The Tournament of Books Discussion Thread!

Yay! The Morning News Tournament of Books has just announced their shortlist, the zombie list and the judges!

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-2016-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and...

For the uninitiated, the Tournament of Books is run like a basketball competition - two books are pitted against each other, with the winner advancing to the next round of competition. Each judge reads the two books, writes about them and declares a winner. At the end, two books are brought back in a final zombie round - two books that were voted on by readers - to compete with the finalists. At the end a winner is declared, but along the way there is a spirited discussion about books; in the essays written by the judges, in the color commentary from the two Morning News editors who organize the tournament and in the comments section. It is the most fun, and the most transparent, of the literary awards.

So what do you think about the shortlist? Have you read any of these titles? Do you plan to read any of these?

The New World: A Novel by Chris Adrian and Eli Horowitz
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Ban en Banlieue by Bhanu Kapil
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Whites by Richard Price
Oreo by Fran Ross
The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard
The Invaders by Karolina Waclawiak
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

I expected Fates and Furies to be included, as well as A Little Life. I would have been disappointed had A Little Life been excluded, as I read it last year and felt it to be brilliant, but to also suffer, fatally, from both affluenza and bloat.

I'm happy A Spool of Blue Thread made the list, as I loved it.

The only one familiar to me is Bats of the Republic which is an epistolary style book which I bought because it reminded me of S. which was a blast to read. I started it but got distracted and will have to get back into it again.

i have read none of them. I am not surprised to see A Little Life or Fates and Furies on there, but am surprised not to see City on Fire, which seemed to get a lot of buzz when it came out. This year's list is not exciting me, unfortunately. Bats of the Republic is the only one that perks my interest. I'll wait to read all your reviews to find out what's worth reading.

I'm also sad that Gold Fame Citrus didn't make the cut.

Shannon, I was also surprised at the omission of City on Fire, but also relieved as it's massive and I'm unenthusiastic about reading it.

I've been interested in reading The Turner House, so that will be my third book on this shortlist. I had abandoned Fates and Furies, but there is no help for it now - I've got to pick it up again.

I haven't read any of the books but I am very happy to see Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf included as he is one of my favorite authors who sadly passed away recently.

I need to go through the list as I am sure I will be adding a few of these to my reading list.

I haven't read any yet but have Fates and Furies and The Tsar of Love and Techno on my bookshelf ready to read. In fact, I started Fates and Furies during lunch after I had seen the list. Not terribly impressed so far but have hope that it will improve.

Also excited to see the book from Kent Haruf included as I loved his first book and have the second book waiting to read as well. Now I have an extra incentive to read the others soon. Intrigued by the inclusion of Bats of the Republic as I had heard the author interview, thought the books sounded quite different and interesting and put it on my wishlist.

Have placed an order with the library for all the books on the list that I don't own, except for Ban en Banlieue which they don't have any copies of. We'll see how many I actually get to read.

>7 RidgewayGirl: Maybe its length is why they left it out! Who could blame them?

Let's see I read Turner House, which I enjoyed, Our Souls at Night-wonderful, Spool of Blue Thread(not bad not great)

I have been trying to get my mitts on Fates and Furies and A Little Life for a while, but unless the library obtains more copies of the book, it will be a year or more!

I also wanted to read The Tsar of Love and Techno which is only available in audio format at the moment.

I'll have to comb through the list again to see if there's anything else that I might be interested in.

>2 RidgewayGirl: - Kay - your link in post #2 to "The New World" is to the Winston Churchill book.

I'd only heard of a couple of these before the list came out and I might need to get to them sooner rather than later.

Betty, I know. I can't figure out how to get the touchstone to change as that title is not on the dropdown list.

If you go to the link in the first post, after the list of books you are given the option of voting on the zombie books - the books that readers choose to reenter the competition after they've been knocked out in an earlier round. Last year it was a zombie book that took the competition. I cast my vote for A Spool of Blue Thread.

Stacey, neither of the two libraries I can get ebooks from list Ban en Banlieue. I looked at buying a copy, but I'm unwilling to pay $15 for an 80 page book. Maybe if it sweeps through the competition and all the judges rave about it. I also have a visceral dislike of the front cover.

>14 RidgewayGirl: - Kay, I went to the author and noticed that the novel is listed there with ":A Novel" at the end ( which I dislike immensely on a book - of course it's a novel - but less about my rant). I've had problems before listing books without putting that at the end. Worth a try?

Thanks, Betty. It's fixed now.

I haven't read any of the listed books yet, but there are a few that sound interesting. I've had A Spool of Blue Thread and A Little Life on the list and added a few more yesterday after a first quick check when the list was published. But I need to take a closer look, and also check what is available from the library. In the end I won't read more than 2 before the tournament starts, but will follow along and check out the judges' and your opinions. :)

Edit - Note to myself: the library only has A Spool of Blue Thread, Avenue of Mysteries and Die Unantastbaren (German version of The Whites)

>14 RidgewayGirl: - Yeah, I have a pretty strong dislike for the cover of Ban en Banlieue too. Nothing about it makes me want to pick up the book much less read it.

Finished Fates and Furies this weekend and was not terribly impressed with it. I picked up 6 TOB books from the library this weekend and started in on the The Whites which so far is quite good. It's more of a mystery novel so completely up my alley. After finishing that one I'll most likely start on The Story of My Teeth.

>19 LittleTaiko: I'm also starting with The Whites (on audio). I chose it because it's one of the few immediately available at my local library, but I'm also a fan of police procedurals.

I'll be reading The Turner House by Angela Flournoy, as soon as I finish last year's contestant, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

I've got Our Souls at Night requested from the library. Says it's "in transit" so I should have it in a couple of days.

The Whites just won the international category of Deutscher Krimi Preis (German crime fiction award). I'm glad I already have that one on my "need to get to soon" list.

>23 Chrischi_HH: - Hope you get a chance to read it soon as I ended up enjoying it. There were a few flaws I think but still a quick and fun read. I absolutely loved the last sentence of the book.

Right now, I'm about halfway through The New World: A Novel and it's quite quirky and I'm loving it.

I picked up Our Souls at Night and The Whites today at the library. I think I'll start with Our Souls at Night as I was planning to read one of Kent Haruf's works sometime this year. Plus it's small so I should able to finish it fairly quickly.

I've just finished The Turner House by Angela Flournoy. It was excellent. It's similar to A Spool of Blue Thread in that it's about adult children having to decide on the fate of the family home.

Having read three contestants, I thought I'd rank them based on my feelings so far:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. A Little Life

With one and two being almost interchangeable and three being very far below. I've begun The Whites.

I've just finished my first book Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf. Since it's the only book I've read so far, I guess it becomes my #1 book. I've also started The Whites by Robert Price.

Right now my ranking would be:

1. The New World: A Novel
2. The Whites
3. Fates & Furies

I'm about to start Our Souls at Night and Avenue of Mysteries.

I've finished my second book on the list The Whites by Richard Price. It's so different than the first book I read that it's hard to decide how to rank them. If forced to choose, I guess I would go with:

1. The Whites by Richard Price
2. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

I'll be interested to see what books go into which brackets. Would make it easier.

Betty, I'm in the middle of The Whites now and it's picking up.

I'm also so curious as to which books will compete against each other in the first round. So curious. But we won't find out until the first day of the tournament, when we'll get a list of all the first round pairings. I'd like The Turner House to go against A Spool of Blue Thread just because those books share a similar basic scaffolding.

I think Kay that that's the reason I'm having trouble with just the 2 books that I've read. I can't imagine them in the same bracket so can't decide which I like more. And I obviously need to get going and read more books.

I've finished The Whites. I like crime fiction, especially of the gritty variety. This one was okay. It was slow starting, but I was involved by the end. It wasn't fantastic and it wasn't bad.

So here's my amended ranking:

1.The Turner House
2.A Spool of Blue Thread
3.A Little Life
4.The Whites

I feel like there should be a space between 2 and 3. The first two are books I consider excellent and I'd be happy with either winning. I've put The Whites below A Little Life because while A Little Life infuriated me, it was a book that aimed high and missed, whereas The Whites seems to me like a solid, dark police procedural. Good enough, but not ground-breaking.

I'll be weighing in on The Whites soon. I was surprised it was not only available at the library, but that I was next for it and it showed up this morning.

The brackets have been announced! And now I have to go read Fates and Furies because it's up first.

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/the-brackets-for-the-morning-news-2016-tou...

>34 RidgewayGirl: - Now I can plan my reading a bit better! Just got Bats of the Republic from the library so hope to get to it soon.

I finished Our Souls at Night and gave up on The Invaders. My revised rankings right now are:

1. The New World: A Novel
2. Our Souls at Night
3. The Whites
4. Fates & Furies
5. The Invaders

Really it's a toss up between the first two right now and it would depend on my mood on any given day - am I feeling quirky or sentimental?

Should be finishing The Story of My Teeth soon which so far has been bizarre but oddly compelling.

That's interesting as the only 2 books I've read are pitted against each other in the first round. need to try and get a couple more read if I can.

Betty, I think it's the most fun when you've read both books. I'm going to focus on the ones paired with books I've read now, although still not reading Ban en Banlieue. Maybe the judge will convince me it's worth paying 15 euros for an 80 page book with a naked dead girl on the front.

I can't see me reading that one either. Our Souls at Night was only @ 176 (9?) pages. I think I'm going to try and read A Spool of Blue Thread next since it's available at a couple of libraries that are close. Then I'll see if I can get a couple more on overdrive and maybe read them while I'm on vacation.

I am reminding myself to finish the books available from the library before placing an order or running by the bookstore. May run by the bookstore tomorrow anyway, just to remind the books that I am there for them.

I finished The Whites and Our Souls at Night and enjoyed both very much, though they were such different books. I'm halfway through The Tsar of Love and Techno and loving it so far. I can see this one making it through the rounds.

So I finished Fates and Furies. It was interesting. Groff was good in how she built up the character of Lotto - he's charming, charismatic, talented, wealthy and attractive and she let his part of the book unfold until almost the very end before laying out his fatal flaw explicitly (although there were plenty of instances earlier). I liked it, admired the writing and find it falls right in the middle of the books I've read so far. Here's how it stands for me:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. A Little Life
5. The Whites

I'm beginning to think I may not have read all the books before the tournament begins! ; )

I will for sure be reading Fates and Furies because my bookclub will be reading that one in July.

Finished a couple of others The Story of My Teeth which was so unusual and clever that it may have been a bit too clever and A Spool of Blue Thread. Not sure if this book is typical of Tyler's usual work or not. Are most of her books about nothing really happening but instead are general observations about a family?

For now, here is my revised list.

1. The New World: A Novel
2. Our Souls at Night
3. The Story of My Teeth
4. The Whites
5. A Spool of Blue Thread
6. Fates & Furies
7. The Invaders

Hoping to finish up The Sympathizer and The Sellout this week before heading on to the rest of the list. The one I most doubt I'll get to is A Little Life as I'm still way down on the list at the library. However, if I somehow get the rest of them read then I'll probably break down and buy it.

>43 LittleTaiko: I'm impressed that you've finished 7 books already!

I just finished The Tsar of Love and Techno. I loved everything about it: the complexity, the characters, the structure, the beautiful writing, the unexpected humour and the memorable lines. I'll be very disappointed if this book doesn't make it to the final rounds.

>44 mathgirl40: I keep hearing good things about the Marra book.

I've now read The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard, which was a sad, melancholic book, made readable by the child narrator who just lives his life in the Warsaw Ghetto, and the absence of specific dates, so that I wasn't always aware of how many more days they had. This is a forceful story about a good man fighting impossible odds, but refusing to do anything but continue caring for the children in his charge.

New ranking:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Book of Aron
5. A Little Life
6. The Whites

(Why are touchstones not working? I find that annoying.)

>44 mathgirl40: - I'm impatiently waiting to read that one. I actually own it but have been trying to get through my library books first. Happy to know it's something to look forward to.

>45 RidgewayGirl: - Yes, the touchstones have been on the blink for the last couple of days it seems and it has been very annoying. Liked your review of The Book of Aron. I'm hoping to get to that one this weekend or next week.

ETA - finally broke down and bought A Little Life and it should be here Friday. Just couldn't stand the idea of not reading that one since it should do well in the tournament. Plus, there have been so many positive reviews for it and I can't help but be interested.

Stacey, how are you liking A Little Life so far?

I wanted to buy a copy of The Tsar of Love and Techno as the libraries I can get ebooks from don't have it. Unfortunately, it won't be released in Germany until August - months after the tournament is over!

I'm now deciding between Oreo and The Story of my Teeth, although since I'm currently reading two and have access to another two titles, it might be more sensible to just read those for now.

I read Oreo last year and did not like it. I'm surprised it's on the list as it was first published in the 1970s.

>47 RidgewayGirl: - So far so good with A Little Life. I just started it yesterday so am only a few chapters in. Looking forward to learning more about each of these guys.

Also started The Tsar of Love and Techno as well as Bats of the Republic and am really liking those too. Compared to the above three Turner House is suffering in comparison.

>48 avatiakh: - I was surprised too to find it on the list since it was originally published awhile ago and only reissued last year. I just ordered it as it's been on order for quite some time with my library and I doubt they'll get it anytime so one.

One thing I've noticed with my current reading - it's a lot more testosterone-fueled than my usual choices would be. I'm not sure what I think about that. I've just finished The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, which is about the Vietnam War and its aftermath from the perspective of the inhabitants. It's also a thriller of sorts involving a secret operative of the Viet Cong undercover as an aide to a general working with the Americans, especially the CIA. And it's about the experience of being a refugee, being someone who is both Vietnamese and a westerner, and belonging nowhere.

New rankings:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Sympathizer
5. The Book of Aron
6. A Little Life
7. The Whites

I'm very much not liking Avenue of Mysteries, but I'm persevering with it. I've also started The Sellout.

>50 RidgewayGirl: - I hadn't quite thought of it like that but now that you mention it there is definitely a lot of testosterone flowing in these books. Granted I'm also about halfway though A Little Life which is pure testosterone.

I finished a couple of others during the week The Turner House , The Sympathizer, and Bats of the Republic. Bats was so entertaining and creative that it's currently my top pick. However, the fact that I'm being completely drawn into A Little Life and have a hard time putting it down may mean that it won't stay on top for long. Plus there is the Tsar of Love and Techno that I'm loving too.

My current rankings are:

1. Bats of the Republic
2. The New World: A Novel
3. The Sympathizer
4. Our Souls at Night
5. The Story of My Teeth
6. The Whites
7. The Turner House
8. A Spool of Blue Thread
9. Fates & Furies
10. The Invaders

I just finished The New World and this is my ranking so far.

1. The Tsar of Love and Techno
2. The Whites
3. Our Souls at Night
4. The New World

Even though I have The New World last on my list, I actually did think it was a very interesting book. It didn't grab me the way the others did, but I'm really looking forward to hearing the judges' opinion of it.

I can't believe it took me so long to find the ToB thread here! Here's my ranking so far, of the entrants I've read:

1. The Story of My Teeth
2. Our Souls at Night
3. The Book of Aron
4. A Little Life
5. Oreo
6. The Invaders

I'm hoping to read at least Fates and Furies before March and am very interested in eventually getting my hands on The Sellout and The Turner House, too!

A few of the nominees aren't appealing to me at all right now (A Spool of Blue Thread, Avenue of Mysteries, The Whites) so I'm interested to read the critical commentary once the competition starts and perhaps change my mind (or not) about reading them eventually.

By the time I'd read the first third of The Sellout, I hated the book so much. I wanted to throw it violently against the wall. But by the time I was reading the final third, I was involved in it completely. I'm not sure whether the book calmed down and gained coherency as it went along or whether I acclimated. In any case, I'll have to think a bit before writing a review.

New rankings:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Book of Aron
5. The Sympathizer
6. The Sellout
7. A Little Life
8. The Whites

And I have a new favorite for the tournament with A Little Life. That book just killed me (in a good way I suppose). I'm sad though that it's going up against The New World right up front as I loved both books and hate for either one to lose in the first round.

My current rankings are:

1. A Little Life
2. Bats of the Republic
3. The New World: A Novel
4. The Sympathizer
5. Our Souls at Night
6. The Story of My Teeth
7. The Whites
8. The Turner House
9. A Spool of Blue Thread
10. Fates & Furies
11. The Invaders

I'm a little bit annoyed - my library hold on The Whites somehow disappeared from the system. It was due around now, so I checked and couldn't find it. So I had to start all over again and am now 2nd in the queue. :( This means that I won't have read any of the participating books before the tournament starts, but will hopefully do so afterwards.

Stacey, I feel like A Little Life will enable a great discussion. I read the first 350 pages with enormous enjoyment, but then I began to see a few issues, one of which soured me on the book. This is certainly a book that does not leave a reader saying, "meh," at the end!

One more Tournament book read. Our Souls at Night was a bittersweet story simply told. It was enjoyable, but slight.

New rankings:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Book of Aron
5. The Sympathizer
6. The Sellout
7. A Little Life
8. Our Souls at Night
9. The Whites

>57 RidgewayGirl: This echoes my experience with A Little Life almost exactly! I read it last spring and have found it to be one of those books I can't make up my mind about - I initially labeled it 2 stars, then came back and bumped it all the way to 4, and have since compromised on 3 out of 5, which captures my ambivalence pretty well.

>59 KLmesoftly: I'm so looking forward to the conversation around A Little Life. The comments section for each round are well worth reading - a lot of very opinionated readers.

I'm trying to fit in as many ToB books as possible this week. A New World: A Novel is really fun so far, as is Oreo, which has an interesting style. On the other hand, I am persevering with Avenue of Mysteries although this may be abandoned (again) soon. In it, the elderly, confused main character is helped out by a much younger woman and her daughter, who help him negotiate his travel to the Philippines. He thinks mainly about his blood pressure medication and how much viagra he should take in case one, or both, women decide to visit his hotel room in the night. And then this happens, after which he receives help putting his shoes on.

I had to take a bit of break and read some other books just for fun! Not that this isn't fun, but it was nice to read something just because I wanted to. I do need to finish Book of Aron this week as it's due back to the library this weekend. I'm about halfway through so should finish soon. Overall, it hasn't been my type of book but that is mainly because I don't seem to be a fan of books told from a child's point of view. Not sure why that is exactly, but it just bugs me.

Stacey, I've been interspersing my ToB reading with books I'm reading just because they appeal. But I was telling my husband about how happy I've been to stretch my reading a bit - I do like to get in a comfortable rut! Except for the Irving book. Has anyone liked that one? Does it explode into brilliance later?

I've given up on Avenue of Mysteries and so I'm putting it at the bottom of my rankings. I finished The New World: A Novel and liked it, but didn't love it.

New rankings:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Book of Aron
5. The Sympathizer
6. The Sellout
7. The New World: A Novel
8. A Little Life
9. Our Souls at Night
10. The Whites
11. Avenue of Mysteries

Needless to say, but if Avenue of Mysteries knocks out A Spool of Blue Thread in the Play-in round, I will be shocked.

If you are really into the tournament and want something a little extra they are now selling t-shirts.

https://www.facebook.com/tournamentofbooks/

Finished Book of Aron but was not a huge fan of it. For such a short book it took forever to read. It wasn't until the last third that I started to get into the story.

The tournament starts next week! I'm hoping to finish Oreo this weekend since it'll be in one of the early rounds. Looking forward to finally seeing how this all plays out.

My current rankings are:

1. A Little Life
2. Bats of the Republic
3. The New World: A Novel
4. The Sympathizer
5. Our Souls at Night
6. The Story of My Teeth
7. The Whites
8. The Turner House
9. A Spool of Blue Thread
10. Book of Aron
11. Fates & Furies
12. The Invaders

The opening ceremonies for the tournament are up:

http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/

Based on your less than favorable review of Avenue of Mysteries I have decided to hold off on reading it until after the play-in round tomorrow. If for some reason it wins then I'll try to read. However, if it loses then back to the library it goes.

I'm struggling with Oreo - it seems like a book I should like more than I do.

That's my reaction to Oreo so far, as well. I admire the wordplay, but it isn't something that I'm eager to return to.

I read Oreo a few years ago before the re-release and felt similarly - I admire what the author is trying to do and see the art in it, but I have trouble connecting to A Confederacy of Dunces-esque absurdity. I like having read it more than I liked the actual act of reading it.

>69 KLmesoftly: - You summed up how I feel perfectly. Finished the book this morning and do admire her creativity but it's not the sort of book that draws you in and demands to be read.

The play-in contest is up!

http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/

A Spool of Blue Thread vs. Avenue of Mysteries. I was so glad that the decision went the way I wanted it to, having loved one book and hated the other.

Thought it was funny how adamant the judges were in their decision. There was no hope for AoM - which leaves me feeling relieved as now I don't have to worry about reading it!

Looking forward to tomorrow's round even though there probably isn't a chance it will win - go Bats!!!

You can enter the books you've read in order of preference in the official LT Tournament of Books 2016 list.

http://www.librarything.com/list/10678/all/2016-Tournament-of-Books

>71 RidgewayGirl: I haven't read either book and probably won't as I feel "done" with both those authors, but the commentary sure was entertaining.

Today's match-up is between Bats of the Republic and Fates and Furies.

And now I want to read Bats of the Republic, but I'll wait until I can get a nice hardcover version. Glad now that I didn't pick up an electronic copy.

>75 RidgewayGirl: - Yes, I don't think that Bats would do well as an audio or e-book. Can't believe that Bats actually won! Thad decision made my day. I bet that F&A will make it back in the Zombie round though.

That seems likely to me, too. I guess we'll see how A Little Life fares. That is going to be some discussion. People have strong feelings about that book, even more so than F&F.

I've got to finish Oreo tonight. It's up tomorrow.

I have so many mixed feelings about A Little Life - it's definitely the matchup I'm most looking forward to right now!

F&F vs BotR was shocking to me, but I haven't read either book yet - the reaction has convinced me to keep F&F on my reading list, and BotR has piqued my interest but I keep hearing the characters aren't great or that it's an "upscale House of Leaves" which I'm not sure is my speed. I'll be interested to hear what is said about it in its next matchup.

>78 KLmesoftly: The comments section on the day A Little Life first competes will be epic. I am looking forward to it so hard.

>79 RidgewayGirl: The comments sections today and yesterday have already been bubbling under with A Little Life-directed shade, the day ALL actually competes will be incredible!

March 15th!

The Ides of March - so perfect!

In the nick of time, I've finished Oreo. I think I've reached maximum satirical novel with clever wordplay. I appreciated it, but I didn't really enjoy it.

New rankings:

1. The Turner House
2. A Spool of Blue Thread
3. Fates and Furies
4. The Book of Aron
5. The Sympathizer
6. The Sellout
7. The New World: A Novel
8. Oreo
9. A Little Life
10. Our Souls at Night
11. The Whites
12. Avenue of Mysteries

That was pretty much my take on Oreo too. Finished my new favorite novel of the tournament - The Tsar of Love and Techno. It was nice to see that he didn't suffer from the "sophomore slump" with his second book. New list is as follows:

1. The Tsar of Love and Techno
2. A Little Life
3. Bats of the Republic
4. The New World: A Novel
5. The Sympathizer
6. Our Souls at Night
7. The Story of My Teeth
8. The Whites
9. The Turner House
10. Oreo
11. A Spool of Blue Thread
12. Book of Aron
13. Fates & Furies
14. The Invaders

One more to go with The Sellout - this is by far the most I've read for any of the tournaments. Kind of fun!

The Tsar of Love and Techno seems to be the fan favorite to win.

I'm so impressed by the number of contestants you've read, Stacy.

Thanks! You've done pretty well yourself - it's been an interesting selection this year. Of course, I guess they usually are.

Today's results will come as no surprise to anyone, but I still read the judge's decision slowly, scared that The Turner House would be knocked out of competition.

Is The Tsar of Love and Techno more of a collection of short stories or a sprawling nonlinear multi-character novel a la A Visit from the Goon Squad? I'm a short story hater but I love a good novel that plays around with viewpoints!

>88 KLmesoftly: It's more like the latter. There's a set of characters that appear in most of the stories, and there are plotlines that carry through multiple stories. I'm not sure I'd call it a novel but all the stories are connected and the book is certainly sprawling and nonlinear. I loved it!

>88 KLmesoftly: & >89 mathgirl40: - Completely agree with Paulina on this - it's not exactly a novel and it's not exactly a collection of short stories. Absolutely loved it and how he was able to connect everything so effortlessly.

Thanks, I'll put it back on my TBR list - I initially passed it over due to the format.

Happy Pi day, all, and T-1 day to the drama of A Little Life's first matchup! I'm really happy with how today's judging shook out - I can't say I loved reading Syreeta McFadden's writeup (it's very BuzzFeed-esque, and not the serious longreads section of BuzzFeed) but I agree 100% with her judgment.

I was satisfied with today's judgement as well. Both books were enjoyable but the winner was one I felt was a slightly better book. Still unhappy about the end of the book as the actions of one of the characters just didn't ring true to me.

On to tomorrow - I'm hoping for A Little Life to win but I hope that The New World: A Novel gets some positive comments as there seem to be a lot of haters out there for that book. Not sure why as I found it charming and quirky.

Well, A Little Life is the one to beat. The comments section will be hopping.

I really liked The Whites, but I think the right book won today.

I finished The Book of Aron and while I thought it was quite good, it didn't really stand out for me. That's probably because there are so many other outstanding Holocaust-themed YA novels, such as The Book Thief, that this one suffers in comparison.

I've been listening to The Turner House off and on, in audiobook form. It hasn't really grabbed me yet. Also, I finally managed to get a copy of A Little Life from my library, after months of waiting. I doubt I'll be able to finish it before I have to return it, but I wanted to at least sample it before the Tournament is over.

As predicted, the conversation about A Little Life over in the ToB comments section is impossible to keep up with. I do like that there are number of people who truly loved the book and are defending it with intelligence and tenacity.

Agreed - it was a bit exhausting trying to process everything that was being said.

On a side note, I have less than 100 pages to go in The Sellout which after a slow start has been giving me quite a few chuckles. It will be a good book to end on.

Here's hoping that Tsar takes tomorrow's round!

I would be very surprised if Tsar didn't win.

I feel like there haven't been any upsets this Tournament.

March 23rd is going to be interesting, but the 22nd is the day I'm worried about.

The first round was an upset I thought with F&F going out, but since then it's been business as usual. When I started reading today's summary I thought we were in for one but alas no.

Had you heard of the So Many Damn Books podcast before the two guys were the commentators a few rounds ago? I hadn't and just listened to their latest episode today. Angela Tourney was the guest today so she spent some time discussing Turner House as well as a TOB discussion. It was fun to listen to. One interesting point from the podcast, all of the average ratings on Goodreads went down for all the nominated books once the short-list was announced. Double-edged sword I suppose, more people reading your books but maybe not the intended audience.

Yeah, the 22nd and 23rd could go either way. Really hoping that Tsar pulls out the win on the 23rd.

Yes, I started listening to the SMDB podcast last year. It's not my favorite book podcast, but I do make sure to listen when it's ToB related. Angela Flournoy was great.

What is your favorite book podcast? I'm starting to listen to more podcasts but don't have any book ones yet.

An upset today!

It looks like I will have to read Bats of the Republic.

>102 LittleTaiko: The NYT Book Review podcast is always interesting, although there's a tendency to focus on non-fiction. The podcast I really like is the Book Riot one. They focus on what's going on in publishing, censorship issues and diversity in publishing. It's less "literary" than I like, but a lot of fun. BBC Radio 4 has a Books and Authors podcast that includes episodes of A Good Read, where the host has two guests on and they each pick a book, they all read them, and then discuss the books. Some books are new, but most are older, so it's a good way to expand my reading. Also, it's fun to hear about people's favorites.

I was completely surprised by today's decision, though happy about it since I had ranked Bats higher than The Symphatizer by a couple of spots. Wonder how long it's run will last? I just don't see it beating either of it's potential next opponents as both Turner House and Souls both seem to have a lot of love for them.

Tomorrow will be really interesting.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm going to try some of them and see what works.

Viet Thanh Nguyen posted a comment in the ToB comments section! I've known that at least a few authors follow the Rooster - Roxane Gay followed it closely and Angela Flournoy is following it this year, but as far as I know this is the first comment made by an author in competition. Here's what he said:

As a previous poster noted, I've been reading the comments about The Sympathizer (even as I'm on book tour and trying to sell copies of this novel and a newer book). As a newbie to the TOB, I have no idea whether it's right or not for an author to post on the discussion of his book. I have no desire to rebut or dispute anyone's opinion of my novel; as a professional critic and scholar, I have been critical of many other books, and I am perfectly willing to subject myself to the same kind of criticism. I just wanted to acknowledge everyone who participated for spending the time to read the novel, which is admittedly a novel that is not an easy read, or a perfect one, or one that is suitable for everyone's taste. So it goes. A writer can only write for her or himself, and hope that some number of readers will follow along. For those who did--thank you!

>105 RidgewayGirl: - That's pretty cool of him.

I'm guessing you were happy with the results of today's round.

I was relieved. The Turner House is my favorite. Tomorrow should be exciting.

My turn to feel relieved today. The Zombie rounds will be super interesting.

Can anyone explain to me what Zombie round means or is it just the name of the inner bracket? This is my first year of following this ToB. Very interesting. I've read a few of the past winners and now I really want to read more of them.

>109 Kristelh: So, before the tournament starts, but after the competitors are announced, people can vote on which book they'd save from elimination. The top two vote-getters at the time of the semi-finals are brought back and compete with the two books that were brought forward in the competition in the Zombie Round. Then, the final two books compete.

Last year, I think a zombie book won the entire Tournament.

I'm so glad that The Tsar of Love and Techno was chosen to move on and also happy that we'll see A Little Life again. I'm only on page 50 but I suspect I'll enjoy it as much as The People in the Trees.

Yikes, Jeff VanderMeer - way more harsh on The Tsar of Love and Techno than I would have expected from a fellow published author. It almost feels out of spirit with the ToB, despite the fact that I'm glad The Sellout moves on.

I was disappointed in the verdict but it seems worse somehow since it was such a harsh review that left me wondering if he had read the same book as me. His comment about the well seemed completely misguided. Ah well, to each is own. Now I have to figure out what to root for. Based on my original rankings, it would be

1. A Little Life
2. The Sellout
3. The Turner House
4. Fates and Furies

Guess that means I'm rooting for a ALL to take on The Sellout in the finals.

I thought it was interesting that Vandermeer, king of the New Weird, called for greater verisimilitude in Tsar. But the Commentary on his judgement made me laugh and I'm determined to use 'Pit Lit' as some point in casual conversation.

My heart is set on The Turner House to win. After that, I'll admit that although I've read all the finalists, I don't care about the rest of them. I suspect that The Sellout will be the winner. It seems to be the juggernaut that can't be stopped.

>113 LittleTaiko: I feel like I should at least pause in my joyous dancing for a moment to commiserate with you for the loss.

>115 RidgewayGirl: - Thank you! Please resume your joyous dancing. Tomorrow is the big day - I think The Sellout will most likely win but I kind of hope it's close. Both were pretty good books that I'm glad I read.

Almost time to go into TOB withdrawal.

And...it's withdrawal time. I'm happy that my favorite made it into the final contest, and not unhappy that The Sellout won.

There is a newly formed Tournament of Books group here on LT, so if anyone is interested in speculating on what might be chosen next year, adding books to that list, over-examining this year's results or any Rooster related topics, this is the place:

https://www.librarything.com/groups/therooster

Although I only got 2 of the books read this year because I like to concentrate on my TBR at the beginning of a reading year, there are a couple more I definitely want to get to. I thought the last vote and discussion interesting. (not sure that's really the word, but it will have to do for now.) I'll probably lurk out in the group, looking for book bullets.

I haven't read any yet but following this year was very interesting. I will be finding ways to read these books. I purchased The Sellout for 1/2 price from audible just recently. I will be reading Fates and Furies for my f2f bookclub. I found most of the books are available at my local library. I hope to be more active next year so I joined your new group.

I am having such a hard time getting into The Sellout, but based on this I will trudge on.

>120 linenandprint: I was ready to give up several times during the first half of The Sellout. It's very David Foster Wallace, only with racism and agriculture instead of tennis and drug addiction. It's not a style I respond to. But the second half calms down and allows the story to show through, instead of the endless witticisms and zingers.

>120 linenandprint: - I think I started The Sellout a couple of times before finally settling into and ultimately enjoying it. The opening setup was hard for me to get through but once the Little Rascals character shows up and the story unfolded it seemed to find it's pace.

I hadn't intended to read The Sellout, but based on its win and the comments of others here, I might give it a try.

I finished The Turner House and liked it very much but was surprised to see it get as far as it did. I'm still a little disappointed that The Tsar of Love and Techno didn't get into the final rounds. I wonder if its late publication date hurt its ability to get zombie votes.

I'm still working on A Little Life. I had to return it to the library and am on the waiting list again.

I decided to put myself on the long list for The Sellout. I gave up on the wait for A Little Life and Fates and Furies there are hundreds waiting for their turn at the library. If they go down in price a little , I may purchase them in the future .

I've only read The Turner House which I loved , Our Souls at Night ditto. I found A Spool of Blue Thread and The Whites to be just ok.