But because our readers have requested us to do this, and because we enjoy doing this—telling you what books we loved in 2014—here is our long, long list: 62 books we believe represent some of the finest works of fiction published in English (mainly in America) this past year.
Come March, one of these books will win the Rooster.
Of course, plenty of fine-ass books aren’t on this list. There will be lots to argue about. We’re betting we missed out on at least two, if not two dozen—and what can we say except they simply didn’t move us enough, or the flight attendants we talked to, our mothers-in-law, the booksellers we trust, or the TMN readers we queried recently?
Anyone who’s followed the Tournament of Books these past 11 years has heard at least a dozen of our mea culpas, yowls about the idiocy of ranking fiction, complaints about the cronyism of prize committees, the silliness of giving out prizes for literature, the stupidity of comparing one work to another—and yet also the value for readers (if not writers) of doing those same exact things and discussing them at length, as our judges, commentators, and readers do each March. So we continue and try to be transparent about the process along the way.
Big thanks as always to our sponsor Field Notes, who create wonderful things for writing, and also our book sponsor, Powells.com. If you’re looking for something for writing or reading, seek them out.
Happy holidays, everyone. See you in early January when we release the final 16.
The Long, Long List for the 2015 Tournament of Books
- The Fever by Megan Abbott
- Panic in a Suitcase by Yelena Akhtiorskaya
- The Intimidator Still Lives in Our Hearts by Gary Amdahl
- Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball
- Ruby by Cynthia Bond
- Women by Chloe Caldwell
- A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall by Will Chancellor
- Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
- The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
- Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
- Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford
- The Secret Place by Tana French
- American Innovations by Rivka Galchen
- Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
- An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
- The Peripheral by William Gibson
- Friendship by Emily Gould
- Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
- The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
- Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyer
- A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
- The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson
- The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit by Graham Joyce
- Euphoria by Lily King
- Redeployment by Phil Klay
- My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgård
- Nobody Is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey
- California by Edan Lepucki
- 10:04 by Ben Lerner
- People Park by Pasha Malla
- Bedrock Faith by Eric Charles May
- The Children Act by Ian McEwan
- Our Secret Life in the Movies by Michael McGriff and J.M. Tyree
- The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi
- The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
- Florence Gordon by Brian Morton
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
- Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
- Alphabet by Kathy Page
- Reunion by Hannah Pittard
- Afternoon Men by Anthony Powell
- Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
- Lila by Marilynne Robinson
- Dan by Joanna Ruocco
- Lost for Words by Edward St. Aubyn
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Adam by Ariel Schrag
- Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer
- Some Luck by Jane Smiley
- The Vacationers by Emma Straub
- Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel by Anya Ulinich
- Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance) by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Free by Willy Vlautin
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- All the Birds Singing by Evie Wyld
- The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink