Tournament of Books long list

The Morning News long list that they culled down to 16 for the 2013 Tournament of Books. I like seeing lists of recommended books, even if they have a lot that I have absolutely no interest in reading. There are some on this that I will pursue.

I have to admit, I pulled the plug on Railsea by Mieville about halfway through. Reading an AU take on a classic work of fiction probably works better if the classic referenced is one you can at least tolerate, but I am not a fan of Moby Dick. Also, Mieville's world building left me irritated on more than one instance. I have HHhH from the library now to read, so that would be two. I also have The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller, and Pure, by Andrew Miller, on my "Get back to these" bookbag on my library account. I recognize several more of these titles from the library, particularly from reading groups run through the library.

One book that I just finished and enjoyed tremendously was The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley. It had lots of twists and turns, and at one point I thought of a possible solution that would have kind of disappointed me, but I was wrong. Sort of.

Fobbit by David Abrams
At Last by Edward St. Aubyn
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
Toby’s Room by Pat Barker
Maidenhead by Tamara Faith Berger
HHhH by Laurent Binet
Country of the Bad Wolfes by James Carlos Blake
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
With Blood in Their Eyes by Thomas Cobb
What They Do in the Dark Amanda Coe
Perla by Carolina de Robertis
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggersthe
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Absolution by Patrick Flanery
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Threats by Amelia Gray
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
The World Without You by Joshua Henkin
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins
In One Person by John Irving
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
That’s Not a Feeling by Dan Josefson
The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian Kang
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura
Ivyland by Miles Klee
Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru
The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy
Railsea by China Miéville
Pure by Andrew Miller
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Magnificence by Lydia Millet
Dear Life by Alice Munro
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Boy21 by Matthew Quick
The Cove by Ron Rash
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
NW by Zadie Smith
This Bright River by Patrick Somerville
Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
The Dream of Doctor Bantam by Jeanne Thornton
By Blood by Ellen Ullman
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Building Stories by Chris Ware
Jack Holmes and His Friend by Edmund White
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles
Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe