Tournament of Books 2020

Morning News Tournament of Books
Rooster Award for best fiction
15th edition
sponsored by Field Notes and Powell's
details | daily
Each weekday in March, starting March 6, 2019, two of the books below will be read and considered by one of our judges (also listed below). One book from the “match” will be chosen to advance, with the judge required to explain in detail how he or she came to their decision. Then the judge’s decision is evaluated first by our official commentators, then by you, the Rooster fan, wherein you politely and respectfully describe how your heart was broken and your mind inflamed by such erroneous arrogance. And the next day we do it all over again.

That time of year again...

YAY! the shortlist for this annual tournament has been announced.

I read a few last year and the rest are in my tbr pile. The next couple months will be devoted to reading from this list before the competition begins.

~*~
WINNER: Normal People by Sally Rooney
~*~
THE SHORTLIST:

All This Could Be Yours
by Jami Attenberg
-Contemporary
Goodreads | my rating: 5

Fleishman Is in Trouble
by Taffy Akner
-Contemporary
Goodreads | my rating: 5

Girl, Woman, Other
by Bernardine Evaristo
-Literary, Feminism, Short Stories
Goodreads | my review: DNF

Lost Children Archive
by Valeria Luiselli
-Literary
Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen
by Dexter Palmer
-Historical
Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

Normal People
by Sally Rooney
-Literary, Ireland
Goodreads | my rating: 5

Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson
-Magical Realism
Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong
-Literary, Poetry, LGBTQ, Asian American, Vietnam
Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

Optic Nerve
by María Gainza
-Short stories, Art
Goodreads | my review: tba

Overthrow
by Caleb Crain
-ScFi, LGBTQ
Goodreads | my review: tba

Saudade
Suneeta Peres da Costa
-Historical, Africa, Portugal, India, Australia
Goodreads | my rating: 4

The Testaments
by Margaret Atwood
-Dystopia, Feminism
Goodreads | my review: tba

Trust Exercise
by Susan Choi
-Literary, Coming of Age
Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

The Water Dancer
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
-Historical, Magical Realism, African American
Goodreads | my review: tba

Your House Will Pay
by Steph Cha
-Mystery, Historical
Goodreads | my review: tba

PLAY-IN ROUND:

Golden State
by Ben H. Winters
-SciFi, Mystery
Goodreads | my rating: 5

Oval
by Elvia Wilk
-SciFi, Dystopia
Goodreads | my rating: DNF

We Cast a Shadow
by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
-SciFi
Goodreads | my rating: 5