The Tournament of Books
Tuesday, March 1, 2016, 4:05 p.m.Read FeedStaff Picks
The Tournament of Books
Not all books win awards, but lots of books are great!
In March, other people get excited about college basketball. Not me (although I did win my work pool last time, woo-hoo)! What I get excited about every March is The Morning News' Tournament of Books. Designed to highlight how silly and arbitrary book awards can be, the winner of the annual bracket wins a Rooster. I agree that awards - while fun - often ignore some really great books, so here's a list of some of my favorite Tournament of Books candidates that didn't even win the Rooster.
I particularly want to note that I think this book makes a great pairing with Lily King's Euphoria, which is about anthropologists in Papua New Guinea (including a character based on Margaret Mead). While Euphoria is not a tournament of books book, this is still a perfect literary pairing!
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
Yanagihara's second novel, A Little Life, was nominated for seemingly every literary award out there, but I thought her debut was even better. Inspired by the life of Nobel prize winner Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, this novel purports to be the memoir of a fictional scientist named Norton Perina, who discovers what seems to be the secret to extending the human lifespan. The writing in this book is glorious, and the plot is captivating and fascinating and horrifying.I particularly want to note that I think this book makes a great pairing with Lily King's Euphoria, which is about anthropologists in Papua New Guinea (including a character based on Margaret Mead). While Euphoria is not a tournament of books book, this is still a perfect literary pairing!