLene wrote: "I am new to the group, but excited to see how this alternate tournament plays out -- are they completely different books or trying to predict the books for next year?

I just finished [book:The Se..."

hi JoLene. Last year we tried to avoid picking any of the likely TOB books for alt.tob and we ended up picking a few anyway. This year will probably not track with the Morning News tournament as well though because the time frame for books being selected is different...half the eligible books for the Morning News tournament haven't even been published yet.

[Amy]

ok folks, tomorrow a poll will go live for you to vote on whether we do zombie rounds or not in the alt.TOB. If it doesn't alert you automatically (with the link) I'll send an e-mail out.

[Mainon]

I'd really like to be a judge, if there are still openings and I'm not too late!

Happy to do whatever round you still need people for -- you know I'm not afraid of a lot of reading!

[Amy]

:) I wasn't planning on putting the 'HELP!' call out until July 1st but since there's so much interest, I've created a thread for volunteering. Please use the thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
so we don't inundate the inboxes of folks in the bleachers.

Meanwhile, the poll e-mail did NOT go out... here's the poll on whether or not you want zombie rounds:

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Caroline]

I'm interested in judging if you're still looking for folks!

[Amy]

longlist posted! 55 books to whittle down!

[[deleted user]]

This list is a great mix of the expected and surprises.

[Beverly]

Great list - some I have read, some on my tbr list and some I have not heard of - which means a great mixture for me.

Wow - cannot imagine the hard job to whittle this list down.

[C]

Can't wait to see the short list :D

[JoLene]

I'm new to the group and just wondering how did the long list get picked and how whittles it down to the short list. Just curious :-D

[Amy]

JoLene wrote: "I'm new to the group and just wondering how did the long list get picked and how whittles it down to the short list. Just curious :-D"

Hi Jolene! the team working on shortlist this year is Jason, Amberbug, Amy & Jan and we're bringing our own preferences into the mix, but aside from picking books we're interested in and/or think would be good TOB conversation fodder, we're also working on some of the guidelines that the 'real' TOB team uses and Nozlee shared with us on This Thread Specifically Message #54 she discusses the longlist selection & message #59 is the shortlist effort.

[Avanders]

What a great long list -- I cannot imagine being tasked with having to, first, pick only 55 books published last year that should be included in the alt TOB, and, second, whittle it down from there! Nice work with the list!

[JoLene]

Amy wrote: "JoLene wrote: "I'm new to the group and just wondering how did the long list get picked and how whittles it down to the short list. Just curious :-D"

Hi Jolene! the team working on shortlist this ..."

Thanks for the info --- interesting read! Can't wait to see the short list :-D

[April]

Oh darn, Spill Simmer Falter Wither isn't on the list. I'll keep my fingers crossed for TOB 2017.

[Amy]

Shortlist is posted! (at beginning of Thread and in Shortlist Thread). Thanks to Jason and Jan for helping Amberbug and me select the list. There were a lot of great books we left on the cutting floor but I think we’ve got a great group for discussion and debate here. I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is the first I’ve read ANY of the authors on the list which is so fun and one of the reasons I love (the real) TOB!

Bracket & Tourney Schedule linked HERE
This doc will be updated as the decisions start rolling out in September. Meanwhile individual book threads will be created for conversations in advance of the tourney.

[Mainon]

Amy wrote: "Shortlist is posted! (at beginning of Thread and in Shortlist Thread). Thanks to Jason and Jan for helping Amberbug and me select the list. There were a lot of great books we left on the cutting fl..."
Words cannot express how excited I am. What a great list; I am familiar with only about half!

[AmberBug]

I'm super excited to get started and I helped pick the books, haha. Amy has done such a good job with this and pairing each book up for the bracket! I can't wait to see what everyone thinks.

[Mainon]

AmberBug wrote: "Amy has done such a good job with this and pairing each book up for the bracket!"
Agreed! Great job, Amy, and thank you for doing this. ^_^

[Amy]

fixed the links!

[Jan]

Amy wrote: "Shortlist is posted! (at beginning of Thread and in Shortlist Thread). Thanks to Jason and Jan for helping Amberbug and me select the list. There were a lot of great books we left on the cutting fl..."

You guys, I am sooooo excited to have a small part in this, and super-impressed with how much talent and smarts this group brings together. Amy, especially, is a rock star -- Amy, thank you so much for all your work to make this happen!!!