2023 Shortlist

[Ellen]

And god knows I don't need any more mugs or tote bags, but...but ..and again, but...!

[Nadine in NY]

Elizabeth wrote: "2023 mercy is in, and I'm loving the "cover story" designs! Have a sweatshirt in my cart. :)"



That's very fun! I just spent some happy minutes lining up titles with books. But which one is Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow?

[Risa]

Elizabeth wrote: "2023 mercy is in, and I'm loving the "cover story" designs! Have a sweatshirt in my cart. :)"

I, too, succumbed to the "cover story" design. Well played, TMN.

[Mindy]

Me, too...I love the cover story design more than any other they've had. Couldn't click that Add to Cart button fast enough! :-)

[Audra]

I really wanted it on a hoodie!!!

[Bob]

Oh, gosh, we just closed on a house, and every penny counts....but that TOB Swag tho!

[Audra]

Bob wrote: "Oh, gosh, we just closed on a house, and every penny counts....but that TOB Swag tho!"

Congrats! New house needs a new mug!

[Alison]

Oh, I have definitely just ordered a "cover story" t-shirt and was asking myself if I needed two of them (sadly, I do not).

[Ellen]

OK. I ordered the mug -- but I didn't order the tote bag. So, I SAVED money, right?

[Janet]

Those "cover story" items are beautiful but I'll have forgotten the titles before the swag wears out.

[Janet]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "2023 mercy is in, and I'm loving the "cover story" designs! Have a sweatshirt in my cart. :)"



That's very fun! I just spent some happy minutes lining up titles with books. But ..."

Bottom row, 2nd from the left....they are in the order listed in the shortlist.

[Phyllis]

Ellen wrote: "OK. I ordered the mug -- but I didn't order the tote bag. So, I SAVED money, right?"

That's my kinda math right there.

[Nadine in NY]

Janet wrote: "Bottom row, 2nd from the left....they are in the order listed in the shortlist..."



ohhh ... of course! Those ovals threw me off. Thanks.

[Audra]

ask and recieve! There will be hoodies!

[Risa]

Audra wrote: "ask and recieve! There will be hoodies!"

Really?!?

[Audra]

Yes! I emailed and Andrew said he's add them.

[Elizabeth]

Audra wrote: "Yes! I emailed and Andrew said he's add them."

Oh yay! (Do I need both the crew neck and the hoodie? I do, right? Will my husband roll his eyes at me? Maybe i'll promise to stop buying books this year to balance the cost. Or I'll convince him it's a miraculous convertible sweatshirt.)

[Phyllis]

Elizabeth wrote: "...Do I need both the crew neck and the hoodie? I do, right? ..."
Of course you do, because there are hot head days and cold head days. Duh.

[Lauren]

So... the designs are cute, and I also want a shirt with the book cover display, but I'm concerned about the quality. Has anyone ordered ToB shirts in the past year? I have two of the ones with the rooster on a stack of books (one long sleeve and a tee shirt), and it's the worst quality material I've ever seen/felt. I just asked Andrew if there's a way to find different material types since the spiral book titles one from two or three years ago (I think it was described as "soft and slouchy") was nice and soft. If anyone has already received any of the new shirts, please let us know if the material is nice!

[Lauren]

Phyllis wrote: "Ellen wrote: "OK. I ordered the mug -- but I didn't order the tote bag. So, I SAVED money, right?"

That's my kinda math right there."

I agree - excellent math! ;)

[Phyllis]

Lauren, I specifically asked Andrew last year and again this year about whether we could get the slouchy women’s t-shirts. I really liked both the fit and the feel of the fabric of those. He has checked with the vendor and those shirts are not available.
I’ve been going with sweatshirts, mugs, and bags.

[Audra]

One of my fave items ever is the tournament of winners posters, I have it hanging in my reading room.

[Peggy]

I have that poster, too, hanging in my office at school. It's definitely a conversation starter, so I often find myself evangelizing about ToB!

[Elizabeth]

Mine is actually in the middle of my hall! May not stay there forever, but for now it makes me happy whenever I stop to look at it and remember all the books. (Well, not all the books made me happy, but the conversations around them sure did.)

[Alison]

Audra wrote: "One of my fave items ever is the tournament of winners posters, I have it hanging in my reading room."

I have that hanging in a corner of the bedroom. It's a great poster.

[Mindy]

I don't like 100% cotton tees as I find them stiff and scratchy. So I read every description obsessively and found that the Unisex Premium Tee comes in 90% cotton, 10% polyester, IF you get Heather Grey. Which I did.

The women's tees have a similar statement but the colors are Sport Grey and Safety Green, and those colors aren't available.

[Lauren]

Mindy wrote: "I don't like 100% cotton tees as I find them stiff and scratchy. So I read every description obsessively and found that the Unisex Premium Tee comes in 90% cotton, 10% polyester, IF you get Heather..."

Good tip - thanks for sharing!

[Rachel]

I love the cover story design so I picked up a sweatshirt. I spent way too long trying to figure out which one was Tx3 though, ha.

[Nadine in NY]

Rachel wrote: "I love the cover story design so I picked up a sweatshirt. I spent way too long trying to figure out which one was Tx3 though, ha."



I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who was confused by that!!

[Rachel]

Nadine in NY wrote: "I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who was confused by that!!"

All the others look so good! I even tried to see if there was a UK cover that looked different. That's the only one that could have been better, but I love swag that highlights the books versus just the tournament.

[Zachary]

Olga Dies Dreaming, which rules, is $3.99 on kindle deals today, if that's your thing..

[Ellen]

I have Dinosaurs up next and then, I think, I'll finally get to Olga Dies Dreaming. I now physically have in the house all the remaining books (Dinosaurs, Olga, Mouth to Mouth, Nightcrawling, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, The Seven Moons, and Violin Conspiracy) except for My Volcano (out of the library right now) and 2 a.m. in Little America, which I have on Hold at my other library. The end is in sight! and I'm less uneasy about it now that I've liked two books a lot. Phew.

[Zachary]

I'm now 2/3 done with the list, but I still don't know if I have the intention of finishing. We'll see how the Philly Free Library treats me this month.

After a string of books that did not blow me away, I ran headlong into Seven Moons, and it really knocked me out (in a good way.) I went into it skeptical about any book that won the Booker over The Trees, but it exceeded my expectations by a whole bunch, even if I had no idea what was happening for a solid third of the book.

[Audra]

I loved Seven Moons.
I'm reading My Volcano now then I just have Bable.

[Ellen]

You give me hope for my reading future, Zach.

[Kyle]

I finally have the last two in my possession, but I need to wrap up this enormous sci-fi series I got myself sucked into...

[Phyllis]

Kyle wrote: "I finally have the last two in my possession, but I need to wrap up this enormous sci-fi series I got myself sucked into..."
I'll bite. What sci-fi series are you reading, Kyle? I enjoy some of them a lot.

[Kyle]

Otherland by Tad Williams. An old, old favorite, I must have read it 6-7 times since high school. It's a comfort read more than anything, but I'm zipping through 50-100 pages a night while Passenger gets maybe 10 pages every time I pick it up...

[Lauren]

I’m down to three books! I have Babel up next, then Seven Moons, then The Rabbit Hutch. I’m hoping one of these will end up being my favorite, so I have a book to enthusiastically root for this year. Most have been four-star reads, which is fine, but I’m still looking for this year’s gem.

[Janet]

Lauren wrote: "I’m down to three books! I have Babel up next, then Seven Moons, then The Rabbit Hutch. I’m hoping one of these will end up being my favorite, so I have a book to enthusiastically root for this yea..."

I think Babel is the best of that bunch but I'll be interested to hear what you think.

[Elizabeth]

Lauren wrote: "I’m down to three books! I have Babel up next, then Seven Moons, then The Rabbit Hutch. I’m hoping one of these will end up being my favorite, so I have a book to enthusiastically root for this yea..."

Alternate viewpoint, I didn’t like Babel much but loved Seven Moons (which is good because I chose it for a zombie before reading, assuming I’d like it!) I hope you find your book to root for!

[Paula]

I’m with you, Elizabeth. I disliked Babel, maybe more than you did. Seven Moons is my solid favorite!

[Nadine in NY]

I know I'm not going to read all of these books, and I'm having a very blah time of it with the books I have read. So far the only one I really LOVE is the one that I read long before the long list even came out: Sea of Tranquility.

I've got Dinosaurs & My Volcano cued up to read next, though. I'm not expecting much love for Volcano based on comments here. Maybe Dinosaurs will delight me.

[C]

I liked My Volcano! Got a four from me, but I like the weird books.

[Paula]

I like weird books too! But this year…too much blah.

[Ellen]

I'm halfway through Dinosaurs and although I'm mildly intrigued, I'm guessing that it's one of those books that I won't remember 3 weeks from now....cued up is Olga Dies Dreaming.

[Jan]

I forget why is starting My Volcano with low expectations, but I liked it a lot, and I’m not especially drawn to “weird books.” Lauren, you’ve got three of my favorites coming up, especially Seven Moons. Enjoy!!

[Jan]

(Who instead of why, duh!)

[Zachary]

I enjoyed My Volcano too. It would be my pick for the play in round by a pretty great margin.

Trying to get into Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance now. It's making me chuckle.

[Bryn]

I’ve got 70 pages left of The Passenger and I love it! It’s in my top 5 which also includes Tomorrow etc, Book of Goose, Rabbit Hutch, and Dinosaurs. 5 to go. I can do this!