This time I have a solid excuse for being late with our Tournament of Books update: the brackets have disappeared. Where once hung our ToB picks now hang bookmarks we're all meant to be judging for our 2012 BookMark Contest. So I can't tell you where anyone stands. But I can tell you what's been … Continue reading Tournament of Books →

Way behind with reporting here, well aware, so let's get right to it and catch up with the Tournament of Books - we've made it all the way through the Quarterfinals! I'll tell you right now, for our booksellers, thing aren't looking pretty. QF Round #1 Sense of an Ending v. Lightning Rods Judged by … Continue reading Tournament of Books – Oy! →

Three more rounds of the Tournament of Books have come and gone, and not without some serious, serious upset. We're now done with Opening Round, which means that as of tomorrow, bookseller picks will be awarded two points for winning picks. Here's where we stand: Round #6 Swamplandia! by Karen Russell versus The Cat's Table … Continue reading Tournament of Books Catch Up →

All right, we have some catching up to do with the Tournament of Books. If Round  #2 was a bloodbath, Rounds #3 and #4 are golden victory romps around here. Round #5....gets a little more complicated. Round #3 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami versus The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah Judged by Misha Angrist Winner: According … Continue reading Tournament of Books Catch Up →

Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt versus Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward The judge: Mark Binelli The winner: Lightning Rods !!! Read Binelli's thoughtful explanation of choice (along with commentary) on the official ToB website. See now folks, this is where the ToB gets interesting. Salvage the Bones seemed an easy pick, given the shiny … Continue reading Tournament of Books – Round 2 →

The Tournament of Books begins today! In the first round, author Emma Straub has chosen The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes over The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollack. Read her careful decision, along with commentary. So let's see how our booksellers fared in this first round, worth one point. The … Continue reading The Tournament of Books Begins! →

Last week Chris Hoyt handed around the brackets for the 2012 Tournament of Books. If you don't know what that is, read this. Basically, ToB (a combined effort of The Morning News, Field Notes & Powell's Books) pits the top novels of the previous year against one another in an NBA-style tournament bracket to determine … Continue reading Our Picks in the 2012 Tournament of Books →