Tournament of Books discussion

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

Didn't this group create it's own ToB long list one year? It was a running list of group members' favorite new books, compiled throughout the year. I think the official ToB even looked at the list as one of their sources for contenders. I loved the list - it pointed me toward some fantastic books I'd never have found otherwise.

Nadine wrote: "Didn't this group create it's own ToB long list one year? It was a running list of group members' favorite new books, compiled throughout the year. I think the official ToB even looked at the list ..."

Yes! Should that go here, or will there be another sub-folder? I'd love to see recommendations (and I already have a favorite from this year.)

just changed the name a titch (to "2021 TOB Contenders" ) and scooted it under a new 2021 TOB General Topics!

Okay, I'll start by yelling at y'all!

READ THIS!!!!! The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

Woah that sounds good.

It's still in my tbr pile, but judging by initial reactions it seems like The Girl with the Louding Voice might be an early contender.

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann is the best book I've read since 2015. I'd love to see it make the tournament next year.

Wow Lark! That’s a fab endorsement!

Elizabeth wrote: "Okay, I'll start by yelling at y'all!

READ THIS!!!!! The Lost Book of Adana Moreau"
I'm going to be discussing this with one of my book clubs (I'm a librarian). This particular group of participants are notoriously hard to please. Is this a crowd pleaser??

Amy wrote: "Wow Lark! That’s a fab endorsement!"

It's kind of a perfect TOB book too--extremely entertaining, and yet also thought-provoking. I thought so anyway!

lark wrote: "Amy wrote: "Wow Lark! That’s a fab endorsement!"

It's kind of a perfect TOB book too--extremely entertaining, and yet also thought-provoking. I thought so anyway!"

I definitely agree with it being a perfect TOB, extremely interesting and unique.

Katie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Okay, I'll start by yelling at y'all!

READ THIS!!!!! The Lost Book of Adana Moreau"
I'm going to be discussing this with one of my book clubs (I'm a librarian). T..."

Maybe it depends on the crowd, but I think so. I mean, in a sense it has everything, has big ideas, it's a mystery, historical, dystopian, about immigration and quantum physics, and a book about books (both real and imaginary...) so I think it would please a wide range of readers. It should make for great discussion, regardless.

Elizabeth wrote: "Katie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Okay, I'll start by yelling at y'all!

READ THIS!!!!! The Lost Book of Adana Moreau"
I'm going to be discussing this with one of my book clubs (I'm a..."

I'd not heard of this, but it sounds so, so good. Thanks for the recommendation!

Elizabeth wrote: "Okay, I'll start by yelling at y'all!

READ THIS!!!!! The Lost Book of Adana Moreau"

My reading plans have taken a hit, but I must read this asap!

I am really impressed with Interior Chinatown, but not surprised - Charles Yu is one of my favorite authors. He is always so original! And now that I know he's a writer for the series Westworld, I'll have to start watching it again. I got a little tired of the wild west theme during season two, but I just saw a brief preview of the coming season and it looks like it is going in a great new direction.

I'm trying to get a head start on library holds for this year's Camp ToB and the longlist since my budget for buying books will be even smaller than last year. I've been out of a job since November and I'm thinking I'll be even less likely to get one during the pandemic. So if I do some good guesswork I could get my library holds in early to get most of the books in that way (my library limits us to only 7 digital holds at a time now - yikes!).

I currently have these three at home - has anyone read these yet? Any suggestions on which one to start with?
Such a Fun Age
Dear Edward
Verge: Stories

I have these either checked out or on hold through the library:
We Wish You Luck
Interior Chinatown
Topics of Conversation
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Writers & Lovers
Shuggie Bain

I'm planning to add Tyll once a hold spot opens up. Any other suggestions on standout 2020 fiction that I should add to the list?

Such a Fun Age is really good and a page turner!

Lauren, I'm just jealous your library is still open.

Loved Tyll, I also enjoyed Run Me to Earth a good amount.

lark wrote: "Lauren, I'm just jealous your library is still open."

My Libby app is malfunctioning right now and it is just the worst timing ever! (also, with my daughter home I got a sequin stuck under my "1" key and have to smash it to get it to work now - first world problems)

lark wrote: "Lauren, I'm just jealous your library is still open."

The physical libraries are closed here but we still have access to ebooks and audiobooks through the website. Do you not have those available?? If so - yikes! I hope you have a good stack at home to get you through.

Amy - those are terrible first world problems, especially during a pandemic!

Heidi and Kip - good to know, thank you!

Everyone should know what I just learned in the Mookse and Gripes website--Scribd is offering free access to ebooks and audiobooks for the next 30 days, no card needed!

https://blog.scribd.com/home/2020/3/1...

I started The Mirror & the Light right away.

lark wrote: "Everyone should know what I just learned in the Mookse and Gripes website--Scribd is offering free access to ebooks and audiobooks for the next 30 days, no card needed!

https://blog.scribd.com/hom..."

oh thank you! that's awesome!

Lauren wrote: "The physical libraries are closed here but we still have access to ebooks and audiobooks through the website. Do you not have thoe available?? If so - yikes!..."

No, we have great streaming availability. I love Kanopy for movies. I'm not a fan of ebooks ever, but I'm diving into audiobooks these last few days from online streaming sites. And honestly I have tons of books I own and haven't read and could be sequestered for years probably before running out of books to read for the first time. The internet has changed things for the better not only because of the digital book options but also because it's so easy to find used books at good prices.

Yes, I was going to say add The Mirror & The Light and the new Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman. Seem like contenders.

Peggy wrote: "Yes, I was going to say add The Mirror & The Light and the new Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman. Seem like contenders."

About 600 pages into The Mirror & the Light, it has the same magic as the first 2!

lark wrote: "Everyone should know what I just learned in the Mookse and Gripes website--Scribd is offering free access to ebooks and audiobooks for the next 30 days, no card needed!

https://blog.scribd.com/hom..."

Well that's a game-changer... thanks so much for sharing! My new plan is to get through a ton of 2020 fiction audiobooks through this app in the next 30 days. LOL

First up will be Sharks in the Time of Saviors since it sounds excellent and my library only had a hard copy.

Don't sleep on previous TOB winner Samanta Schweblin's new one Little Eyes.

Lauren wrote: "lark wrote: "Everyone should know what I just learned in the Mookse and Gripes website--Scribd is offering free access to ebooks and audiobooks for the next 30 days, no card needed!

https://blog.s..."

Just a heads up, they will throttle you and take away a lot of the titles after 2 or 3 books, some might still be there, but I would start with the ones you are most interested in.

Powell's Books is in danger of closing forever. I know all of our local indie bookstores are struggling, but if Powell's closes, it will be hard to ever replicate. It's not my local bookstore but I'm going to buy all my books from Powells.com in hopes of helping it survive. http://www.powells.com/featured/commu...

Edit: and they were the original ToB sponsor

thanks for the heads up Jason. I'll be ordering some of my backlog wishlist ASAP from them.

Bob wrote: "Don't sleep on previous TOB winner Samanta Schweblin's new one Little Eyes."

Dangit, not out til May! You got me excited!

Kip wrote: "Lauren wrote: "lark wrote: "Everyone should know what I just learned in the Mookse and Gripes website--Scribd is offering free access to ebooks and audiobooks for the next 30 days, no card needed!
..."

Oh wow, I'm unfamiliar with Scribd so I didn't know what to expect. I "bookmarked" the eight titles I'm interested in. Will that signal them to start pulling some of those, or is it only when I actually download and listen to them? I guess getting 2-3 new audiobooks for free isn't a terrible deal at least. Thanks for the heads up!

Bookmarking is fine! I think you have to reach a certain point in the last book before they disappear some future books but what you are listening to will remain there may be a pattern on which books they take away based on publisher but I have never looked into it. My hospital gets a discount on a yearly subscription (I feel I might be the only person who utilizes this), so I just use it to supplement my library titles.

Just listen to the ones you want and then some grouping of old and new titles will disappear and if you are lucky you may get a couple more on your list to hang around.

Jason wrote: "Powell's Books is in danger of closing forever. I know all of our local indie bookstores are struggling, but if Powell's closes, it will be hard to ever replicate. It's not my local bookstore but I..."

Yes, it's true. Powell's has temporarily laid off 85% of their workforce (including me) and closed all five retail stores. They are still offering online book orders, so please order if you can. You may know that Powell's staff is unionized, and our union has set up a fund to help laid off workers. If you order through this link, you can support both Powell's and their displaced workers. Something like 7.5% of sales goes to a worker relief fund. Click on the Powell's button at the bottom.

https://www.ilwulocal5.com/

Also, so I don't completely derail the intended purpose of this thread, Keith Rosson (of Smoke City and Mercy of the Tide fame) has a new one coming out. It's called Road Seven and comes out in July. Here's the GR listing:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Thanks Diana - hadn’t hit “checkout” on my order yet so I’ll switch over to your link!

Is there a list set up for potential 2021 ToB contenders yet?

I would highly recommend a book I just finished - Real Life by Brandon Taylor. I feel a bit wrecked honestly, can't even review it in Instagram yet.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I would highly recommend a book I just finished - Real Life by Brandon Taylor. I feel a bit wrecked honestly, can't even review it in Instagram yet."

Nice. Been on my TBR for awhile, moving it up a few spots now.

Kip wrote: Just a heads up, they will throttle you and take away a lot of the titles after 2 or 3 books, some might still be there, but I would start with the ones you are most interested in.
..."

omg, this totally happened! In an even more draconian way than you describe. The Mirror in the Light was the first book I requested and I was loving it and the next day it was GONE, with a note saying "Available April 19," which happens to be the day after my free 30 days is over. Oh, well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line which deals with the topic of child trafficking in India.

I went ahead and started a list of potential 2021 Tournament books. Please go ahead and add books to this list! I hope I didn't step on any toes by starting the list.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Thanks Alison!

Amy wrote: "Thanks Diana - hadn’t hit “checkout” on my order yet so I’ll switch over to your link!"

Thank you so much, Amy!!!

Alison wrote: "I went ahead and started a list of potential 2021 Tournament books. Please go ahead and add books to this list! I hope I didn't step on any toes by starting the list.

https://www.goodreads.com/lis..."

Thanks for this!!

I am eager to tackle all of these suggestions. I am ready for a new avenue. I love 'new, different, unusual' but when 'new, different, unusual' becomes what is being pedestrian-ly served up, I am eager to move on. I think The Lost Book of Adana Moreau sounds brilliant, making me think a bit of Luminaries.
2021 roll on!

lark wrote: "Kip wrote: Just a heads up, they will throttle you and take away a lot of the titles after 2 or 3 books, some might still be there, but I would start with the ones you are most interested in.
..."..."

I'm really confused about Scribd. On my version there's no requesting, I just save/bookmark some audiobooks and then download them to my phone. I've already listened to three and hope to get in about five more before the 30 days are up. I'm not sure if they would be able to undownload them, but so far it's working out...

BUT! Something really weird is happening. The app jumps around in the story, which is super frustrating! At first I thought Night Theater was just repeating itself for some literary effect (like in Fleishman) but I didn't understand why, and it made me like the book a little less. Then it happened again with the next one I listened to, and then a bunch of times with this last book I just finished. I've been trying to closely monitor my progression to see if it's jumping back to the chapter before, but it looks like it's still moving forward continuously. It's so confusing and annoying. Does anyone else know about this? I mean it's hard to complain about something that gives me a good amount of free new audiobooks, but yikes. It's like constant deja vu, but not in a fun way.

Lauren wrote: "lark wrote: "Kip wrote: Just a heads up, they will throttle you and take away a lot of the titles after 2 or 3 books, some might still be there, but I would start with the ones you are most interes..."

I would say to run with is for as long as you still have access! They do not take away every single books, just a large segment of them. You can listen to as many as you want in a month, it's just the pool that you can choose from shrinks eventually. I would say it's possible that they took away the throttling during this time (I took a break from my account as I was accumulating a Libby backlog so I don't know firsthand) but it seems like Lark had the opposite problem! Also, Bob and I compared last year during TOB and we had different books available..... so I would say there is some kind of algorithm guiding something.

I use the bookmarks for Scribd just about every time i finish a listening session because i also noticed some hopping around. On one hand the app is very user-unfriendly, on the other it's really nice to get brand new books on audio with no other holds or waits to deal with.

And finally, after finishing it, it wouldn't surprise me if The Mirror & the Light won the Booker also, so could very easily be in the TOB next year.

Kip wrote: "Lauren wrote: "lark wrote: "Kip wrote: Just a heads up, they will throttle you and take away a lot of the titles after 2 or 3 books, some might still be there, but I would start with the ones you a..."

Good to know - thank you!

Also, I'm listening to These Ghosts Are Family and am loving it. Warning: it reminds me of GWO, which sometimes makes me compare the two. That's not a good idea, so I keep telling my brain to stop the comparison. ;)