Nerdily obsessing about the Tournament over here. I thought I would do weekly recaps on Saturdays throughout the Tournament, dissecting some of my thoughts and reactions. Click on each date below to be taken to The Morning News ToB site with the judges discussions from that day. Click on the book covers to be taken to the Goodreads synopsis of each book.
March 9: The Bone Clocks versus Adam
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I’ve talked a lot already about my feelings and reaction to the first ToB post. In summary, too harsh towards The Bone Clocks, and not harsh enough towards Adam. You can see a few more of my thoughts on Wednesday’s post here, involving critical thinking in terms of genre. The best part about Monday was the ToB comments section, where all the REAL conversation was going down. So if you haven’t already, take a gander over there. Ultimately, The Bone Clocks was victorious, but not in the crushing, landslide way I had envisioned. I think my bracket bringing The Bone Clocks to the end won’t come to fruition, sadly. [1/1]
March 10: All the Birds, Singing versus A Brief History of Seven Killings
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I was REALLY rooting for All the Birds, Singing, which many were calling the “under dog” in this match-up. Having not read A Brief History of Seven Killings, I wasn’t sure which way it would go. Although All the Birds, received well-deserved praise across the board, I guess it wasn’t a “big” enough book to take down A Brief History. Despite all the praise, I still really have no interest in reading A Brief History, at least any time soon. [1/2]
March 11: All the Light We Cannot See versus Wittgenstein Jr.
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This match-up didn’t even feel all that interesting to me, because All the Light We Cannot See is the clear front runner by miles here. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it took the whole thing in the end. I didn’t read Wittgenstein Jr. but really didn’t have to, to feel confident that All the Light would take this round, and it did. Excellent book, but anti-climactic. [2/3]
March 12: The Paying Guests versus A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall
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I still have about 150 pages left in The Paying Guests, and it’s slow going but pretty good. I got about 40% of the way through A Brave Man, and just could not even finish it. I knew a lot of people were both pleasantly surprised by and liked this book, whereas some of those same people were let down by The Paying Guests. I could have seen this match-up going either way, and I’m glad it swayed towards my prediction of The Paying Guests. [3/4]
March 13: Dept. of Speculation versus Annihilation
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I actually didn’t love either of these books a whole lot, and have been surprised by the masses giving both rave reviews. But alas, reading is subjective, so it’s all good. I suspected more would like Annihilation, but was nervous how the first in a trilogy could compete with a stand alone novel. Luckily, my prediction of Annihilation was victorious! [4/5]
Can’t WAIT to see how the opening round concludes next week, and for the start of the quarterfinals! My most anticipated match-up of An Untamed State versus Station Eleven is on Monday, so I’ll be waiting over here with bated breath. So, readers, what are your feels on the Tournament so far?
Bookish Tendencies 