Tournament of Books 2022

Tournament of Books
Rooster Award for best fiction
sponsored by Field Notes and Bookshop
details | daily
annual self challenge
winner announced on March 31
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WINNER: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
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THE SHORTLIST:

All's Well
by Mona Awad
Literary, Horror | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
interesting dark Shakespeare themed vibe

Beautiful World, Where Are You
by Sally Rooney
Literary, Ireland | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
making sense of love, romance, relationships

The Book of Form and Emptiness
by Ruth Ozeki
Literary, Magical Realism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Echo Wife
by Sarah Gailey
SciFi, Thriller | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
to be human

In Concrete
by Anne Garréta
translated by Emma Ramadan
Literary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
loved the word play

Intimacies
by Katie Kitamura
Literary, Mystery | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Literary, Dystopian | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
ugly observations of being human

Libertie
by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Historical, African American | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

Matrix
by Lauren Groff
Literary, Historical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
women in power

Nervous System: A Novel
by Lina Meruane
translated by Megan McDowell
Literary, Medical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
science, math and illness

No One Is Talking about This
by Patricia Lockwood
Literary, Fantasy | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Several People Are Typing
by Calvin Kasulke
Humor, SciFi | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Subdivision
by J. Robert Lennon
Mystery, Surreal | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Trees
by Percival Everett
Literary, Mystery | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

When We Cease to Understand the World
by Benjamín Labatut
translated by Adrian Nathan West
Short Stories, Historical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
Play-in round books:

The Confession of Copeland Cane
by Keenan Norris
SciFi | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
struggles of being a future young black boy and continued issues

Our Country Friends
by Gary Shteyngart
Literary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Sentence
by Louise Erdrich
Magical Realism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

A Separation
by Katie Kitamura
narrated by Katherine Waterston

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
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Just released: February 7, 2017
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Literary, Thriller
Hardback: 240 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
It began with a telephone call from Isabella. She wanted to know where Christopher was, and I was put in the awkward position of having to tell her that I didn't know.

This is her story. About the end of her marriage. About what happened when Christopher went missing and she went to find him. These are her secrets, this is what happened...

A young woman has agreed with her faithless husband: it's time for them to separate. For the moment it's a private matter, a secret between the two of them. As she begins her new life, she gets word that Christopher has gone missing in a remote region in the rugged south of Greece; she reluctantly agrees to go look for him, still keeping their split to herself. In her heart, she's not even sure if she wants to find him. As her search comes to a shocking breaking point, she discovers she understands less than she thought she did about her relationship and the man she used to love.

A searing, suspenseful story of intimacy and infidelity, A Separation lays bare what divides us from the inner lives of others. With exquisitely cool precision, Katie Kitamura propels us into the experience of a woman on edge, with a fiercely mesmerizing story to tell.

My two-bits:

Said to have a Gone Girl vibe. It certainly does. But takes on its own unique identity.

I liked doing some arm-chair traveling to Greece.

The introspection and gradual mystery reveals makes this thriller stand out.

The protagonist is not very likable. However, her actions and motives were a draw as well.

Got me thinking of the dilemma the main character found herself in. One of those, what would I do if in that predicament.

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* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Cloak & Dagger Challenge (here)

Stacking the Shelves & Sunday Post - 2.18.17

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
AND
Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer (details)
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Actually did some in-store book shopping this week. I saw so many wonderful new releases that were tempting...

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Bought:

The Longshot
by Katie Kitamura
-Sports
Amazon | Goodreads
HAD to pick this up after Katie's author event I attended. Her brother was there whose hands are pictured on this book cover.

The Vegetarian
by Han Kang
Powells | Amazon | Goodreads

The Sound of Things Falling
by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
-Literary, Historical
Amazon | Goodreads
GOT these two for a face-to-face book group I recently joined.

For Review:

Ladies Man
by Katy Evans
-New Adult, Romance
courtesy of Romance Read-of-the-Month Club -Thanks!
BarnesNoble | Goodreads

Love Letters to the World
by Meia Geddes
-Poetry
courtesy of author -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads
JUST in time for April's National Poetry Month.

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
narrated by Alison Larkin
-Audiobook, Classic, Romance
courtesy of narrator -Thanks!
Website
LOOKING forward to this latest Jane Austen audiobook by Alison. This will be the 4th out of Jane's six novels that Alison has presented in audio.

FYI: For every Jane Austen audiobook download bought via the link below, $5.00 will be donated to the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, a non profit dedicated to helping communities in literacy crisis in honor of Jane Austen. (details)

Author event:

Booksmith in San Francisco hosted an event with Min Jin Lee to celebrate the release of her latest, Pachinko. Found out that the beginnings of this novel started in 1989 when Min was 19 years old. Part of the inspiration for the story was from a missionary's lecture that included a sad story of a 13 year old Korean boy who committed suicide due to racism in Japan.

Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
-Historical, Japan, Korea
Amazon | Goodreads

Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco hosted an event with Katie Kitamura in conversation with City Lights Buyer Paul Yamazaki about her novel, A Separation. She mentions how the story gets into how we are mysterious to each other as we are mysterious to ourselves.

A Separation
by Katie Kitamura
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

JOINED a face-to-face book group at Book Passage, Corte Madera (details). The theme includes books that received literary prizes.


AND watched: in theatre

Oscar shorts: Live Action (here)
Ennemis Entreniers
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

ALL of these were special in their own way and different ways. I enjoyed them all. Kinda leaning towards Silent Nights. It will be interesting to see which wins.

Oscar shorts: Animation (here)
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

ANOTHER varied bunch of goodness. Pear Cider and Cigarettes tops my list.


Currently flipping through: from the library

Nanotecture
Tiny Built Things
by Rebecca Roke
-Architecture
Amazon | Goodreads
The most wide-ranging, comprehensive and inclusive book on small-scale architecture ever published

An inspiring, surprising and fun collection of 300 works of small-scale architecture including demountable, portable, transportable and inflatable structures as well as pavilions, installations, sheds, cabins, pods, capsules and tree houses.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently