vvb32 reads: Book Prize

Showing posts with label Book Prize. Show all posts

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Aspen Words Literary Prize 2018

Aspen Words Literary Prize 2018
longlist | shortlist | details
Winner announced: April 10, 2018

Aspen Words is proud to present the inaugural longlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. These works of fiction, published in 2017, include titles from small presses and large, debuts and established authors, a mix of story collections, novels and translations. All of these works reflect some of society’s most pressing contemporary issues with artistry and humanity.

Wanting to read more literary works on contemporary issues after the Tournament of Books, I am going to work on this shortlist as a self-challenge.

Shortlist:

Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid
-Literary
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

Mad Country
by Samrat Upadhyay
-Short Stories, Asian American
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
-Literary, African American
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky
by Lesley Nneka Arimah
-Short Stories, Magical Realism, Africa
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

What We Lose
by Zinzi Clemmons
-Literary, African American
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Tournament of Books 2018

Morning News Tournament of Books
Rooster Award for best fiction
14th edition
sponsored by Field Notes and Powell's
details | daily
Each weekday in March, starting March 7, 2018, 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.

I am always excited to see the announcement of the shortlist for this annual tournament. So far, I read one last year and some are already in my tbr pile. Per usual, I plan to read as many as I can before the March event.

The Shortlist:

The Animators
by Kayla Rae Whitaker
-Contemporary, Art, Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 5

The Book of Joan
by Lidia Yuknavitch
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

Dear Cyborgs
by Eugene Lim
-SciFi
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 3

The End of Eddy
by Édouard Louis
- LGBTQ, France
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 5

Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid
-Literary
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

Fever Dream
by Samanta Schweblin
-Horror, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 3

Goodbye, Vitamin
by Rachel Khong
-Humor, Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

Idaho
by Emily Ruskovich
-Mystery
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

The Idiot
by Elif Batuman
-Historical, Coming of Age, Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
-Literary, Historical
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

Lucky Boy
by Shanthi Sekaran
-Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
-Historical
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
-Historical, Japan, Korea
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

Savage Theories
by Pola Oloixarac
-Humor, Spain
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
-Literary, African American
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: tba

So Much Blue
by Percival Everett
-Humor
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

Stephen Florida
by Gabe Habash
-Literary, Coming of Age, Sports (wrestling)
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 5

White Tears
by Hari Kunzru
-Literary
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | rating: 4

STATS

CHAMPIONSHIP:
WINNER: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

ZOMBIE ROUND:
Round 2: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Round 1: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

SEMIFINALS:
Round 2: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Round 1: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

QUARTERFINALS:
Round 4: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Round 3: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Round 2: Dear Cyborgs by Eugene Lim
Round 1: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

OPENING ROUND:
Round 8: Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Round 7: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Round 6: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Round 5: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Round 4: The End of Eddy by Édouard Louis
Round 3: Dear Cyborgs by Eugene Lim
Round 2: The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Round 1: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Tournament of Books 2017

Morning News Tournament of Books
13th Rooster Award for best fiction
sponsored by Field Notes and Powell's
short list & judges (here)

IN MARCH download your bracket for the short list (here)
AND follow along each day
... We say this time and time again, tough year buttressed by tough year, the ToB is not an award. It’s not a contest. We’re not even sure it’s a “tournament.” What it has been and will be, as long as we’re putting it on, is a month-long conversation about novels and reading and writing and art that takes place on weekdays in March. But that’s not all. Because what also happen is readers freak out, fall out with each other, and fall back in love. Fight over little things, fight over big things, altogether dig deep into what makes something good or not. This is what keeps us going, the point of it all, that together we celebrate the extraordinary act of transferring the human experience that is writing and reading and discussing fiction, and if it’s not clear already, yes, this month-long silly thing is part stunt, part goof, part circus, but we are motherfucking serious about books...

I LOVE this annual event and plan on reading (or listening to audio version) most of these.

IF you have read any of these, feel free to comment.

The Shortlist:

All the Birds in the Sky
by Charlie Jane Anders
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

Black Wave
by Michelle Tea
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
by Max Porter
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

High Dive
by Jonathan Lee
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

Mister Monkey
by Francine Prose
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

Moonglow
by Michael Chabon
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

The Mothers
by Brit Bennett
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

My Name Is Lucy Barton
by Elizabeth Strout
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

The Nix
by Nathan Hill
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

The Sport of Kings
by C.E. Morgan
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

Sudden Death
by Álvaro Enrigue,
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

Sweet Lamb of Heaven
by Lydia Millet
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

The Throwback Special
by Chris Bachelder
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

The Vegetarian
by Han Kang
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads | my review

Version Control
by Dexter Palmer
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

We Love You, Charlie Freeman
by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

~*~
And the winner is...

The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead

Friday, January 22, 2016

Tournament of Books 2016

Morning News Tournament of Books
12th Rooster Award for best fiction
short list & judges (here) | (Powells | long list (here)

IN MARCH download your bracket for the short list (here)
follow along each day (here) | results (here) | Bracket PDF (here)

The 2016 Rooster crows in March, which means it’s time to download this year’s brackets to make your picks for which books will live, which ones will die, and which ones will live, then die, then get zombified in the 2016 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes.

=====> This competition starts in MARCH and it is one that I thought I would follow along with this year. The idea of the bracket format is based on the NCAA tournament-style bracket which will be available to download later.

The discussions at the tournament site for the nominees are so lively and inspiring for book reading recommendations. I plan on binge reading as many of these now to March to be able to participate.

The Shortlist for The Morning News 2016 Tournament of Books: