2024 TOB Shortlist

[Karen]

I’m 50 odd pages into both Shamshine and What You Are Looking for and I may have to DNF both. I have Sacajawea and Chain Gang left, though I have already paused the first at about the same point. More work is not what I am looking for right now. Anything else on the long list that was really gripping for anyone?

[Risa]

Karen, I’m with you. None of those shortlist books wowed me. The longlist books I’m most looking forward to reading, based in part on the sentiments of our fellow ToB’ers, are “North Woods” and “Wellness”.

[Phyllis]

Karen - definitely North Woods!

[Nadine in California]

Kyle wrote: "Can anyone sell me on "American Mermaid"? I have it out from the library but I'm really not hyped to read it... when I could be getting through my teetering TBR pile."

Kyle, American Mermaid was my sleeper hit of this year's tournament. There were other books I loved too, but this is one I'd never heard of. It was a lot of fun. I put in quite a few quotations in my review, so maybe it will give you a taste and a clue. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Zachary]

Karen wrote: "I’m 50 odd pages into both Shamshine and What You Are Looking for and I may have to DNF both. I have Sacajawea and Chain Gang left, though I have already paused the first at about the same point. M..."

Some of the books from the longlist I wish we'd be talking about in March were: Birnam Wood, Wellness, Idlewild, Mobility, Happiness Falls, and Biography of X. I feel like The Rachel Incident and Hello Beautiful are also designed for launching yourself out of a reading slump.

I'm the rare reader that North Woods left totally cold.

[Kim]

Karen wrote: "I’m 50 odd pages into both Shamshine and What You Are Looking for and I may have to DNF both. I have Sacajawea and Chain Gang left, though I have already paused the first at about the same point. M..."

I really enjoyed Snow Road Station, Wellness, and The Rachel Incident.

[Kyle]

I've said it before, but Wellness and Birnam Wood were far more interesting books than the majority of the shortlist... also liked Same Bed Different Dreams a lot, too.

[Audra]

Working my way through Monstrilio and Brainwyrms at the moment. It's making my life interesting.

[Phyllis]

I created the spreadsheet for our 2024 ToB Bracket Competition, and it is available at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
If you see any mistakes, let me know -- I definitely could have made one, some, or many.

I also started a separate discussion thread where we can trash talk our own poor prognostication and admire the far greater skills of others, as the tourney unfolds.

[Gail]

I am 5 hours into Wellness...another 14 hours to go. It sounds like all the themes I love, but I'm struggling to get into this novel. Anyone else? Maybe too cutesy?

[Lark]

I also struggled with Wellness. I kept asking myself: “why am I reading this?” I kept starting over and kept being baffled about why I was starting over instead of giving up. A sort-of-bad bad mix of a feeling, including failure, confusion, and sad alienation from all my friends who were charmed, remains.

[Phyllis]

Phyllis wrote: "I created the spreadsheet for our 2024 ToB Bracket Competition, and it is available at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
If you s..."

Apologies all. I believe everyone should now have access to the brackets spreadsheet and be able to input your choices without having to request permission.

[Karen]

oh - lots of good recs - thanks all! i caught myself doomscrolling instead of reading (reading!) and that made me so depressed and annoyed and slightly ashamed?
thrilled to have something to look forward to!!
also: my bracket will be terrible because if "neither" isn't an option...has a judge ever refused to pick or has there ever been a draw? like could we double-zombie (maybe a loser from the play-in round)? asking for a friend...

[Audra]

Phyllis wrote: "Phyllis wrote: "I created the spreadsheet for our 2024 ToB Bracket Competition, and it is available at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/......"

It's still asking for permission for me

[Amanda]

I bailed on Wellness about 2/3rds of the way through. I found nothing new and fresh about it. It felt like Rent set in Chicago with more straight characters. I wasn't a fan of The Nix, felt the author struggled with his female characters. And I failed to see any improvement on that front. I also found the book to be unnecessarily manipulative with the structure of the novel and the use of flashbacks.

[Phyllis]

Karen wrote: "... my bracket will be terrible because if "neither" isn't an option...has a judge ever refused to pick or has there ever been a draw? like could we double-zombie (maybe a loser from the play-in round)? asking for a friend"

Indeed there have been judges who refused to pick or claimed to have thrown books to see which landed first / travelled further. Folks who have been participating far longer than I can regale you with stories. And there have been 2 years (2013 and 2015) when the finals round was zombie v. zombie -- a loser from the play-in round can definitely zombie back into the win.

[Calvin]

Karen wrote: "I’m 50 odd pages into both Shamshine and What You Are Looking for and I may have to DNF both. I have Sacajawea and Chain Gang left, though I have already paused the first at about the same point. M..."

I highly recommend Happiness Falls. There's a good reason it's rated Oprah Daily's #1 Book of 2023.

[Kyle]

Okay, here's my ranking. I may still try "American Mermaid" at some point, but I think this might be where I stand...

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Chain Gang All-Stars
Dayswork
The Bee Sting
The Shamshine Blind
The Auburn Conference
Blackouts
The Librarianist
The Guest
Monstrilio
Lost Journals of Sacajawea
Cold People

[Kyle]

I'd probably rank the longlist books Lone Women, Wellness, Land of Milk and Honey, All the Sinners Bleed, Birnam Wood, and Same Bed Different Dreams in the upper half or above most of the ones on the list. H&E and Chain Gang were the only ones that could compete with the long-list ones.

[Gwendolyn]

Kyle wrote: "Okay, here's my ranking. I may still try "American Mermaid" at some point, but I think this might be where I stand...

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Chain Gang All-Stars
Dayswork
The Bee Sting
T..."

Interesting that you have the Auburn Conference as high as you do. I’m making my way through that one now, and I’m not sure I understand the point. I’m hopeful it will become more clear in the second half.

[Zachary]

I'll get to my ranking as soon as work allows, but hmmmmmm that ToB email we just got is interesting.

[Kim]

It sure is, Zachary. Wow, that has to be causing the organizers some stress.

[Karin]

I must not be on the list because I have no idea what the email is??

[Kip]

from the email:

Believe it or not (and we don't), we are only one week away from the start of the 2024 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes! And with just a week to go, we need your help with a thing.

Unfortunately, after reading the books and deciding which of the two would advance, one of our judges for this year's quarterfinals was unable to participate in the Tournament. So while we have a decision, we don't have a written judgment, and that's where you come in.

Please—and only if you've read one or more of the following titles—reply to this email by March 5 at midnight ET with no more than 100 words on what you thought of each of the books. (And if you've read more than one of the books, we ask that you avoid weighing them against each other, as we need these as individual write-ups.) Thank you!

The Auburn Conference by Tom Piazza
American Mermaid by Julia Langbein
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

[Jessica]

Yeah I came here after I saw that email… must be stressful. I’ve read two of the five so I’ll send in something for them but eep!!! The readers/followers of the ToB are “picking” a second round winner? Wild!

[Karin]

Thank you for sharing. I am completely befuddled by that email.

[Kip]

I just shared some shortened versions of my goodreads reviews. Don't know if anything I write is good enough for mass consumption but hate to imagine the stress that led them to this fix.

[Elizabeth]

I think the winners have already been chosen by that judge, they just need book descriptions/opinions. Not sure I understand how this will be done, though. The judge would only have judged between 2 books (and the final) so why do they need input on all of these?

[Phyllis]

Jessica wrote: "...The readers/followers of the ToB are “picking” a second round winner?..."

I get the impression that the official judge picked the round winner but did not submit a written judgment. So I don't think the readers are choosing the round winner, but rather providing the substance of the judgment.

[Kip]

Likely as to not give away who is actually in the competition.

[Peggy]

I also don't know if my words should be publicized, so am unsure if I'll reply, but I was delighted to see Monstrilio on that list (though I am likely reading into things, master obfuscators that ToB organizers are). Go, Monstrilio, go!

[Karin]

Phyllis wrote: "Jessica wrote: "...The readers/followers of the ToB are “picking” a second round winner?..."

I get the impression that the official judge picked the round winner but did not submit a written judgm..."

Maybe I am dense but I don't understand this. Are they going to pick someone from the submissions, then tell them "hey these are the two books and this is the one that won, write your reasons why"?

[Elizabeth]

Kip wrote: "Likely as to not give away who is actually in the competition."

I thought of that, but then why not ask for writeups on all of them? Why just these specific books?

[Kip]

Elizabeth wrote: "Kip wrote: "Likely as to not give away who is actually in the competition."

I thought of that, but then why not ask for writeups on all of them? Why just these specific books?"

These 6 books make up the bottom right corner of the bracket.

[Elizabeth]

Kip wrote: "These 6 books make up the bottom right corner of the bracket."

Ah okay, I should have gotten that, thanks! Bottom right including the Play-In possibilities.

[Zachary]

I'm guessing their second round judge dropped out (Kate Middleton perhaps? She hasn't been seen for months) and they're going to create a collage of reader thoughts for the winning book rather than a "Here's who won - Have a nice day" situation which wouldn't give the commentariat much to chew on.

[Kyle]

definitely Kate Middleton

[Phyllis]

Where are y'all getting Kate Middleton? They said it was a quarterfinals judge who became unavailable, and the judge who had been scheduled for the quarterfinal round in which these six books could contend had been Caitlin Forst (at least on the bracket they sent out back in December).

Oh wait, you guys are funnin' aren't you? Doh.

[Chrissy]

Yes - the 6 books on that list are all the possible books that could be in that quarterfinal, so as not to give away anything about who the winners of the play-in and first round are.

[Lauren]

This is a fun surprise! While none of those six books made my favorites this year (I only had a few), I think I'll take a stab at it. No clue about how they'll use all of our reviews, but it's cool to get creative like this when there's a wrench thrown into the system.

[Kyle]

Gwendolyn wrote: "Kyle wrote: "Okay, here's my ranking. I may still try "American Mermaid" at some point, but I think this might be where I stand...

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Chain Gang All-Stars
Dayswork
Th..."

Honestly the reason Auburn Conference was so high was because the books below it were that much _less_ good/interesting. It has been a bit of a bum year for the TOB, in my opinion. Pretty much all the long-list books I listed, I liked better than this year's shortie crop.

[Audra]

I wrote a blurb for all 5. Nothing really fancy, just off the top of my head thoughts.
Should make for an interesting twist!

[Karen]

I bet Kate Middleton is stuck home finishing The Bee Sting…

[Audra]

ok people. I am more than half way through Brainwyrms. Do I finish? I mean, I work in animal shelters, I am no stranger to parasites. I'm totally fine with kink. These are not 2 great tastes that taste great together for me though. Is it worth it?

[Zachary]

Audra wrote: "ok people. I am more than half way through Brainwyrms. Do I finish? I mean, I work in animal shelters, I am no stranger to parasites. I'm totally fine with kink. These are not 2 great tastes that t..."

I ended up appreciating what Brainwyrms was able to do, and I admired its courage to paint transphobes is the least flattering light I've ever read. But if you are fed up with it halfway through, it's definitely not going to get better for you from there.

[Gwendolyn]

Zachary wrote: "I'm guessing their second round judge dropped out (Kate Middleton perhaps? She hasn't been seen for months) and they're going to create a collage of reader thoughts for the winning book rather than..."

I agree with this. I think they’re going to post a collage of thoughts on the two books that end up being part of that round. I’ll be sending in my thoughts on all of them just as soon as I can finish What You Are Looking For…

[Kyle]

It's March, folks! Only about 5 more days until we get our first round.

[Gwendolyn]

Kyle wrote: "It's March, folks! Only about 5 more days until we get our first round."

Wow, where did the time go!

[Bretnie]

Chrissy wrote: "Yes - the 6 books on that list are all the possible books that could be in that quarterfinal, so as not to give away anything about who the winners of the play-in and first round are."

Thank you for this Chrissy! That email certainly threw me!

[Audra]

I should probably fill out a bracket or something.