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#tob17
review
Redheadrambles
High Dive: A novel | Jonathan Lee
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The synopsis of this appealed to me with its promise of "taking us inside one of the twentieth century‘s most ambitious assassination attempts".
I feel, not for the first time this year, to be a victim of a bait and switch. The opening chapter promised a taut novel about early 80s Britain, and some morally compromised characters.
However, it really isn't that book at all.

It's much more a meditation on normal life before a disaster.

AceOnRoam I hate that. I've been going in blind lately so at least I get a nice surprise if I love the book! 8y
Redheadrambles @AceOnRoam yeah I like going in somewhat prepared but I don't know I think my book selection radar is broken this year ! 8y
AceOnRoam I was planning to read this, but couldn't find it for free during TOB.. I'm taking it off my TBR in any case. Thanks for the heads up. 8y
Redheadrambles @AceOnRoam oh no! I always feel bad when someone says this - I think if you come to it knowing it's more "slice of life" than anything else it may go better ? But yes so many books out there it is good to whittle them down ! 8y
16 likes5 comments
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BraveNewBooks
Version Control: A Novel | Dexter Palmer
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#readathon #hour1 Finished up this book from #tob17. Not often I can post a picture of the last page without spoilers! #kindle

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Spiderfelt
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Mehso-so

Pajamas are the thing with feathers...

Any book that makes it into #ToB17, is automatically poised to crash due to unreasonably elevated expectations. While I appreciated the cleverness of the book, and appreciated the novelty of the structure, the words themselves did not provoke any deep feelings in me. I loved many of the lines quoted by other Littens in their reviews, but I was still lacking the heart connection.

DocBrown Cute PJs. They also look like little centipedes. 8y
Spiderfelt Centipede pajamas would foster nightmares, for sure @mdhughes72 8y
22 likes1 stack add2 comments
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BraveNewBooks
Version Control: A Novel | Dexter Palmer
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Nailing the experience of being a woman online dating. 😑

#ToB17 #ToB2017 #TournamentofBooks

MicheleinPhilly EW. I'm so glad I'm not single. Or into guys. ☺️ 8y
diovival YIKES 😒 8y
BraveNewBooks @MicheleinPhilly @diovival Yep. I don't doubt for a moment that these were at least inspired by real messages. 8y
diovival @BraveNewBooks Me either. I spent some time on POF and had to wade through plenty of hot mess messages. 8y
15 likes4 comments
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emilyjwhit9
Little Deaths | Emma Flint
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Getting some reading done today! One #BaileysLongList and the runner-up of #tob17 plus some poetry and some needed catch-up on the great Louise Erdrich.

KateFulfordAuthor If you need another recommendation, may I point you to my People‘s Book Prize nominated debut? Sassy female narrative, laugh out dialogue and a pacy plot. Check the link in the bio for 2 free chapters, reviews and more. (edited) 6y
emilyjwhit9 Thank you, @KateFulfordAuthor. I love book prizes! They always add great titles to my tbr. 6y
KateFulfordAuthor That‘s great to hear @emilyjwhit9 - hope you enjoy it & keep in touch, won‘t you? 6y
8 likes3 comments
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merelybookish
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And thus ends #TOB17. No surprises really. The winner seemed a foregone conclusion. But as always lots of good reading and book discussion.
Did anyone notice they are planning some mini-Rooster faceoffs in the summer? Sounds fun. Cheers to all my fellow TOBers!

Suet624 Yes! Very excited about the summer events. 8y
Suet624 And I agree that the winner was not a surprise. 8y
merelybookish @Suet624 Maybe it's our current political moment but any other winner (with the exception of Homegoing maybe?) would have seemed wrong. 8y
See All 8 Comments
Suet624 Yes. I was rooting for Homegoing though. 😙 8y
Spiderfelt I was also rooting for Homegoing. The characters left me hungry for more of their stories. Both stories were heartbreaking, challenging, grim and powerful, but Homegoing was the book I savored. 8y
GatheringBooks i have to start reading underground railroad soonest! 8y
Redheadrambles It was so much fun to follow this on here and find other fans of the March madness. I am pretty happy with the win and the quality of the judgements ( maybe less said about the guest judge upset the better ). Although controversy is the best part of it 😀 8y
BkClubCare Cheers! I wonder what the summer TOB hashtag will be. And what the books will be and how obsessed I get AGAIN 8y
57 likes1 stack add8 comments
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Redheadrambles
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Congratulations to Colin Whitehead on the #tournamentofbooks #tob17 win - this book generated some seriously good critiques this year which I greatly enjoyed reading. For pure enjoyment I was probably slightly more enamoured of Homegoing but this is a pretty good if unsurprisingly outcome.
Going to miss reading bookish essays over breakfast!

ClairesReads Same!!!! What a year! 8y
she_barks A very worthy rooster winner 8y
19 likes2 comments
review
teresareads
Homegoing: A novel | Yaa Gyasi
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Pickpick

I know The Underground Railroad is likely to win #tob17 today, but Homegoing is the winner in my heart. I loved almost everything about this book.

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Redheadrambles
The Nix | Nathan Hill
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One day early for this but here are my #Marchreads. March being all about #tob17, I started with what ended up being my best read of the month and probably the year so far - "The Nix".
Taking a break from the darkness of "Here Comes The Sun" for some less serious novels but ended up in a mini reading funk. Thank goodness for Shaun Tan !

DocBrown Agree about The Nix. It's been my favorite book so far this year. 8y
Suet624 So many intense books you've read this month! 8y
Redheadrambles @mdhughes - I know it's a great book even better in my mind now after reading lesser books after it. 8y
34 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
Spiderfelt
Sudden Death: A Novel | lvaro Enrigue
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Mehso-so

Life is too short to invest a lot of time with books that leave me aggravated. After three hours, this #audiobook had not developed enough of a story, or spent enough time with a core set of characters for me to develop any reason to stick with it. I've heard enough to understand the #ToB17 commentary.