Looks like they are up to some interesting shenanigans this year. This year, there 18 books total on the list. 15 already in for sure, and 3 vying for a "play-in" spot in the opening round. Those 3 are similar in theme, books about the Iraq war. It's a clever way of picking one to advance. Tricky, tricky, TOB planners!
Sweet! I've already read these:
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Awesome! I already own these:
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Bring it on!
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
Building Stories by Chris Ware***
Fobbit by David Abrams
HHhH by Laurent Binet
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
Ivyland by Miles Klee
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Meh. I'll admit to being ambivalent about these:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Dear Life by Alice Munro
By the way, Building Stories by Chris Ware was what I wanted to get you for Christmas, except that it was sold out everywhere. That's why I got you the Dracula earrings instead. They actually are printing more and they won't be available until mid-January. Have you heard about this? It seems incredibly cool. I'm sort of excited to have a reason to get this for myself. Heh.
As for the two that I'm ambivalent about: I've just heard mediocre things about The Song of Achilles. And I've never been a huge fan of Alice Munro, but then again, I've never given her much of a shot either. I think I read a story I didn't like in college and that was it. It's probably a good thing I'll have to give her another chance.
I'm super excited about this year's TOB list, and I've been thinking about my TBR list for next year. We're signing up again next year, right? I'm reading away at my last book for 2012 and will definitely get it finished before the end of the year.
Jenny
Wow! This is a first -- I have actually read (well "read" via audiobook) two of the ToB books: Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (which was a fun read, but I can't imagine it getting very far -- can you?) and Beautiful Ruins (which was a terrific audiobook -- great story, great narrator).
ReplyDeleteYes, I am planning to do TBR again in 2013, although all of my focus right now is on finishing up this year's list: I still need to write about Art of Happiness (in some ways, better than I thought it would be... in others, worse), I have 100 more pages to go in At Home (which I love, btw!) and then it's Wonder Woman and Nox. I've only got 9 days left, but the good news is that I'm free after Christmas Eve, so I should be able to squeak it all in. :)
I'm also planning to revisit the TBP list in 2013, as I only got through 2 of those before my world exploded (two moves + losing Kaesea = 2012 can hit it). *Plus* Bill gave me a postcard book of Plymouth for my birthday just like the one I reviewed for Alameda, so I'm looking forward to exploring Plymouth and taking some more "How it looks now" shots (which was really neat and I kind of forgot about until yesterday -- March seems sooo long ago).
I am looking forward to once again being a ToB spectator -- niiiice that they released the list early this year! (Oh, yeah -- and Building Stories looks *amazing!!)
KELLY.
ReplyDeleteTHE LATEST LOUISE ERDRICH NOVEL HAS NO QUOTATION MARKS. WHY? WHY WOULD AN AUTHOR SUDDENLY ADOPT THIS USELESS, STUPID AFFECTATION AFTER 20+ FREAKING YEARS OF USING THEM IN HER NOVELS. (Yes, I went back and checked my bookshelves, and I own all of her books.)
/HUDDLES IN BALL, WEEPING.
I love this: in the Louise Erdrich book that is quotation-mark-less, at the end, she has the narrator look at a stack of books in his father's office and think, "There were no quotations in my father's repertoire for where we were..."
ReplyDeleteSERIOUSLY? I GUESS SHE WANTS TO MAKE SURE WE GOT IT. SO THAT'S USEFUL.
I mean, what the hell is that?
I think I've finally figured out my problem. The whole quotation-mark-less problem is fixed upon a single idea that I reject wholeheartedly: that somehow, this particular punctuation mark is a barrier between the story and the reader. Like a veil of fucking mist or something. I mean really. If you have to state it so baldly, Louise, that's the real goddamn problem. YOUR THEME WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS CLEAR WITH QUOTATION MARKS. I can't even.