2016 - Possible Contenders

[Deborah]

I just finished reading Purity and am interested to hear what others thought. As my review (or lack thereof) indicates, I'm not quite sure what to say about it, other than I thought the sections devoted to Andreas Wolf were a waste of time.

[Sue]

Run is the only Patchett book I've managed to finish. I couldn't bet into Bel Canto and didn't like her essay collection. I found her a bit preachy and smug. My sister-in-law and niece urged me to give Run a try and I really enjoyed it. I was surprised to see so many 1 and 2 star reviews on GR after I'd finished. Patchett sure seems to be polarizing!

Jennifer wrote: "Ellen wrote: "The funny thing is that I do! I don't always like her books, but I thought Run was terrific.

well that's cool! Run is one of the two from her i have not yet read. it'..."

Jennifer wrote: "Ellen wrote: "The funny thing is that I do! I don't always like her books, but I thought Run was terrific.

well that's cool! Run is one of the two from her i have not yet read. it'..."

[Janet]

Deborah wrote: "I just finished reading Purity and am interested to hear what others thought. As my review (or lack thereof) indicates, I'm not quite sure what to say about it, other than I thought the sections d..."

I'm listening to the audiobook now but not very far along yet.

[AmberBug]

Deborah wrote: "I just finished reading Purity and am interested to hear what others thought. As my review (or lack thereof) indicates, I'm not quite sure what to say about it, other than I thought the sections d..."

Currently reading it myself, we shall see.

[Lark]

I honestly need to give up with predictions because I keep running into books published this year that give me so much delight and there is no way I could pick 16 of the bunch and call them prize-worthy and not the others.

This week's surprise is The Invaders by Karolina Waclawiak, which I hadn't heard about before picking it up in the library.

I'm also very much looking forward to Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson, author of The Orphan Master's Son.

[Andrea]

Deborah-I finished Purity quickly in preparation for Franzen's visit to Minnesota Public Radio's "Talking Volumes" tomorrow night. I also felt restless during the second section that focused on Andreas. Although all the background stories come together in an interesting way in the end, I was not satisfied with his treatment of most of the female characters. I wanted to know more about them and why they did what they did. While I wasn't blown away by Purity, I found I couldn't put it down and am interested to hear what Franzen has to say!

[Jason]

Janet wrote: "What concerns me though is if the "all you can consume" model does not work for Scribd will TuneIn find it unsustainable also? "

Looks like it may have been either ill-conceived roll out of the premium service or a bait-and-switch as most of the new fiction is no longer available. Delicious Foods and Fates and Furies both have been pulled. I'm still finding great stuff to listen to, but my biggest reason for paying for premium may be gone: new fiction novels.

[[deleted user]]

Jason wrote: "Looks like it may have been either ill-conceived roll out of the premium service or a bait-and-switch as most of the new fiction is no longer available...."

It seemed fishy to me that they had Fates and Furies weeks before it was published. I don't know why the publisher would have authorized a pre-release for one company.

[Michele]

I'm interested to hear any opinions on Fates and Furies when it's out and Did You Ever Have a Family.

[Deborah]

Michele wrote: "I'm interested to hear any opinions on Fates and Furies when it's out and Did You Ever Have a Family."

I'm reading Did You Ever Have a Family right now and loving it; Clegg does a wonderful job of giving each character a distinctive and believable voice.

[Heather]

I just finished Purity and really liked it. I did think the parts in Germany, Andreas's back story in particular, dragged, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest and would like to see it in the tournament. I'm reading Did You Ever Have a Family now...tournament worthy so far as well, for sure.

[Jan]

The Man Booker shortlist has been announced. A Brief History of Seven Killings from last year's ToB (yay), one book by an Indian author that won't be published in the US till next March, plus A Little Life (super yay!!), A Spool of Blue Thread, The Fishermen (yay), and Satin Island. Nice to see such a diverse list with a lot of new voices. I loved Spool but am surprised to see it there rather than Marilynne Robinson's Lila, which was on the long list. Will be interested to see how many of these make it into the ToB. Any predictions?

[Ellen]

If A Little Life wins, I may find myself starting to forgive the Booker for some of its past transgressions (*cough*TheLineofBeauty*cough*). Just sayin'.

[Lark]

Ellen you snuck in just before I was about to write, "I just don't understand the love for A Little Life, a novel that I found to be odious, melodramatic, and ridiculous"...

and hmm, come to think of it, I love The Line of Beauty.

There is such an embarrassment of riches when it comes to literary fiction just now. I love how many books there are being written with serious intent and I love how we are allowed to disagree, that there is no Ministry of Culture telling us what's good.

And personally I'm very happy to see Satin Island on the short list.

[Ellen]

Poingu, this just goes to show that even people who tend to have similar tastes in books occasionally can wildly differ!!!! I don't think you ended up being as blown away by The People in the Trees as I was, either, am I correct?

The thing about A Little Life is that while I found the premise frankly unbelievable, on a couple of different fronts, the book itself grabbed me on a kind of visceral level and I found it heartbreaking in the way I found, say, The Time Traveller's Wife heartbreaking. And I think her writing is extraordinary.

Haven't gotten to Satin Island yet but it's firmly on my list.

Has anyone else read Carola Dibbell's The Only Ones? I'm in the middle of it now.

[Lark]

Ellen wrote: "Has anyone else read Carola Dibbell's The Only Ones? I'm in the middle of it now. "

I'll look forward to your take. I started it when it just came out and had to set it aside because I had just read Find Me and On Such a Full Sea and Annihilation and The Country of Ice Cream Star and California and Station Eleven and I needed a break from all that post-apocalypse.

Of the above I realize now that 2 of 16 of this year's TOB were post-apocalyptic, something that I hadn't thought about before.

[Ellen]

Posts apocalyptic does seem to be in fashion these days. I don't always remember anything about the books I have on my list by the time I get hold of them, so last year I ended up reading a bunch of post-apocalyptic books back to back, more or less by accident - not only Annihilation (and its sequelae) and Station Eleven, but also Edan Lapucki's. California, and even Michael Faber's Book of Strange New Things, which was quasi-post-apocalyptic (and which I really liked, wondering once again how, say, Adam made it into the ToB and this excellent, heartbreaking book did not).

[Jan]

Ellen wrote: "even Michael Faber's Book of Strange New Things, which was quasi-post-apocalyptic (and which I really liked, wondering once again how, say, Adam made it into the ToB and this excellent, heartbreaking book did not). ..."

I was surprised and sad that Faber's book seemed not to get the attention it deserved in general, not just from the ToB crowd. It seems like there was a fair amount of buzz when it first came out, and then it just kind of got lost in the shuffle. Maybe The Bone Clocks sucked up all the oxygen? I far preferred the Faber.

[Ellen]

Oh, so did I, Jan. I love Faber and Mitchell for some of the same reasons - one being that both of them manage the feat of every one of his books being totally different from the others - but if those two books are to be compared, Book of Strange New things was far superior, IMO.

[Janet]

Jan wrote: "The Man Booker shortlist has been announced. A Brief History of Seven Killings from last year's ToB (yay), one book by an Indian author that won't be published in the US till next March, plus A Lit..."

I ordered The Year of the Runaways from the Book Depository just because I can't stand being told I have to wait.

[AmberBug]

Who would play Jude in a movie? Cast away on If List! If "A Little Life" were made into a movie

[C]

Boy do I feel like I'm failing for the ToB this year. I feel like I've read nothing that would be on the ToB mainly because I've barely read anything published from this year. I'm basically broke and don't have access to books, especially with not-so-good libraries. My main source is Paperbackswap.

AND for some reason, I haven't won any GoodReads Giveaways for months, maybe even a year. I sign up for around 10 every month and had won quite a number of them until about a year ago. One was lost in the mail for over a year until I realized to ask about it. Maybe that is why I'm stuck on Giveaways wins? I'm not sure how it works.

The Country of Ice Cream Star is available on Amazon for $1.99 if anyone is interested. I feel like I need to wait for an audiobook of that one though.

[AmberBug]

C wrote: "Boy do I feel like I'm failing for the ToB this year. I feel like I've read nothing that would be on the ToB mainly because I've barely read anything published from this year. I'm basically broke..."

If you review on Goodreads, you could sign up for NetGalley. They let you read pre-released books in exchange for a review, similar to the giveaways on here but digital only AND you have a better chance of getting them approved (it's not a contest).

[Juniper]

C wrote: "Boy do I feel like I'm failing for the ToB this year. I feel like I've read nothing that would be on the ToB mainly because I've barely read anything published from this year. I'm basically broke..."

i read The Country of Ice Cream Star ahead of the women's prize for fiction shortlist announcement, earlier this year. i think it would be really interesting for the ToB.

with the right narrator, this book could be amazing on audio. newman is quite inventive with language and dialect. while the overall story didn't end up being an awesome read for me, i respect the heck out of what newman's done with this novel.

[C]

AmberBug wrote: "C wrote: "Boy do I feel like I'm failing for the ToB this year. I feel like I've read nothing that would be on the ToB mainly because I've barely read anything published from this year. I'm basic..."

AmberBug - thanks for the info! I'd definitely be doing that if I had an e-book.

Jennifer - Thanks for the input on Country of Ice Cream Star. I know I'd have trouble reading it. I gave up on Ridley Walker because of the invented language but Ice Cream definitely sounds like an impressive book.

[Juniper]

C -- the goodreads giveaways are a giant hole of mysteriousness to me! i am glad you have had luck with winning books, though i am sorry you've hit a bit of a drought lately.

[C]

Jennifer wrote: "C -- the goodreads giveaways are a giant hole of mysteriousness to me! i am glad you have had luck with winning books, though i am sorry you've hit a bit of a drought lately."

I've definitely been lucky, just not lately. :D

[Sherri]

C wrote: "Boy do I feel like I'm failing for the ToB this year. I feel like I've read nothing that would be on the ToB mainly because I've barely read anything published from this year. I'm basically broke..."

I had a winning streak about a year ago too on giveaways, but also haven't won in over a year. Do you have a Kindle? Most everything I read comes from Overdrive through my library. They don't have everything, but I can usually get on a wait list for the new releases and get them fairly quickly.

[Michele]

On Givewaways: I won two last year and I really didn't like either. Then I entered for at least a hundred since then and didn't get anything. So I'm pretty suspicious. Seems like since I didn't give good reviews to the first 2, that now I'm "Out!", as Heidi Klum would say.

On The Book of Strange New Things: I really, really loved this book. Very underrated. I think it definitely should have been in the TOB. I read a lot of sci-fi and that is one of my favorites.

I haven't found fiction that I love yet this year. But I haven't read A Little Life yet. Waiting for the library to get the audio version since the audio of The People in the Trees was my favorite audio book ever.

Oh, wait, I did fall in love with a sci-fi book this year. Aurora. I know it won't make it to the TOB but it was quite a book. So much there at so many levels. One of my favorites now too.

[AmberBug]

Michele wrote: "On Givewaways: I won two last year and I really didn't like either. Then I entered for at least a hundred since then and didn't get anything. So I'm pretty suspicious. Seems like since I didn't giv..."

I'm very interested in how the audiobook version of A Little Life is. Keep us updated when you do finally get to it.

I also loved The Book of Strange New Things and was disappointed by how little it was talked about. It had a great blend of sci-fi and was very accessible for the genre (even though I love me some sci-fi).

[planetkimi]

Has anyone else read The Incarnations by Susan Barker? Out of the books I've read so far this year, that's the one I'm hoping will make it to the ToB. Well, also Speak by Louisa Hall.

[Juniper]

hey, was Fifteen Dogs released in the US? i am reading it now and it feels very ToB-worthy. (it was also just nominated for canada's largest lit. award, the giller prize. it has also been dividing readers have heard from - though GR reviews seem favourably starred - so that always makes for interesting discussions.)

[[deleted user]]

Jennifer wrote: "hey, was Fifteen Dogs released in the US?..."

Yes, it was released in the US in April, one month after the Canadian publication.

[Juniper]

thanks, tina! i thought it had been - and i'm sure it came up here before - but my memory is terrible. (as are, apparently, my search skills.)
:)

[Juniper]

2014 NBA Fiction Finalists were announced this morning: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2015.h...


* Jesse Ball, A Cure for Suicide (Pantheon Books)

* Karen E. Bender, Refund: Stories (Soft Skull/Counterpoint Press)

* Bill Clegg, Did You Ever Have a Family (Scout Press/Simon & Schuster)

* Angela Flournoy, The Turner House (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

* Lauren Groff, Fates and Furies (Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)

* Adam Johnson, Fortune Smiles (Random House)

* T. Geronimo Johnson, Welcome to Braggsville (William Morrow/HarperCollins)

* Edith Pearlman, Honeydew: Stories (Little, Brown/Hachette Book Group)

* Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life (Doubleday/Penguin Random House)

* Nell Zink, Mislaid (Ecco/HarperCollins)

[AmberBug]

That list doesn't excite me. Although, I am a huge fan of "A Little Life".

[Janet]

I've only read A Little Life and half of Fates and Furies but many of the others were already in my TBR.

[Lark]

I totally love 15 Dogs! I'm so glad this slim-yet-deep novel is getting the attention it deserves in Canada at least!

Taking this oppty. to remind people to vote for their favorites on the Goodreads Picks for TOB 2016 list (cough) (Fifteen Dogs):

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

Also I'm excited to see Jesse Ball on the NBA draft pick list although I haven't read his latest--I was wondering if he would ever break out of the quirky midlist and this will help. Nell Zink on the same list does not impress though, what a stinker of a book.

Not that I'm opinionated.

[Lark]

Other observations, hmm:

No FSG publication on the NBA list. No Knopf. That's interesting to me in that I think of these publishers as the traditional "lit fic" giants.

They have passed over the big names, if there is such a thing these days. No Purity. No Sleeping Giant.

Mostly also these are short books (with the obvious exception of A Little Life) or short story collections. I have noticed the tendency toward very short, charged novels lately.

[Juniper]

Poingu wrote: "I totally love 15 Dogs! I'm so glad this slim-yet-deep novel is getting the attention it deserves in Canada at least!..."

i am not quite halfway through it and my emotions are really up and down with the story. the writing is terrific. one of the issues (not sure if that's what to call it?) has to do with writers reimagining 'the gods' (&/or ancient mythology) - of course alexis adds a twist to it with the dogs. i feel like this is done a lot (Gods Behaving Badly, The Infinities, American Gods, The Penelopiad, The Song of Achilles off the top of my head) so i am not quite on board with the premise at this point. though i totally love the observations/presentations alexis is making about human nature and society.

[[deleted user]]

Poingu wrote: "Taking this oppty. to remind people to vote for their favorites on the Goodreads..."

I added three of my favorite 2015 books to the list, The Tusk That Did the Damage, The Animals, and Us Conductors (Thanks for the recommendation, Jennifer).

[C]

Aw, I was crossing my fingers for the Welcome to Braggsville giveaway but I didn't win! I haven't wanted to win a giveaway that much before. I knew I wanted to read it as soon as I heard about it. Hopefully some of the other ToB fans won copies!

[Juniper]

Tina wrote: "I added three of my favorite 2015 books to the list, The Tusk That Did the Damage, The Animals, and Us Conductors (Thanks for the recommendation, Jennifer). "

oh, cool!! i am so glad you enjoyed Us Conductors, tina!! :)

[Tiffany]

Re: The NBA Finalists.

I am excited to read Fortune Smiles, the others less so. I did already read A Little Life, and, as previously mentioned on this thread, am not a fan. I think right now it is more of a personal problem of being burnt out on the American family novel, which seems to be the dominating theme of this year's choices.

I'm most excited about reading Undermajordomo Minor Has anyone had a chance to read this yet? I adored the Sisters Brothers, so I have high hopes.

I am hoping some of these fall releases reignites a reading frenzy, as I've been in a bit of a rut lately.

[Deborah]

Tiffany wrote: "Re: The NBA Finalists.

I am excited to read Fortune Smiles, the others less so. I did already read A Little Life, and, as previously mentioned on this thread, am not a fan. I think right now it..."

I would not describe Welcome to Braggsville as an "American family novel," and I thought it was very good, so you might want to try it. Also, Did You Ever Have a Family is not your typical American family novel, either; I loved it and hope you give it a try, too.

[Juniper]

Tiffany wrote: "I'm most excited about reading Undermajordomo Minor Has anyone had a chance to read this yet? I adored the Sisters Brothers, so I have high hopes."

so glad you mentioned Undermajordomo Minor, tiffany. i also loved The Sisters Brothers. i have a copy of the new book here, but haven't not started to read it yet.

it did get me wondering about whether past authors are automatically considered, or if it's more 'hmmm... we've already featured this writer, let's pick someone else.'. (same question came to mind with The Story of the Lost Child from Elena Ferrante.)

[Tiffany]

Deborah wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "Re: The NBA Finalists.

I am excited to read Fortune Smiles, the others less so. I did already read A Little Life, and, as previously mentioned on this thread, am not a fan. I th..."

Thanks for the recommendations, Deborah. I was thinking of Welcome to Braggsville, but was on the fence. I think I will put it on hold at the library. I do have Did You Ever Have A Family on hold at my library. I think I'll see how I feel when it come up.

[Lljones]

Just finished Did You Ever Have a Family. I found it to be very powerful and lovely. Now back to Purity, which I put aside because DYEHaF had a shorter loan period. I'm 100 pages into Franzen, and loving it. Very optimistic it will hold up til the end.

Waiting for me to pick up today at the two libraries I frequent: Fates and Furies, Fishbowl: A Novel (two copies), Sweet Caress, Undermajordomo Minor (two copies), and This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!. Why do they all have to come in at the same time!?!

[Janet]

Deborah wrote: "I just finished reading Purity and am interested to hear what others thought. As my review (or lack thereof) indicates, I'm not quite sure what to say about it, other than I thought the sections d..."

I finished Purity on audio and here is my review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jan]

Janet wrote: "I finished Purity on audio and here is my review ..."

Nice review, Janet -- thanks for posting the link here. Purity is pretty far down on my list, partly because of his persona, which you nailed; partly because there's so much other stuff I'm more excited to read (Fates & Furies, Under Majordomo, for starters); and partly because I found huge swaths of Freedom (Patty's journal, what's his name's relationship with the much younger woman, the birdwatching) really irritating.