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August's matchup: Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan vs. Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblic judged by Rachel Khong

Kick off of our final matchup starts today!

I haven't been following the summer reading challenge and haven't read any of the books, but I did read today's coverage for the first time. Nozlee finally answered my biggest ToB question of all time: why didn't Tenth of December make the ToB? I'll have to find a new question to take to my death bed now.

:) Jason - we await with baited breath!

Amy wrote: ":) Jason - we await with baited breath!"

I'll definitely be wondering how many books I didn't get to read due to all the time I spent voting for teenagers on American Idol.

Anyway.... Temporary People? sounds weird.

Temporary People? It's sitting in the back of my car, which is where it's been ever since I picked it up at the library last week. I simply can't make myself read it. I will have to throw myself at the task this weekend so I can at least attempt to contribute to the general discussion next week (I figured I had extra time if I mentally told myself I could read it for the 9th rather than the 2nd).

I'm halfway through Temporary People and it is one of those weird and hard to get a handle on books. But it does have some interesting things to say.

The one thing that the Rooster does better than any other award is to get me to read books I'd otherwise never read.

That's certainly true, but not always for the better (I'm looking at YOU, Wittgenstein, Jr.).

Temporary People felt like homework to me. I would force myself to read another chapter. I was surprised by my negative reaction because it sounded interesting.

Sad to say Temp Ppl is the only one of the summer challenge I haven't read, and probably won't. Can't wait to talk about Fever Dream!

I read Fever Dreams a few months ago and re-read it last week. It's great!

Hmm I bought Temporary People a few months ago, wonder where I put it?

I really enjoyed the discussion about short stories, particularly the linked short stories conversation. I read Goon Squad years ago and LOVED it but definitely thought of it as a novel. Maybe I'll have to do a re-read with this discussion in my brain. I loved Homegoing, mentioned in the comments, and also Jami Attenberg's newest, All Grown Up, but definitely thought of and read them as as novels, not linked short stories, although I've read opinion to the contrary. The Tsar of Love and Techno, another that I loved, was definitely, to my mind, a book of linked short stories. Very interesting conversation.

Nozlee & Khong's wrap-up of Temporary People:

eep! end of the day on east coast & I'm just now posting the 1st half of Fever Dream discussion with Nozlee and Rachel Khong:

Final book and final discussion! Vote at the bottom for your pick to move on to 2018 TOB!

Final decision (voted by us) posted today:
head on over to comment on what would make the summer TOB better (why you did or didn't participate, what should be tweaked etc)

Fantastic. I'm going to gather my thoughts before posting over there so as to not subject everyone to long, rambling paragraphs.

I'm so happy they're planning to repeat this next summer.

I loved the idea of summer TOB a little more than the reality - mostly due to two problems:
1) disconnect from the community in between Wednesdays caused me to forget the event existed until nearly noon each week. We needed something to keep us talking, or keep the momentum up.
2) the books felt very similar in tone if not themes and styles. I think the process needed a 'longlist' step before the final selections to ensure a range. Though I appreciated the diversity of authors this round!

I enjoyed the selection of books, but I totally agree with #1. Maybe there just wasn't enough hype? No major arguments to keep me refreshing the comments?