Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Hey y'all! I've seen a few people mention that they are reading the Tournament of Books shortlist, so I thought I'd start a thread for us to chat leading up to the tournament beginning.

Here's a list (in alphabetical order):
Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

For those of you who don't know what we are chatting about, you can find information on the Tournament of Books here: https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/

UPDATE:
I'll post the results of the tournament as they come out!

ROUND 1

Play In Winner: My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy vs. Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
WINNER: Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra vs.The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
WINNER: The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka vs. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
WINNER: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin vs. Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
WINNER: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel vs. Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
WINNER: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb vs. Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
WINNER: The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty vs. My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi
WINNER: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González vs. Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
WINNER: Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

I read (most of) last year's list, and I find this year's list to be WAY more approachable in terms of style and substance of the books. My library had all of these novels, which was not true of last year's list.

I happened to read both Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Violin Conspiracy last year and thought they were both outstanding. So far this year, I've read Sea of Tranquility and The Rabbit Hutch, and I have Olga Dies Dreaming in progress.

I think my favorites so far have been Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Violin Conspiracy, though The Rabbit Hutch was a surprise enjoyment for me.

I have not been following yet this year. I have already read Olga Dies Dreaming, Sea of Tranquility, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. All 3 were excellent, but if I had to pick one it would be Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

As a whole, I already like this year's books better than last year's. They are also easier to find at my library! (Last year was the first time I heard of this). The books I've read so far have been great. I think my order of preference so far is Olga Dies Dreaming, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Sea of Tranquility. I'm currently reading Dinosaurs. Not sure where it's going, but I am really enjoying it. Nightcrawling is up next for me, and I'm looking forward to reading a (fairly) local author. Then I have another 4 currently on hold at the library. I always do a "March Madness of Books" competition in my classroom (picture books) so when I heard there was an adult version of this, I was all over it!

I found it AGES ago when The Fault in Our Stars made the list, but last year was the first year I attempted to read all of them and... what a doozy. This year is definitely more managable.

Katherine, I'm surprised you liked Olga more than Tomorrow! I'm not 100 pages in yet, but I am enjoying it so I'm excited to see where it takes me.

Emily wrote: "I found it AGES ago when The Fault in Our Stars made the list, but last year was the first year I attempted to read all of them and... what a doozy. This year is definitely more man..."

I loved the Brooklyn setting of Olga Dies Dreaming. But then, I grew up in Brooklyn.

I’ve read 5 of them so far… you didn’t include the play in round in the list, and I just finished one of those too (2 A.M. in Little America). I’ve mostly liked everything, but my favorite so far is TaTaT. Up next is Violin, on audio.

I haven't read any of these yet, but several are on my TBR short list, so I should be getting to them soon.

Violin on audio is wonderful!!

I agree, Emily. I listened to Violin on audio and almost missed an appointment because I couldn't stop listening. I'm excited to see what Slocumb writes next.

I've read a surprising 5 (Violin, Tomorrow, Nightcrawling, Mercury Pictures Presents, and Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance). I loved Violin and Tomorrow, thought Nightcrawling was an excellent debut by an author with a lot of promise, and thought Mercury and Notes were good but not my favorites.

I have Rabbit Hutch and Olga Dies Dreaming on my stack to read this month, so glad to know you all rate them both highly!

I picked Nightcrawling for my book club to read in September 2023 before the TOB list came out, so now I'm debating if I want to try to read it before March or if I'll just wait until September so it's fresh for book club. Decisions.

I'm definitely skipping the Cormac McCarthy novel (long library holds + him as an author lol), and my library didn't have Manhunt so I'll probably skip that one as well.

I didn't include the play in round because I already felt overwhelmed trying to get through this list lol but I may try to read whichever one makes it in.

This list intruigues me! I haven't read any yet but some on my TBR and just added more. So many at my library too. Glad to hear I'm not the only McCarthy non fan ;)

I just finished Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution and UGH it might be my pick for the winner of the tournament. It was so, so good.

Ok I've read a lot of the picks, so I want to have a place where I can update how I think the bracket will go. Feel free to copy mine and put your own results!

ROUND 1

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
vs.
🏅Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
vs.
🏅 The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
vs.
🏅 Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

🏅 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
vs.
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
vs.
🏅 Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang

🏅 The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
vs.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
vs.
🏅 Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

🏅 The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
vs.
My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi

QUARTERFINALS

🏅 Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
vs.
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
vs.
🏅 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

🏅 Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
vs.
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
THE HARDEST DECISION!

🏅 Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
vs.
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

SEMIFINALS

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
vs.
🏅 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

🏅 Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
vs.
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

FINALS

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
vs.
🏅 Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang

I"m reading Olga Dies Dreaming and I like it, but will probably end up 4 stars. I tried The Rabbit Hutch but coudn't get into it. The ones I'm most excited about on hold: Tomorrow, Violin, Sea of T. Does voting happen every month or does it go faster than that?

There's no voting -- the winners are decided by a panel of judges. They post a new matchup each weekday of the month, starting on March 8. You can sign up for the newsletter and they will email you the decision each day... I enjoy it because the judges do a great job of writing out their reasoning behind their judgement and it usually makes me look at the books in a different way.

Emily wrote: "I just finished Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution and UGH it might be my pick for the winner of the tournament. It was so,..."

I'm excited to read it! I got it from BotM and hope to get it read this month.

Oh, interesting! It will be fun to see their critiques compared to my experience

Perri wrote: "Oh, interesting! It will be fun to see their critiques compared to my experience"

That's my favorite part too. It's always heartbreaking when a book I love gets out early, but this year's selections are all so good that I'm hoping one of my favorites makes it through.

Brooke, I also added it on from BOTM and it was such a quick read (despite being 550 pages).

I have a lot to read still. Curse you library holds!!
Here is the beginning of mine:
ROUND 1

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
vs.
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
vs.
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeidaby Shehan Karunatilaka
vs.
🏅 Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

🏅 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
vs.
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet

Sea of Tranquilityby Emily St. John Mandel
vs.
🏅 Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
vs.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

🏅Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
vs.
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

🏅The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
vs.
Play-In Winner (2 A.M. in Little America by Ken Kalfus, An Island by Karen Jennings, My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi)

QUARTERFINALS

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy OR Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
vs.
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra OR The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
vs.
🏅Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Babel by R.F. Kuang
vs.
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb OR Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

🏅Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
vs.
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

SEMIFINALS

TBD

FINALS

Happy first day of the Tournament! I didn't read any of the play-in books so I have no opinions about today's results lol but I did update my brackets to reflect new books that I've read.

I've read:
✔️Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
✔️Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
✔️Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
✔️Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
✔️Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
✔️The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
✔️Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
✔️Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
✔️The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

Emily, which were your favorites, other than Babel?

I only read 3 so far, and I liked them all:
The Book of Goose
Sea of Tranquility
Dinosaur.

I'll probably read 4 or 5 more - The last two are scheduled book club reads. and 2 or 3 fit upcoming challenges. I've been putting off Babel but I'll read it this month. I really don't want to read Manhunt. I have Notes on your Disappearance on my phone.

Babel was my most favorite, but I've liked most of the ones I've read.

Nightcrawling was VERY intense -- very well written but needs all of the trigger warnings.

Mouth to Mouth was good, and is also under 200 pages so it's a quick read.

Olga, Tomorrow, and Violin were all pretty easy reads, in that they weren't very literary and felt more like a contemporary fiction read rather than something that requires a lot of thought (I mean, they are definitely thinkers, but they don't require much while reading).

I just got my hold of Seven Moons from the library but I don't know if I'm going to jump into it... this week has been really heavy and I'm craving some lighter books, so I may just let it go back to the library. I also have Mercury Pictures Presents in print, but I haven't read it yet.

Which was your favorite out of those three, NancyJ?

I read Sea of Tranquility long before the others, and it’s still my favorite (even though the beginning was hard to get into). The Book of Goose got me thinking about other books and child prodigies, which added some spark. Dinosaurs was a very pleasant read, but it lacked energy. I bought Babel, so I’ll read it soon, especially after seeing your comments. I forgot that I read part of Olga. It was a busy week, and I kept falling asleep. I can’t blame the book. I own Violin and Tomorrow, but I’ll wait for the bookclub months.

UPDATE
✔️ = Completed, ⭐= Favorites

✔️⭐Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
✔️⭐The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
✔️Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
✔️Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
✔️⭐Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
✔️The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

I’ve read Violin and Sea of Tranquility. I liked them both but give Sea the edge for creativity.

I'm going to update the first post of this thread as the results come in!

I'm 3 for 3 on my bracket so far! So excited Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance won out this round against a tough competitor.

Devastated that Babel got out in the first round! Especially to Sea of Tranquility which I just found so-so.

Emily wrote: "Devastated that Babel got out in the first round! Especially to Sea of Tranquility which I just found so-so."

What? That is shocking.

I better get to Babel!

ooooo an upset! Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance unseated Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow! I agree, truly, but I'm surprised nonetheless.

As I'm planning my reads for next year, I'm already thinking about what books the Tournament of Books will choose. There's always some outliers, but I found this listopia that I thought gave some good ideas: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I could see all of the books on this listopia in next year's Tournament. I've read 8 of them and can see why they've gotten attention and acclaim. Several others on the list are on my list to read before the end of the year, as long as I don't keep getting distracted by shiny, new titles.

I've read:
All the Sinners Bleed
I Have Some Questions for You
Birnam Wood
The Bandit Queens
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself
Crook Manifesto
Rouge
House of Cotton

Wow, I have read zero of the books you've read, Brooke, though my book club has I Have Some Questions for You slotted in for October, so I'll definitely have that one done.

I've only read The Guest, Shark Heart, and The Covenant of Water (which I DNF'd), off this list.

I definitely want to read more books from this list because I really *don't* want to try to squeeze 16-18 literary fiction books in January and February. Leaning towards at least reading Birnam Wood since it's on the longer end lol. Any recommendations from what you've read?

The Guest and Shark Heart are on my "I own and plan to read by the end of the year" list.

I enjoyed Birnam Wood, although it was slower-paced than I expected. I loved All the Sinners Bleed but it was dark. Based on what I've heard you say about other books in general, it isn't one I'd recommend for you. (If you've read and liked any of his other works, then go for it, but this was darker than them.) I liked I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself and the way it dealt with cancel culture and shaming people. I Have Some Questions for You is a good choice for book clubs. It isn't as literary as her last novel but still deals with strong discussion topics. I enjoyed it.

Others from the listopia that are on my higher priority list:
Yellowface
Lone Women
Chain-Gang All-Stars
The Vaster Wilds
Our Share of Night
All-Night Pharmacy

I'm definitely going to read Yellowface, but I'm saving it for January and the "connected to something you read in 2023" prompt. I also really enjoyed Fates and Furies, so I'll probably pick up Vaster Wilds this year as well.

And yea, S.A. Crosby is tough, even for me, so I'll probably put that one off until I know it's on the list lol.

Let's see... from that list, my goal is to read these this year:
Chain-Gang All-Stars
I Have Some Questions for You
Birnam Wood
The Vaster Wilds
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

The only one that has a wait at my library is Chain-Gang but hopefully I can get it by the end of the year.

I've loved Crosby's novels and don't usually have an issue with a darker subject, but this new one involves kids. So...just know that going in if you decide to read it. I read a lighter book at the same time and switched between them.

That being said, it was very well written. I can see it getting nominated for the same awards he won last year for Razorblade Tears. And I'll still add whatever his next novel is to my list as soon as I hear about it. He won't write about kids in consecutive novels, right?

One would hope! Yea, I'll skip lol

Out of the list I have only read
Lone Women (western/"horror")
The Bandit Queens
The Dog of the North
Big Swiss
I liked them all, but especially liked the first two.

These are the ones I hope to read soon:
Yellowface
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
Chain-Gang All-Stars
I Have Some Questions for You
Still Born

The Bee Sting seems interesting, but very long. It's also not at my library, yet. I'm curious about what people thought about some of the others on the list!

I really loved Shark Heart a lot... one of my top books of August.

I think I gave The Guest 2 stars. There was no backstory to the character, very little plot, and an unsatisfying ending. You have to have at least one of the three to get stars from me lol. But at least it was super short.

The Covenant of Water, on the other hand, was a million hours long and I'd say audiobook is not the way to go. The author narrates it and he just wasn't great to listen to. I ended up DNF'ing at 10%, which was like... 4 and a half hours of listening. I may try it again in print if it does make the Tournament list but otherwise, it will stay on my attempted-to-read shelf.

Katherine wrote: "Out of the list I have only read
Lone Women (western/"horror")
The Bandit Queens
The Dog of the North
Big Swiss
I liked them all, but..."

⭐I really loved The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. The characters and storylines were often surprising. It was fresh and inviting, and I just loved spending time there.

I enjoyed the Bandit Queens when I read it, but it didn't have a lasting impact on me.

I want to read Covenant of Water, but the length is a real deterrent. I have too many other books vying for my attention that are a fraction of the size.

My book club is reading YellowFace in November.

I'm in charge of picking a book by a Black author for my IRL book club's book in February... I'm definitely waiting to see what the list has (I'm hoping for Chain-Gang All-Stars) before deciding on my pick lol

Are any of you planning to follow the Tournament of Favorites this year? It should be starting this week over at the ToB group. The group’s favorites from the odd year long lists were chosen for an 8 book bracket, with volunteer judges. (I’m one of them.)

The books are:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Tell The Wolves I'm Home
The Book of Strange New Things
LaRose
Circe
The Great Believers
Hamnet
Horse

Chrissy wrote: "Are any of you planning to follow the Tournament of Favorites this year? It should be starting this week over at the ToB group. The group’s favorites from the odd year long lists were chosen for an..."

I had planned on following it, but I only ended up reading 3/8 of the books. I wanted to finish at least The Great Believers and LaRose and maybe The Thousand Autumns... before I looked at any of the judging. So, maybe I'll end up reading the thread in November! :-)

I'm not a member of the group (truthfully, mod-ing this group is more than enough Goodreads for me to handle), so I didn't know that this was going on. But that's a great lineup!