131: The 2020 Tournament of Books

In This Episode:

Christopher and Drew talk about the Tournament of Books! It’s the 2020 version, the Sweet Sixteen of the Sweet Sixteen! They explain why they like it and also why lots of things have changed since they started following it. There are some predictions, some brewskis, and some weird superstitions. Need it be said? Ca-caw!

The Ep. 131 Bookshelf

THE 2020 TOURNAMENT OF BOOKS SHORTLIST:

All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Overthrow by Caleb Crain
Saudade by Suneeta Peres da Costa
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Optic Nerve by Maria Gainza
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen by Dexter Palmer
Normal People by Sally Rooney
We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Oval by Elvia Wilk
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Golden State by Ben H. Winters
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

WHAT'D YOU BUY?:

Drew: I Hate the Lake District by Charlie Gere // Six Concepts for the End of the World by Steve Beard (Unidentified Fictional Objects)
Christopher: Fairies: A Dangerous History by Richard Sugg // Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader by Vivian Gornick // Parakeet by Marie-Helene Bertino

ALSO MENTIONED:

2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
Version Control by Dexter Palmer
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Self-Portrait with Boy by Rachel Lyon
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Drew: The Imago Sequence and Occultation and The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All — by Laird Barron
Christopher: @PaperbackParadise + a OneStory subscription

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