Drew’s Comments (group member since Nov 16, 2013)

Drew’s comments from the Tournament of Books group.

After reading all the comments, I upgraded by rating from two to three stars. This was a difficult book for me mainly because of the violence and gore. I’m not much of a horror fan but I have been dipping my toes into Native American horror. This was just a little too much for me. I also wasn’t impressed with the writing but it sure was action packed.

The Book of Goose Kindle edition is on sale for 3.99 today.

Tim wrote: "Juliana wrote: "[...] Is it just narcissism, thinking that this writer will write his story about how he played God, saving someone and then killing him and getting away with it? Has Jeff convinced..."

I didn’t find anything confirming the drowning incident to the narrator. I think Jeff made it up to justify his stalking to himself.

Tristan wrote: "I loved this. Couldn't put it down and finished it quickly. Never would have read it but for the TOB."

Ditto! I wasn’t really surprised by the ending but still found the book compelling.

Ellen wrote: "Boy, am I ever the outlier here. I found this book a total slog and feel like I missed something. Re: the comparisons to Kavalier and Clay, that was one of my favorite books ever and I'm just not s..."

Thank you, Ellen! I was totally underwhelmed by this one.

This was by far my favorite of the play-in books. Samuel’s loneliness warred with his paranoia. Prison can do that to people.

And …DONE!

Another good year and by that I mean I didn’t hate any of the books although if the Rooney had been 10 pages longer I would have ended up hating it. The situation was deteriorating rapidly for me.

I didn’t hate it but if it had gone on another 10 pages. All I could think of was “Youth is wasted on the young.” Now that I think about it, that was my reaction to Normal People too.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book since I’ve never used slack. Before I retired, one of my colleagues was pushing hard for us to start using it but IS thought it was a security risk. Perhaps they were onto something?

I had to Google “dusty stick.” I definitely want that to become a thing!

This book must have been a real challenge to translate! I’m about halfway through and am undecided how I feel about it.

I groaned inwardly when I saw this title on the shortlist because I haven’t cared much for Groff’s previous books but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a little too episodic for my taste but I loved the characters and the way Marie built and protected her community. A solid four-star read for me.

Meh. Parts of it were engaging but they didn’t coalesce. I wasn’t very interested until Libertie got to Haiti but I found her introduction to the culture believable and heartfelt.

Just finished this and wasn’t really sold on it until the end end, maybe because in effect I have no close relatives left but do have several old friends I rely on? Until then I found it mildly amusing especially since it was set in the part of the Hudson Valley where I grew up. Maybe if I was more familiar with the Decameron I would have gotten more out of this book.

Tim wrote: "Drew wrote: "I’ve been MIA from the group since I retired in June 2019 but was a completist? completionist? again last year. I’m planning to do it again this year although I’ve only read four title..."

Shouldn’t be a problem. Since I retired and haven’t been traveling, my goal is 100 pages a day. In order to finish before the Tournament starts I only need to read 59.44 pages a day. Piece of cake! (I’m not gloating, really I’m not!)

I’ve been MIA from the group since I retired in June 2019 but was a completist? completionist? again last year. I’m planning to do it again this year although I’ve only read four titles from the shortlist:

The Sentence - not Erdrich’s best work IMHO but I loved the characters and wanted to stay with them forever. Loved the list of recommended reading at the end!

The Confession of Copeland Cane - it took me a while to get into this but I ended up really enjoying it. But that typeface! Ugh.

Klara and the Sun - beautiful writing. It reminded me so much of Never Let Me Go but didn’t affect me so deeply.

No One Is Talking About This - hated the first half, loved the second. It reminded me why I continue slogging through books I’m not really enjoying.

Just started Our Country Friends yesterday. So far so good. I was hoping to never read more Groff or Rooney but I’m trying to keep an open mind.

And — done! It’s much easier to be a completist when you’re retired. Also not traveling or doing any volunteer work. This is probably the first time I’ve finished before the Tournament started. And I didn’t hate any of the books although I could have done without some of them.

Some of my favorite books from past tournaments have been the ones about sports although I have almost no interest in actual sports. The Throwback Special is one I still think about and Stephen Florida — terrific! And now I must add Sticks to the list. I didn’t want to put it down but I didn’t want it to end and when I finished, I just wanted to start over. I actually had to take a couple days off from reading afterwards to get over it.

Although I’ve been reading along (except for the Super Rooster), I haven’t been following the Tournament or this group since I retired. I’m going to catch up on posts and maybe even comment a little. I’ve read everything but Shuggie Bain and I’m starting that tonight.

This is the place to post anything related to the 2021 Tournament of Books.

I’m currently reading Optic Nerve and still have Aa This Could Be Yours and On Earth to go. I haven’t hated anything yet but Overthrow was close.