How I did in my Tournament of Books shortlist predictions
We’re in full-on Tournament of Books (#ToB18) season, and I am so excited!
In December, I made predictions for which books I thought would make it to the shortlist. Let’s see how I did.
Here are the books I predicted would make it to the Tournament of Books shortlist and whether I was right:
Click links or my full reviews.
- WRONG: Eat Only When You’re Hungry by Lindsay Hunter
- RIGHT: Exit West by Monson Hamid
- RIGHT: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
- WRONG: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Machado
- RIGHT: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- RIGHT: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- RIGHT: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- RIGHT: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- RIGHT: The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
- WRONG: The Leavers by Lisa Ko
- WRONG: The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso
Statistically speaking, I can’t be trusted. My ToB radar’s off. I’m pretty surprised by a few of these. I thought The Leavers in particular was a surefire shoo-in.
But now, the brackets are here and there’s a whole new chance to get it wrong all over again! You can download the brackets from The Morning News here and keep up with the Tournament of Books here. https://themorningnews.org/tob/
Here’s what comes next:
Beginning March 7, books will go against one another, head to head, bracket style. I’ve used this analogy many times and I’ll use it again: it’s like March Madness, but for books. We play along at home by filling out our brackets before the competition begins.
Each day, a guest judge decides which book wins that round. Winners move along to the semifinals, then the almost-final-finals, then the really-truly-final-finals and an ultimate winner is named.
Part of the fun for us as spectators is the comments section of the judgments. We weigh in with our own thoughts on the books, praise for the beautifully-written prose, or (sometimes) vehement disagreement with the judge. It’s quite lively.
Check back in on Thursday for my next post. I’ll give a video rundown of who I think will win each round of the brackets.
