The Tournament of Books Reader Community
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Welcome to The Cage, a reader community for The Morning News Tournament of Books. Here, readers can share their opinions about this year's books with other ToB fans, pine for the books that didn't make the final cut, and debate the final outcome during the off-season.
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Room Author: Emma Donoghue Reviewed By Fran Lewis The four walls of a room can often be confining when you are sick and unable to get around. But, what happens when the four walls become your only outlet with the world, your only environment and the only person that you see is you mother. From the day he was born Jack’s … more
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a great perspective of kidnap from the view of one who's never known anything else.
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Unlock this badge by reviewing at least 3 of the 16 books on the 2011 Tournament of Books Short List.
Because I am dragging myself through a list, The 2011 Tournament of Books, in order to impose a challenge and to experience some other tastes in literature, I didn't abandon this book as I would have done. It's enough like The Imperfectionists that I couldn't stop comparing it unfavorably as I slogged through. As a collection of short stories, few … more
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I had to let this title stew for a few days after finishing it. While I had initially granted only four little green cubes, I've had to round up for how well these characters have stuck with me. Despite what has been a whirlwind of reading (by my standards) I keep thinking of Treslove in my downtime. Most of the Tournament of Books titles for 2011 seem to have as the central … more
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Skippy Dies broke a lot of my rules for literature and still allowed me to love it. I can't stand violence to children in what is, essentially, an entertainment. Really graphic, unhealthy sexual activity is another one that bothers me. Drug abuse is too hard for me to relate to and comes across as an author struggling for some sort of street cred. I'm really square and don't like being … more
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I would never have read this book if it wasn't part of The Morning News' Tournament of Books. Although this seems to be on most "best books" lists for 2010(and shortlisted for the Mann Booker prize), I wasn't sure I wanted to read Room. The story is being told by a five year old boy who is trapped in a 11' by 11' room with his mother. I have to admit to being concerned … more
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A lesson of The Corrections seems to have been that the buying public likes a novel that tries to engage a broad array of American social issues through the lens of a disintegrating American family. Other novels have tried to follow that pattern. Eric Puchner’s Model Home is one of those. The Zillers consist of a Corrections-like family. Two parents who tolerate each … more
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Hynes’s latest follows in the tradition of Mrs. Dalloway and Ulysses in that the novel relates the thoughts and actions of its protagonist through the course of a day. On this day, Kevin takes a trip from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Austin, Texas for a job interview. He begins the novel on the jet that takes him from a midwest of “native decency” to a much more ethnically diverse Texas. … more
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Jack has spent his entire life in one location—Room. It is where he was born and to his five year old mind, Room is the entire world. His world contains three people, himself, Ma, and Old Nick. Ma, a victim of kidnapping, uses their limited supplies, to transform Room into a place of adventure and excitement, filled with childhood stories and imaginative play. However, she has never given up … more
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Unlock this badge by reviewing at least 3 of the 16 books on the 2011 Tournament of Books Short List.
The characters in The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake shy away from full engagement with the world. There could be a stretch in interpretation regarding the damage secrets and familial unhappiness does to individuals and how the unhappiness can haunt generations. My problem is that I am not sure the book engaged this issue on a deep level. Alternatively, the book was not particularly compelling on … more
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Too many of the pivotal scenes in Freedom have a ridiculousness to them. They are just real enough that the characters seem in earnest, but sufficiently unreal that they seem to be part of a joke. The book is infused with politics, but Freedom is never clear in revealing whether Franzen is trying to parody or to portray “intellectual” lefties who bungle basic economic ideas. Nor can I … more
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Marie is a liberating alter ego for those who want to fly to foreign lands on a moment’s notice. There is a freshness to entering the mind of someone with so little regard for consequences, so little self-awareness, so much engagement with the moment. And, yet, everything about her feels tragic. A person cannot successfully live as Marie lives....Marie’s simple spontaneity … more
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I'm just not a Franzen fan. This is my second attempt and I can't find a toehold in his work. Am I the only one??
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BettiePageTurner posted a Quick Tip about A Visit from the Goon Squad.
February 09, 2011
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Loved the book - however i wish I hadn't read it on a Kindle and opted to own a copy instead. I wanted to flip back and forth through the book's timeline and that was hard to do!
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I had been reading and hearing nothing but good things about Room, so I finally decided to see what the hype was all about. My reading pleasure was slightly tainted when the library gave me one week to read it. The book is that popular with the public! However, my friend Paula assured me that it was a quick read. This was not the case. Although I was able to finish the book in one … more
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BettiePageTurner took a poll, Rate Your Favorite Books on the Short List!.
January 31, 2011
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Unlock it by reviewing at least 3 of the 16 books on the 2011 Tournament of Books Short List
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