Detailed information can be found on the Morning News website. However, to summarize if you've not heard of it before, the Tournament is a semi-serious, semi-tongue in cheek, on-line book prize. The winner wins an actual rooster - though I believe all previous winning authors have donated said prize via a charity to a family in need.
The books go head to head in this competition using bracket eliminations. Each reader-judge reads two books and makes the call, allowing only one book to move forward. The reasoning behind the judgment is posted on the Morning News’ website and commentary from the booth (the website organizers or their assigns) and the crowd (anyone on the internet with a Disqus account) follows. I really enjoy the transparency of this book prize. Unlike the Pulitzer or Booker prize, we know exactly why the judge advanced one book over another, whether we agree with such reasoning or not.
Below is the shortlist showing what I have read and what I have yet to accomplish.
TITLE
|
AUTHOR
|
READ?
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All This Could Be Yours
|
Attenberg, Jami
|
YES
|
Fleishman is in Trouble
|
Brodesser-Akner, Taffy
|
YES
|
Girl, Woman, Other
|
Evaristo, Bernardine
|
YES
|
Lost Children Archive
|
Luiselli, Valeria
|
YES
|
Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen
|
Palmer, Dexter
|
YES
|
Normal People
|
Rooney, Sally
|
YES
|
Nothing to See Here
|
Wilson, Kevin
|
YES
|
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
|
Vuong, Ocean
|
YES
|
Optic Nerve
|
Gainza, Maria
|
|
Overthrow
|
Crain, Caleb
|
YES
|
Saudade
|
Peres da Costa, Suneeta
|
|
The Testaments
|
Atwood, Margaret
|
|
Trust Exercise
|
Choi, Susan
|
YES
|
The Water Dancer
|
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
|
|
Your House Will Pay
|
Cha, Steph
|
|
Golden State
|
Winters, Ben H.
|
YES
|
Oval
|
Wilk, Elvia
|
YES
|
We Cast A Shadow
|
Ruffin, Maurice Carlos
|
YES
|
The Tournament doesn’t start until mid March 2020, so I still have plenty of time to read the titles I’m missing. The majority of my contemporary reading is a direct result of following this contest.
Of the titles I've read so far, my favorites have been Girl, Woman, Other (the writing is quite stylized but once I got used to it, I found myself swept up in this stories of black British women of all backgrounds, ages and opinions), Mary Toft (slightly quirky historical fiction but with a serious look at groupthink and human inclinations to believe in the unbelievable), and Trust Exercise (when I first read this last summer I was ambivalent about it but it has really stuck with me and so gone up in my estimation).
Have any of you read any of the shortlisted books or would you like to? Do you follow the Tournament or any other book prize? Let me know!
We have similar favorites :) I'd put Mary Toft at the top of my list, followed by Girl Woman Other. I just finished Your House Will Pay and would put it next. I don't feel all that strongly about the others that I've read, but I'm looking forward to the conversations about several of them.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I've also read (or started and abandoned) all but five. I was only planning on reading the ones I could get from the library this year, but the holds list was extremely long on three of them, so I gave in and bought them, and then went ahead and got the one book my library didn't carry. I'll be starting We Cast a Shadow later tonight
Thanks for the comment Teresa! I am currently reading Your House Will Pay and I agree with you...it is VERY good. It will go to the top of my list for sure.
DeleteI think that Fleishman's In Trouble will probably generate a lot of discussion...it is a book that is open to interpretation more so than many of the other contenders.
I ended up buying Saudade because it wasn't available via the library and I also purchased The Testaments because I am sort of an Atwood completist.
Gitl, Woman, Other looks interesting and wow I just went to Amazon and the critical acclaim that book has received!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Kathy! I was very curious about Girl, Woman, Other because I had heard so much acclaim but the first chapter almost put me off the whole book. The writing style wasn't "difficult" but it did take a little getting used to. But once I got going I became entranced by the many voices portrayed in the book. Check it out from the library if you can and see what you think! :D
DeleteWow! You've read practically everything on the list already. I sometimes think about following along with the Tournament of Books in more earnest, but I've never read any of the books on a timely basis. The ones that look interesting--the Evaristo particularly this year--I'll probably read in six months or a year or something.
ReplyDeleteOnce again I will be reading along with the judging of the brackets without actually having read any of the books--but I'll be curious to hear about your more informed opinion!
Thanks for the comment reese! One of the beauties of the TOB (and the internet) is that you can read any of the books 6 months or 6 years from now and go back and read or re-read the judgment(s) and commentary to enhance your take. Or maybe a judgement will encourage you to pick up one of the books sooner rather than later. I'll maybe post in March about the winner, though my favorites usually don't win! :D
DeleteOnce you finish, you'll have to post your top favs! I'm always looking for good contemporary novels but I'm very particular. Yet sometimes I must be kicked out of my cozy Classic dream and read something else. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Cleo! I probably read more contemporary than you do but I know what you mean about needing to be kicked out of our cozy corners. I need to push myself to read more nonfiction personally. I almost always enjoy it when I do, but it isn't something I naturally gravitate towards.
DeleteI haven't read any of these! I'm not familiar with the TOB, either, but you've caught my interest!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment jenclair! With your love of thrillers and crime novels, I think you might like Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha. It isn't really a mystery or a thriller but if you see it, I recommend it to you.
DeleteA couple of years ago I really got into TOB, but fell off a bit last year and haven’t read any of the contenders this year. That said, I love the idea and may pick a few to try to read before the tournament is over.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Jane! The great think about the TOB is you can always go back and peruse the lists and the judgments and pick up something that sounds interesting later. I like it because it "makes" me read some of the buzzier books. :D
DeleteI am envious. sigh.... YOU GOT THIS! :D
ReplyDeleteI take the TOB SERIOUSLY Carrie! :D
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