Tournament of Books discussion
2020 TOB General Topics
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2020 TOB Shortlist
I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7 to read:1. All This Could Be Yours
2. Girl, Woman, Other
3. Golden State
4. Lost Children Archive
5. Mary Toft
6. Normal People
7. Overthrow
Which one do you guys think I should read next? Which of these 7 did you enjoy the most?
Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7 to read:1. All ..."
I adored Girl, Woman, Other. It's almost like a collection of linked short stories but with heavy emphasis on the characters. I am in awe as to how the author was able to create 12 distinct voices to propel the novel. I also enjoyed seeing how these 12 individuals intersect as they navigate their lives as people of color in Great Britain. Technically it is one of the longest books in the tournament, but it didn't feel long reading it.
Amanda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7..."I have to second Girl, Woman, Other.
Michelle, I’ll add another vote for GWO, and I’d follow it up with LCA as an interesting, thought-provoking book that will hopefully be a major player (along with GWO) in the tournament. ❤️ LCA has the additional value of being a book that addresses the US border crisis and is written by a Mexican (Mexican-American?) writer.
Nadine wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist..."Another vote for GWO! I thought it was so well done, each story and character so engaging and likable, and the intertwining of narratives so interesting. My favorite of the tournament, by far (with the possible exception of LCA.)
Amanda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7..."I look at the first couple pages without punctuation and I shudder though. (Neighbors would LOVE this book.) Is the no-punctuation throughout the entire book?
Amy wrote: "just a quick note that Andrew told me our beloved TOB team at www.themorningnews.org is trying to get the bracket out by Friday! :)"Thank you Amy and ToB team! Any bit of ToB news/events is like Christmas. :D
C wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist..."It flows so well that way, honestly I didn’t even notice it after the first couple pages. I actually was intrigued by how the breaking of paragraphs flowed like thought, and after the first pages for me it wasn’t distracting at all.
Michelle, I also liked GWO, but I loved Golden State even more. Personally, I'd put Normal People and Overthrow at the bottom of the list.
I also loved GWO the most from that list (well the whole shortlist actually). The lack of punctuation was only noticeable on the first page for me. I didn't want to put it down - wonderful character development! @Bretnie, It's ok. I was planning to finish Overthrow either way, but yea, it was weird and I'm surprised they picked that one over other longlist gems (#stillrootingforAGirlReturned) ;)
Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7 to read:1. All ..."
I also vote for GWO. I will finish it tonight and it might turn out to be my favorite from the TOB 2020. It will be up there, for sure.
Once you get used to the style, it is easy to read. And it is fun to try and figure out how the people are linked. There is one particular link that is hinted at and I wonder if it will be revealed at the end or if the reader will be allowed to make it on their under their own steam.
Elizabeth wrote: "It flows so well that way, honestly I didn’t even notice it after the first couple pages. I actually was intrigued by how the breaking of paragraphs flowed like thought, and after the first pages for me it wasn’t distracting at all..."I completely forgot about the GWO punctuation situation, until it was mentioned. I also loved the way it generated flow.
Thank you all for your feedback. It looks like Girl, Woman, Other will be my next shortlist book.
Bretnie wrote: "Bretnie wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I'm 1/3 of the way into Overthrow and it's not grabbing me. If I weren't planning to be a completist this year I probably would have DNF'd it 50 pages in.."I felt t..."
I personally found Overthrow completely underwhelming.
Bretnie wrote: "Michelle, I also liked GWO, but I loved Golden State even more. Personally, I'd put Normal People and Overthrow at the bottom of the list."
Thank goodness! Someone else who wasn't wowed by NP. I am mystified by all of the praise for it.
Michelle wrote: "I finally got through Oval. It really took a long time to make its point. I will probably read a few ARCs to cleanse my palate before resuming TOB. From the longlist I still have 7 to read:1. All ..."
I haven't read GWO -- saving it for last in the hopes that I will share the enthusiasm others here have for it. Of the rest you listed, I liked Lost Children Archive and All This, though I think I am a minority view on All This. I've not yet been wowed by most of this year's shortlist, but I still have The Testaments, Oval, The Water Dancer, and We Cast a Shadow to go, so ... Here's Hoping.
So far, my favorites have been LCA (from back in the summer), On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Golden State, and Normal People. Fleishman, All This Could Be Yours, and Trust Exercise were OK, and I really couldn't finish Overthrow. I have Your House Will Pay, Water Dancer, and Girl Woman Other lined up to read soon. Also kinda eyeing Mary Toft.
I was lukewarm on NP, enjoyed Mary Toft, although it was quite strange, and enjoyed Your House, YCAS and Water Dancer a lot. OEYBG was the most unique, and I loved the writing most of all, even though the format and flow was less enjoyable to me.
I had read 10 of the short list when it came out and have been taking a break since Christmas to catch up on some memoirs, nonfiction and miscellaneous backlist stuff. Now, I'm officially starting my ToB reading. I'm skipping Overthrow, and am starting today to read Oval. Then, I will "just" need to read All This Could Be Yours (audio), Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen, Nothing to See Here (audio), Optic Nerve, Saudade, and Your House Will Pay. I'm saving YHWP for last, because it's the one I'm most looking forward to and figure it will spur me on in case my commitment starts to flag (or Hilary Mantel starts to call). Thank you to those who recommended the audio edition of NtSH and the paper edition of Optic Nerve. I have acted accordingly. :-)
Maybe I'm just in some kind of mood, but so many of these books have started out strong for me and then died somewhere around the middle. While I haven't hated anything yet, most I've read have been mediocre for me. I'll be rooting for Lost Children Archive, Nothing to See Here, and Golden State.
I'm halfway through Mary Toft and I'm loving it. What a pivot from Version Control! I do like authors who are able to write novels that are so radically different from each other. Then there are just six to go, although there is a strong chance I will skip Overthrow unless it moves forward in its bracket.
The two I’d heard the most buzz about (besides the de-facto buzz for Testaments) are NP and Fleishman which are in the same bracket as 2nd and 3rd seeds.
Hmm not thrilled about GWO being up against Nothing to See Here since I know that one had some big fans (and I want GWO to take the Rooster). Another difficult match-up is On Earth... against Your House Will Pay. I'm relatively indifferent about the rest though; not expecting Overthrow to go anywhere, but wasn't a fan of Trust Exercise either. Will we be starting with The Testaments and Saudade? I finished the latter last night, but it will take some effort to get through my hard copy of Testaments in time - better start it today!
Update: I just got the email and see that we will be discussing the play-ins on March 6th and Testaments and Saudade on the 9th.
Sob, sob, whine, whine, I said above this would happen, and sure enough. Mary Toft vs. LCA, GWO vs. Nothing to See Here, and meanwhile some of my least favorites are up against each other, and Trust Exercise is bound to make it through at least one more round. Boo to the (otherwise lovely) decision making Gods!
I have Lost Children Archive pipping On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous in the final. Fight me.
Daniel wrote: "I have Lost Children Archive pipping On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous in the final. Fight me."I say LCA against GWO. Bam! (But really it could go either way, and I’d be happy. I guessed in a different thread it would be those three.)
On no! My beloved Mary Toft is up against Lost Children (which I didn't particularly love). And even if, against all odds, Mary makes it through, it could be up against my other favorite Girl, Woman, Other. At least GWO has a good chance to zombie.
Yet I will still, as I usually do, create a bracket that has my favorite in the final, no matter how unlikely and ridiculous.
Elizabeth wrote: "Sob, sob, whine, whine, I said above this would happen, and sure enough. Mary Toft vs. LCA, GWO vs. Nothing to See Here, and meanwhile some of my least favorites are up against each other, and Trus..."Same same Elizabeth - with Golden State and We Cast a Shadow also up against each other, my six favorites (so far) are all up against each other.
And the flip side, I'm quite nervous Overthrow or Normal People will manage to make it to the second round.
With the brackets out today, I'm realizing I still have a lot to read in six weeks. I still have 8 to go, but I guess there are three I'd already written off as not planning on reading...
Sad to see that only one of On Earth or Your House Will Pay will make it past the first round.
Most of the winners seem like no brainers to me but there's always a couple of upsets. I'm glad I picked Mary Toft as my zombie. I saw the other day that a Brit author has published a book called The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England. Would be interesting to read that one at some point.
I really appreciate that the annual tome seems to always land on the right half of the bracket. I’m not sure I’ll actually attack Overthrow this round but it gives me much more time should I get the notion!
I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choice, sent by the "loser" (it can be new or used-but-good-condition)? Points can be tallied throughout as they are for the basketball versions of these. Anyone interested? I can be a sucker for low-stakes gambling sometimes. ;)
Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choice, sent by the "loser" (it ..."we haven't usually done a bracket pool in GR because the TOB has a prize from their end but I'm certainly willing to figure something out. (I always end up getting the 'loser' prize in my office's March Madness pool which gets me my ante back!) Question is, do we use seeding to add point for 'upsets?' cause i have the spreadsheet tricks to do that. :)
Amy wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choice, sent by t..."Sure - sounds good to me!
And I didn't realize that The Morning News does a bracket contest for the commentariat - how do I submit my bracket for that one?
The only bracket I've read both books is On Earth and Your House Will Pay. I hate to see both of those up against each other. As to the rest, I've read one book in each bracket for most of them, so I need to either get busy or root for the one I've read! Although I just can't bring myself to root for Normal People. ;-(
Ok, I have the brackets up and will fill them in when I'm finished everything -- which I project will be WAY ahead of time. I've read 12, 6 more to go. So far, my favorite is Nothing to See Here with Your House Will Pay in second place. I haven't hated any of them, although I didn't think much of a couple. I haven't encountered a Wittgenstein, Jr., yet (my gauge for a total ToB waste of time). I'm just starting Mary Toft, and then I have We Cast a Shadow, Oval, All This Could Be Yours, Overthrow and Saudade to go.
Lauren wrote: "Amy wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choic..."hmmm, I'm not seeing a bracket comp so far on the bracket announcement but I checked previous years and don't see the competition announced just then either. let's keep our eyes open for it, in the meantime my excel OCD friend made me a bracket sheet that I'll convert to google sheet to share tomorrow for us to get our game on.
Amy wrote: "hmmm, I'm not seeing a bracket comp so far on the bracket announcement... "
There wasn't a bracket comp last year. If I remember correctly, Andrew said they, the ToB organizers, were too busy with the main tournament, prepping for the summer book club, and running The Morning News. I'm hopeful the bracket competition will make a comeback this year.
There wasn't a bracket comp last year. If I remember correctly, Andrew said they, the ToB organizers, were too busy with the main tournament, prepping for the summer book club, and running The Morning News. I'm hopeful the bracket competition will make a comeback this year.
Amy wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Amy wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book..."Ok great - thank you!
Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choice, sent by the "loser" (it ..."You had me at "bet". If there is one way to separate me from my money it's by putting something in a bracket.
Dustin wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I can't remember if this was a thing before, but does anyone actually bet on the brackets here? I'm thinking the winner could get a copy of a longlist book of their choice, sent by t..."Haha, ok! We can figure out logistics when we see the spreadsheet Amy is working on. :)
Elizabeth wrote: "Sob, sob, whine, whine, I said above this would happen, and sure enough. Mary Toft vs. LCA, GWO vs. Nothing to See Here, and meanwhile some of my least favorites are up against each other, and Trus..."My sentiments exactly Elizabeth. Of the twelve books I have read I have my predictions here - https://www.collinsbookblog.com/copy-...
However if it is anything like last years predictions they will probably mostly be wrong! hahaha :-)
Collin wrote: "However if it is anything like last years predictions they will probably mostly be wrong!"Didn't you win something last year for having the most correct projections or was that the year before....life is going at warp speed. BTW I agree with most of your picks so we can be wrong together.
Hi Janet, no the first time I joined this lovely group I fluked a heap of guesses. Nice to know we agree with most of the picks. I am racing to finish the last books. :-)
Collin wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Sob, sob, whine, whine, I said above this would happen, and sure enough. Mary Toft vs. LCA, GWO vs. Nothing to See Here, and meanwhile some of my least favorites are up against ea..."I agree with all but one of your picks...But the judges always surprise me, sometimes in a not-so-good way! (I love the ominousness of the moving clouds on that page, like the books are being executed, ha.)
Thrilled the brackets are out - Love the link with the clouds and personal picks - gives my excitement for books over basketball more dramatic - I'll share with my sports-loving bracket friends and try to explain The Rooster yet again..(it's a yearly conversation).
I finished Overthrow! Maybe I'm just good at finishing books other people bail on? haha. Though it's probably my least favorite of the... five? ToB books I've read so far. I'd say it's somehow one of the speediest books I've read lately, if that sways the judgement of anyone to read it. I thought there was too many unnecessary details that didn't really go anywhere. The last chapter of Overthrow is pretty scary, if you just wanted to read that. It certainly could have been shorter. I certainly liked Call Me Zebra better, though I can see the comparison a little bit.edited to add: The difference between Zebra and the kids of Overthrow: Zebra went through a warzone, so I was willing to cut her some slack. Not to say I know what the kids of Overthrow have been through (I don't know much about the kids in Overthrow.. the book is detailed but also not the RIGHT details) but I KNOW Zebra had to walk many months through a warzone.
Tournament of Books
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder: Mary Toft and Eighteenth-Century England (other topics)
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All This Could Be Yours (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jami Attenberg (other topics)Jami Attenberg (other topics)
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Dexter Palmer (other topics)
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Yay! I'm excited! (And scared, because it always turns out that two of my loves are up against each other in the first round...it's like watching two treasured kids duke it out and knowing one of them will have to die an early death, without getting a chance to properly plead his case. 😔)