Introducing the book version of Start-Bench-Cut

Which one of these three new novels would you read first?

I’ve been playing my book version of Start-Bench-Cut on the You Can Learn From Books Instagram since September 2022, and now it’s time to bring it to this blog.

In general, Start-Bench-Cut is a fun and funny game that is the creation of sports fans who rate such athletes as NBA players, NFL players and MLB players.

But it’s not confined to just sports. It can be about ice cream, doughnuts, cakes, movies and TV shows. Really, pick one of your favorite subjects and play the game, preferably with others.

I’ve figured out how to prepare my Start-Bench-Cut book posts. They’re fun, not funny, and I’m a solo player for the most part.

• Drive to the Barnes & Noble in my hometown of Gulfport.

• Look at the shelves with new books.

• Pick three of them and read the first five pages of each one.

• Place the three books on a table in the cafe and take one picture.

• Go home and post the picture on Instagram.

Here’s how I define my Start-Bench-Cut.

• Start is my first choice and I’ll buy the book ASAP for my next read.

• Bench is my second choice. I’ll wait to buy it, and when I do, I’ll put it on my TBR. Bench, in this case, isn’t a thumbs-down like the one in the illustration.

• Cut means I’ll pass on my third choice. I’m not interested in reading it. It gets a red X similar to the one in the illustration.

My idea to do Start-Bench-Cut came from watching “The Rich Eisen Show,” whose entertaining editions of S-B-C have featured segments including Keegan-Michael Key on the original cast of “Predator,” the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie; Rob Corddry on Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz; J.K. Simmons on the most obnoxious MLB fans; and Aaron Rodgers on “Game of Thrones” characters.

My book selections today appeared on my Instagram last week and all are new novels.

• Start: “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang.

• Bench: “The Guest” by Emma Cline.

• Cut: “The Time Has Come” by Will Leitch.

I know what “Yellowface” is about, but if you don’t, the best headlines about the book will give you an idea.

“A wickedly funny publishing thriller” (The Guardian)

“A brutal satire” (The New York Times)

“Tokenization and Asian Representation” (Elle)

“Takes white privilege to a sinister level” (NPR)

“Intellectual theft by a white writer unleashes hauntings of all kinds” (The Boston Globe)

I returned home from Barnes & Noble and used my Amazon Christmas gift card to buy the Kindle edition of "Yellowface" for my iPad.

"Yellowface" could shape up to be one of my favorite books this year.

It’s a high bar so I better get Started reading it.