TOB 2020 Longlist

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Sure wish the app discussion had gone to a new thread but I'm squeezing in to say that last night, I took the opportunity to finish reading Lot after seeing it on the longlist, and today I'm halfway through the audio of Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory - this is a must for audio!! Very funny.

[Lauren]

C wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I haven’t read Olive Kitteridge and the library wait time is about 14 weeks... does Olive, Again work as a stand-alone novel (or short story collection?) or do I really need to read ..."

I hadn't heard of this before but I just set up an account and now I have a copy of Olive Kitteridge on it's way to me - thanks for the tip! And I just switched my library hold to Olive, Again. It also has a 14-week wait time, but at least it's the second book, haha.

[C]

Lauren wrote: "C wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I haven’t read Olive Kitteridge and the library wait time is about 14 weeks... does Olive, Again work as a stand-alone novel (or short story collection?) or do I really nee..."

Oh good, I'm glad it was helpful info. There is also Bookmooch.com for a similar book swapping site. :D

[Lauren]

I just scrolled through the previous years of the ToB to see the themes for the play-in rounds and I have to say... I am so glad website design has improved over the last decade. ;)
Check out 2006's page: https://themorningnews.org/tob/2006/

[Nadine in California]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: " I'm halfway through the audio of Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory - this is a must for audio!! Very funny."

I'm reading it now and it is fun - I think I may switch to audio though, now that you mention it :)

[Daniel]

I've read six of these, so far, currently stuck in the middle of Ducks Newberryport and I've ordered a couple more now that Amazon is shipping for free to Israel (woo hoo!).

But I think I'm going to hold off a bit this year on the longlist. There are already too many books there that I just don't fancy. I will read the Marlon James one day, but I'm going to wait and see if he ever publishes the sequels.

Three of the books I've read were weak in different ways. Fleishman is a super-tedious story about super-privileged neurotics (yes, it does take one to know one). Bernadine Evaristo's book is nowhere near as good as it thinks it is. And Maragret Atwood's sequel is a perfectly fine YA romp set in the universe of The Handmaid's Tale, but it has none of the weight of The Handmaid's Tale which I read as an impressionable 18 year old in 1987.

Colson Whitehead's book is fine, restrained even, and certainly elegant, but it's not a prize winner.

My money is on Lost Children Archive, so far, as the most original, urgent and challenging read of the year so far. It doesn't challenge you as a reader, it challenges you as a human to learn more and do better. Tremendous stuff.

[Janet]

Trust Exercise won the National Book Award for fiction last night.

[Karin]

My friend pointed out that Trust Exercise has the lowest Goodreads average ranking of all the recent NBA fiction winners at 3.10.

Personally I found it pretty tedious, but I appreciate what she's trying to do. I would not recommend it to anyone.

[Bretnie]

Karin wrote: "My friend pointed out that Trust Exercise has the lowest Goodreads average ranking of all the recent NBA fiction winners at 3.10.

Personally I found it pretty tedious, but I appreciate what she's ..."

I really liked it, but was ready to put it down (into the garbage) before the big switch. Even though I liked it, it would be a tough one to recommend to anyone. A million caveats would be needed.

[Lauren]

Janet wrote: "Trust Exercise won the National Book Award for fiction last night."

Yes, I was shocked! We tore it apart during Camp ToB so I'm also surprised to see it on the longlist. I would have much preferred American Spy from the summer reads. :/

[C]

Daniel wrote: "I've read six of these, so far, currently stuck in the middle of Ducks Newberryport and I've ordered a couple more now that Amazon is shipping for free to Israel (woo hoo!).

But I think I'm going ..."

I must agree with you on the longlist... many of these books were the books I was AWARE of but didn't really think had a chance in the tournament and didn't really want to read anyway. So we'll see about the short list. I do have a few ordered and on the way. I agree that Lost Children Archive will be tough to beat.

[C]

C wrote: "Daniel wrote: "I've read six of these, so far, currently stuck in the middle of Ducks Newberryport and I've ordered a couple more now that Amazon is shipping for free to Israel (woo hoo!).

But I t..."

I mean... some longlists in past years had so many of the books I wanted to see on it... like they were reading my mind. This year is the opposite of that? I especially think fondly on the amazing list for 2016... that included so many still-as-yet-not-read-but-I-know-will-be-great books https://themorningnews.org/article/th...

[Bob]

I don't know if it's been shared or not, but I just found the goodreasd listopia list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Don't know who made it but if you're in this group, thanks!

[Lark]

Trust Exercise landed in a weird place for me, as a reader, where I kept thinking "this story is pointless, but it's told so well!" Choi is a great writer and has been flying under the radar for a while so I'm glad she won.

[Karissa]

I thought the structure of Truth Exercise was really clever, but as a reader, I was really pissed that I had to read half a book with a boring plot and flat characters.

[Elizabeth]

Lark wrote: "Trust Exercise landed in a weird place for me, as a reader, where I kept thinking "this story is pointless, but it's told so well!" Choi is a great writer and has been flying under the radar for a ..."

That's exactly how I felt...I didn't even make it to the second half, but as I was reading I was thinking, Wow, the writing here is so incredibly good! And at the same time, Damn, I despise this book so much, why am I putting myself through this? Choi is incredibly talented, but this was an utter failure for me. I do think the NBA looks at previous accomplishments when they're making decisions, there have been several times I've seen so-so books by incredible authors recognized, so I don't ever question their judgment.

In other news, I am SO EXCITED about this. I've bought it, preordered as soon as I found out about it, and will read it as soon as I'm done with Same, Same (which I'm really enjoying, BTW.) It looks like it'll be amazing, and I really hope it's chosen.

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781209...

[Dianah (onourpath)]

Elizabeth wrote: "Lark wrote: "Trust Exercise landed in a weird place for me, as a reader, where I kept thinking "this story is pointless, but it's told so well!" Choi is a great writer and has been flying under the..."

I loved Mary Toft! Excellently done historical fiction. ❤

[Nadine in California]

Dianah wrote: "I loved Mary Toft! Excellently done historical fiction. ❤.."

I'm excited about this one too - for reasons I can't figure out, I have a fascination with the 18th century England. No, wait, I do know why, and his name is Laurence Sterne. (Real time epiphany!)

I had mixed, 3 star emotions about Version Control, so I hope this will be my Dexter Palmer breakthrough book.

[Dianah (onourpath)]

Nadine wrote: "Dianah wrote: "I loved Mary Toft! Excellently done historical fiction. ❤.."

I'm excited about this one too - for reasons I can't figure out, I have a fascination with the 18th century England. No,..."

It's very different, so hopefully you'll connect with it! It's straight-up historical fiction with a fascinating subject and so well done -- hope you love it!

[Tim]

Bretnie wrote: "I really liked it, but was ready to put it down (into the garbage) before the big switch."

I had the same response. If it hadn't been in Camp ToB, I wouldn't have kept going and I would have left it DNF with an unfavorable opinion. But I did keep going, and despite the fact that I don't feel I've fully unravelled the last section, I'm really glad to have read it.

[Amy]

If folks are looking for community reading; the Literary Fiction by People of Color group is starting Queenie Dec 1st, and the Newest Literary Fiction group is starting Nothing to See Here Dec 1st. Both groups share members with TOB group so you’ll see familiar “faces.”

[Shari]

Has anyone read A Girl Returned? I just started it and love it SO much! What stuns me is, it reminds me so much of the Ferrante novels it feels to me like it‘s by the same author. I know it’s the same translator... This makes me wonder how much of what I loved about the Neapolitan trilogy is thanks to the work of Ann Goldstein! Regardless, I am absolutely charmed and blown away by the narrative voice.

[Nadine in California]

I just finished Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory and I loved it. My review.

[Elizabeth]

Nadine wrote: "I just finished Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory and I loved it. My review."

I have it on hold and I'm looking forward to it! (I'm number 3, so it must be popular, which is so rare for short stories.) Thanks for posting the review!

[Sherri]

Shari wrote: "Has anyone read A Girl Returned? I just started it and love it SO much! What stuns me is, it reminds me so much of the Ferrante novels it feels to me like it‘s by the same author. I know it’s the s..."

Thank you for posting this! I'm bumping it way up my list now.

[Marie]

Shari wrote: "Has anyone read A Girl Returned? I just started it and love it SO much! What stuns me is, it reminds me so much of the Ferrante novels it feels to me like it‘s by the same author. I know it’s the s..."

I really liked it as well, (though I read it in Swedish, translated by Johanna Hedenberg)!

[Patty]

Has anyone read A Girl Returned? I just started it and love it SO much! What stuns me is, it reminds me so much of the Ferrante novels it feels to me like it‘s by the same author. I know it’s the same translator...

I also am glad I read this wonderful novel. One more credit to the TOB.

[Tim]

"Has anyone read A Girl Returned? I just started it and love it SO much! ."

I just started it, too. Thumbs up from me so far.

[Lauren]

My hold estimate for Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is 8 weeks, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait!

And A Girl Returned wasn't really on my radar before, but now I'm bumping it up the list!

Did anyone else read The Night Swimmers yet? I didn't get it... :/

[Nadine in California]

Lauren wrote: "My hold estimate for Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is 8 weeks, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait! "

Lauren - the book's GR page has a recording of Raphael Bob-Waksberg's appearance at a Washington DC bookshop, and he starts out by reading the first story in the collection - it's only two pages long and it's one of my favorites. So you can have a taste while you're waiting :)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was looking for something available in Hoopla in audio that I could listen to while I baked and cooked for Thanksgiving and landed on The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock.

[Lauren]

Nadine wrote: "Lauren wrote: "My hold estimate for Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is 8 weeks, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait! "

Lauren - the book's GR page has ..."

Good to know - thank you!

[Lauren]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was looking for something available in Hoopla in audio that I could listen to while I baked and cooked for Thanksgiving and landed on The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock."

Yes, I found it on Hoopla as well, and since it was only 4 hours I don't feel like I wasted my time, but outside of the one thing that happened, I feel like nothing else happened in the rest of the story and I just didn't get it. Share your thoughts when you finish it; maybe you can help me see what I missed. ;)

[Peggy]

This list--gah! I've only read two so far, so I guess nothing new this year in that I always start from way, WAY behind. I picked up Disappearing Earth last night as for whatever reason I feel like that's a safe bet for the shortlist. So far it's intriguing.

[Dianah (onourpath)]

Lauren wrote: "My hold estimate for Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is 8 weeks, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait!

And A Girl Returned wasn't reall..."

Oh, I loved Night Swimmers! Maybe my review will help?

Peter Rock's gorgeous exploration of his young adulthood in Wisconsin in the summer of 1994 is perfectly realized in his autobiographical novel, The Night Swimmers. The narrator strikes up a companionable friendship with a widow who lives up the road from his parents house as they share a love of night swimming. Rock so expertly depicts the confused unease of a young person trying to navigate relationships, it's excruciating in its awkwardness, but also beautiful in its humanness. While their relationship strikes him as odd, it becomes odder still when the widow disappears. Twenty years later, looking back on this part of his life, the narrator tries to untangle the mystery tied up with this woman and this summer; yet all the emotions, nostalgia and childhood memories just serve to cloud his understanding. Rock is fearless in exposing his character's failings, but better yet is the way he tells the story of the transformation from hesitant, wary youth to open, honest adult, while the road between is littered with the twin dangers of pain and rejection. Beautifully done, The Night Swimmers is a complex, layered coming-of-age tale that digs deep to deliver its hard-fought wisdom. Brilliant.

[Shari]

Okay, I've now just read my first two from the longlist, A Girl Returned and Nothing to See Here, and oh my goodness, both were massive home runs for me. I actually listened to Nothing to See Here on audio, and I think it's one of my favorite audiobooks I've listened to. I feel like this is going to be my favorite TOB year. If these are the only two new favorites I get from this year's experience (and I know they won't be), it'll still be well worth all the time I put in. But now I'm nervous to move on in the list! Not sure how other contenders will hold up next to these two new favorites. They're going to be a couple of hard acts to follow!

[Lauren]

Dianah wrote: "Lauren wrote: "My hold estimate for Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is 8 weeks, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait!

And [book:A Girl Returned|4293099..."

Thanks for sharing this! I'm guessing it was too subtle for me, but if it makes it to the shortlist I'll consider reading it again (in print) to see if I can find some of what you explained here. :)

[Melanie]

I've been plodding my way through We Cast a Shadow & annoyed that it's full of trenchant observations just buried under un-compelling plot & character.

It's gonna be my first 'DNF from the long list but I guess I'll try again if it makes the shortlist' book.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Lauren wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was looking for something available in Hoopla in audio that I could listen to while I baked and cooked for Thanksgiving and landed on [book:The Night Swimmers|4157826..."

I have to say I'm more on Lauren's side on this one than Dianah's... it's true that he's describing a fictional teenaged experience but I find myself asking what is in it to be of any interest... there's just not a lot there there. And I'm someone who doesn't care about plot. But without plot, I need something. The breaks where the narrator is talking from his present day just feel like the author writing in his own voice.

[Alison]

I know that Cantoras didn't make the longlist, but I read it because of all the excitement about it here and I just finished it and I loved it so much.

[Lola]

Lark wrote: "man, there is a -lot- of the newly-dubbed-as "weird fiction" on this list."
I just finished The Need, and that would definitely count as that. Sorry not to see it here. Ditto Lanny (would also qualify as weird fiction). I loved both of those books.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Alison wrote: "I know that Cantoras didn't make the longlist, but I read it because of all the excitement about it here and I just finished it and I loved it so much."

Such a clear oversight. Can we start a petition?

[Lola]

Beverly wrote: "I actually like this long list - it seems aligned with my reading taste this year.

I also liked that there was a couple I have not heard of but look interesting - one of the joys of a longlist for..."

Beverly, I wasn't a fan a Fleishman either. I almost hope it makes the shortlist just to read the discussion.

[Lola]

Golden State is currently on sale for Kindle US- 3.99

[Nadine in California]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Alison wrote: "I know that Cantoras didn't make the longlist, but I read it because of all the excitement about it here and I just finished it and I loved it so much."

Such a clear..."

I'm an outlier on this one - even though I loved the characters and the story, I gave it 2 stars because the writing felt so cliched and melodramatic to me. my review

[Lauren]

Nadine wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Alison wrote: "I know that Cantoras didn't make the longlist, but I read it because of all the excitement about it here and I just finished it and I lov..."

Hmm while I was in the camp of completely loving this book, I won't disagree that the writing was romantic, which I usually don't enjoy as much. I guess the characters and story sucked me in enough to where the sappiness of the writing didn't get to me?

A few of us might try to sneak it into the zombie round somehow (not sure how we'd do it...) but I respect your comments on it. Nothing wrong with different tastes!

[Lauren]

Notes for audiobook listeners - Bangkok Wakes to Rain should be read in print. The various characters and timelines were too difficult to keep straight through the audio version, so it didn't do it justice.

However, Say Say Say, Rules for Visiting, Patsy, and Golden State all worked well on audio.

[Elizabeth]

Lauren wrote: "Notes for audiobook listeners - Bangkok Wakes to Rain should be read in print. The various characters and timelines were too difficult to keep straight through the audio version, so..."

How did you like Rules for Visiting? I'm reading it now, and enjoying it a lot, even if so far (40% in) it's a little single-note. I love how richly the protagonist is drawn, she's an intriguing character...

[Jan]

Elizabeth wrote: "How did you like Rules for Visiting? I'm reading it now, and enjoying it a lot, even if so far (40% in) it's a little single-note. I love how richly the protagonist is drawn, she's an intriguing character....."

Elizabeth, I listened to Rules for Visiting, as Lauren did, and really liked it. I loved the awkward, introverted protagonist and found a lot of gently wisdom in the book. It reminded me of Elinor Lipman, whose work I often enjoy.

[Monica]

Has anyone read Trump Sky Alpha? I'm in the middle of it. I think it's good, but perhaps a bit too "clever." Haven't made up my mind.