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#tob2024
review
Larkken
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Pickpick

I've been...Not great?.. in posting my reads lately, & I'm not sure what's worth posting now 🤪
Case in point: March! Well, at least my fav (tagged) should get a shout out. Spot on cougar narration, man! If they were to do things like narrate, that is.
+ I'm impressed I got through so many #tob2024/#LitsyToB24 selections! I plan to continue with those lists, but possibly not very diligently, given that the tournament-immediacy is, um, over.

BarbaraBB Haha no hurry indeed! However, CampLitsy is approaching 😀😀 7mo
Larkken @BarbaraBB exactly! So many new shinies to get into instead 😇😍 7mo
26 likes2 comments
review
Larkken
Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky
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Pickpick

Newly transitioned, non-binary Sammie goes on a debauched bachelor‘s weekend for their best friend from before they transitioned. They contend with micro- and macro aggressions as they try to figure out if these relationships are worth saving - literally saving, as it turns out, since the weekend happens at the site of an apocalyptic cults‘ bid to awaken their eldritch god. So… lots going on. The part with the clones felt most thought-out. ⬇️

Larkken I am confused (? Conflicted?), however, by this book‘s inclusion in #tob2024. What were the judges thinking? It‘s unlike anything else on the bracket, is uneven in its dealing with some themes, and is really unlikely to go far, given the historical decisions made by judges. This feels like a one-off, a “hey, why not?” And I feel like it deserves better than a footnote in a literary contest. Or is that unfair, and placing these kinds of books in ⬇️ (edited) 9mo
Larkken The public discourse should be a POINT of the #tob? What do y‘all think? I don‘t think it‘s a perfect book, but that also shouldn‘t necessarily be the point of the tourney, and it does have some great themes even if I think other authors/books/formats have done them in a way I thought held together better or at least that I appreciated more. 9mo
TieDyeDude I've never heard of the Tournament of Books. Is that a new thing? I have the same conflicting thoughts about the Oscars, though. Is it patronizing to put a movie on the ballot that has no chance of winning but deserves recognition, or is it “an honor just to be nominated“? 9mo
See All 13 Comments
Larkken @TieDyeDude Tob has been around for a while, but I've only started reading books from it in the past couple of years bc they are always outside my comfort zone and I usually find a new author to obsess over from every year. Here's the website if you're curious https://www.tournamentofbooks.com. However, I've been enjoying even more the ersatz #LitsyToB crew that's been active... Due to general disaffection with the official short list, 🔽 9mo
Larkken @Megabooks @squirrelbrain and @BarbaraBB organized a vote and a separate shortlist ? and a mini readalong camp last summer. It's been fun integrating my "find authors outside my go-to list" quest with the comradery of the litsy fam. (edited) 9mo
Larkken @TieDyeDude but also, yes! You're right, my feelings are very similar to how I feel about the Oscars. I'm impatient with both groups for having "go-to" authors/directors but then annoyed at the token genre picks that are elevated to being worth recognition -why just them? 9mo
Hooked_on_books I liked seeing this on the TOB list because it‘s topical and different. I‘m glad they included it. But I agree, I don‘t want it to suffer from tokenism, and I‘m concerned it will, especially since it‘s going up against the National Book Award winner in the first round. That seems a little unfair. I‘m really curious to read the judgement for the pairing and see how the judge deals with this. 9mo
Larkken @Hooked_on_books oh man, I didn‘t realize Blackouts was a winner in other award venues already. I hadn‘t gotten to it yet myself. That will be… interesting 🤨 9mo
BkClubCare The ToB is unashamedly absurd - the whole point is that you CANNOT pick a “winner”! Read the history and explanation; I never try to take any of it too seriously. Yes, highlighting obscure offerings to the “battles” is somewhat what they want to do to make it all very interesting to discuss books for book-sake. I am enjoying the tourney this week very much even if I was half enthused about a few titles. 8mo
Larkken @BkClubCare yeah, fair, the absurdity is fun, also I like to read the judgements and feel inadequate in how think about books (🙃 kidding! Mostly). But also I think tokenism in any form is damaging. To me, it‘s like saying that the majority of *something* that is like the one example chosen is generally forgettable, but this one thing can be elevated as somehow worthy. And to that, I absolutely balk. (edited) 8mo
BkClubCare @Larkken - okay, I can accept and ponder that. Or,also,maybe? I would have zero exposure and most of the ToB crowd, if you will, would welcome the introduction to these works of art. I appreciate the opening of my mind, introduction to new ideas and perspectives. I certainly understand that this is not meant to be “hey look, this is the best of Xyz”! Celebrate it as an example. (edited) 8mo
BkClubCare Plus, the commentariat really tends to try and keep it informed, respectful, considerate of all angles of analysis. I learn so much and this challenges me and my reading motivations. 8mo
Larkken @BkClubCare the judges and the thoughtful interaction with the books is def my fav part! No complaints on that score - I love how much I learn about the books and even why I engaged with a book how I did just by reading the judgements et al. Even when it‘s a genre or a book I know fairly well, my reading is always deepened by the experience! 🥰 8mo
29 likes13 comments
review
Larkken
The Rachel Incident: A novel | Caroline O'Donoghue
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Pickpick

Today brings you a tale of 2 #toblonglist titles because for both I found the MC to be extremely relatable… but for the tagged, this meant the 20-something self-involvedness & resulting life implosion was cringe but i rooted for her; & yet the American Mermaid mc is making me want to hide in shared shame and bail... Weird how that shared characteristic is affecting me so differently. Does AM get more fun, all yall who've read it for #tob2024?

Larkken Otherwise, this looks like a clear case of #litsytob2024 supremacy over the official Tob list😅 9mo
BarbaraBB @Larkken 🙌🏽 9mo
squirrelbrain Hooray - #litsytob2024 for the win! I haven‘t read AM, but loved The Rachel Incident. 9mo
Larkken @squirrelbrain i thought RI did as well as anything I‘ve read depicting the complicated feelings over an unwanted pregnancy and its loss and then I loved that it ended on a sweet note, so def a win for me ☺️ 9mo
BkClubCare Same!! I gave RI a 5⭐️ but just couldn‘t seem to get into AM and yet… yet! It seemed like one I would like! My reading mojo is super confused anymore. 9mo
33 likes5 comments
review
BkClubCare
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Panpan

Bleak. One bad decision and consequence after another. Too too long; I suffered through, though, to the bitter ambiguous WTH ending. Listened at 2x speed. People seem to think it brilliant literature but I want a refund. #ToB2024 Book 5 of the year.

Ruthiella I‘m on the fence about this one. I liked but didn‘t love Skippy Dies and everyone raves about it. 10mo
Suet624 I‘m with you. 10mo
dabbe #hailthebail! 🩶🖤🩶 10mo
38 likes3 comments
review
Larkken
The Guest: A Novel | Emma Cline
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Pickpick

At heart, this is a book about the hustle from a morally ambivalent working girl trying to leave the life but it has some interesting subtext about classism and multiple plays on “staying afloat” that was clever. More interesting than pure hot girl problems would be on their own, anyway. #tob2024
Photo is of the Hamptons, which is where internet peoples say it is set, though I assumed Long Island? Lol. Less posh there, I guess.

41 likes2 comments
review
BkClubCare
Chain-Gang All-Stars | Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
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Pickpick

Put me in the camp of being FOR this book; style, drama, footnotes ❤️, characters, etc. Capturing the pics of books “recommended” at the conclusion of the ebook so I can reference for adding to my tbr. (And always curious, WHY THESE?) I am having such conflicted motivation to read right now, not really a slump, but, the “is it me?” Question on why I can‘t seem to get into Wellness, for example? And The Bee Sting? 😩
#ToB2024

BkClubCare No pie, book 2 of 2024, ebook. 10mo
LeafingThroughLife I‘ve been having that “Is it me?” feeling a lot lately, too. I keep reading books that I recognize as well written but they‘re still leaving me a little cold. Definitely starting to get a complex about it. 😬 10mo
BarbaraBB They are both such chunksters and both family dramas. I‘d choose a weird short book if I were you! 10mo
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BkClubCare @BarbaraBB - I am craving a funny romance! 💘 10mo
BkClubCare @LeafingThroughLife - let‘s start a club 😂 10mo
BarbaraBB Have you read this one already? It could do the trick 10mo
BkClubCare @BarbaraBB - 😉 TY, have yet to get/find a copy. 10mo
BkClubCare No pie, book 2 of 2024, ebook. 10mo
38 likes8 comments
blurb
BkClubCare
Chain-Gang All-Stars | Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
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Up next #eBook #ToB2024 #WiaN2024 Category: Shoes 👟

30 likes1 stack add
blurb
BkClubCare
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Day 1 New Year

Rouge and Wellness for #LitsyToB24
The Bee 🐝 Sting for #ToB2024
The Book of (More) Delights for me 😊

Litfluence 37k, Happy New Year! Happy Reading 📚

BkClubCare Goals: 100 books, better tracking 🤣, more commenting/sharing, thoughtful reviews (edited) 11mo
BarbaraBB What a great start of the year! 11mo
squirrelbrain Some great books to start with! 11mo
38 likes3 comments
review
BkClubCare
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Pickpick

Always a fun ride with McBride doing the storytelling. I had a bit of length- and character-quantity fatigue, though. Still!! Always willing to go where this author leads - I was just in a hurry to finish and my hurry-it-up experience suffered under my own hubris.

#ToB2024 #PieinLit #LitPie #Audiobook

review
BkClubCare
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Pickpick

Happy New Year! 🌟🎉🤩🥂
Dogs are OUT. All current books completed! Ready for 2024

#tob2024 This book hit my heart in all the tender places, gently, respectfully, with urgent prodding to do more, be better, but yet in the right way; with myself in mind.

AnnR Happy 2024! 🎉 11mo
Ruthiella Happy New Year to you! 🥳 11mo
dabbe HNY! And sleep well, little floofs! 🖤💙🖤 11mo
Tamra Smart pups! Happy New Year! 11mo
33 likes4 comments