Tournament of Books

The fifth annual Tournament of Books began a couple of weeks ago, pitting the sixteen best novels of the year against one another in order to determine a champion. The first-round match-ups were thus:

1. 2666 vs. Steer Toward Rock
2. Netherland vs. A Partisan’s Daughter
3. The White Tiger vs. Harry, Revisited
4. Unaccustomed Earth vs. City of Refuge
5. Shadow Country vs. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
6. The Northern Clemency vs. The Lazarus Project
7. A Mercy vs. The Dart League King
8. Home vs. My Revolution

Sadly, the only book I read was Netherland, which I thought was good. Not great.

Is it normal for writers to miss so many good novels in a year? I’d love to read more, but between teaching and writing, I don’t know where to find the time. When I have the time to read, I find myself writing.

Also, I read a great deal on the internet, as well as magazines that I never seem able to get through. “The Economist” and “Wired: are my subscriptions, but others sneak in off the magazine rack all the time.

I’d love to think that I could get through sixteen novels in a year, but that’s more than one a month. Even with audiobooks, that seems like a tall order.

The tournament is currently in round two. Unfortunately, Netherland was knocked off in round one, leaving me with no horses in the race.