The BOTY Bracket Challenge is underway! Brackets have been set up and initial eliminations have been completed to decrease the number of overall challengers to 32.
The bracket challenge is one of my favorite things to do every year. I love looking back on everything I read in the year prior, reflecting on some really good books, and just letting the chips fall where they may. A lot of times, I have an idea what book will win before I even get started, but it's still a good time to see how they stack up against one another in the trenches.
Today's task is to find the Sweet Sixteen. This is where I'm starting...
The thing that I notice about the randomization of these brackets is that there are usually some serious heartbreakers in the first round of eliminations. This year's bracket is no different. It was obvious to me right away that the left side bracket was the stronger of the two, holding a lot more of the books I loved the most. Unfortunately, that also meant that it pitted some incredibly awesome books against one another. The right side was a little easier in this round, but I still lost a couple of decent scorers.
Before we head right in to the eliminations, let's take a look at the basic demographics of our contestants.
Fiction: 32
Nonfiction: 0
That's right. This year it's all fiction. And it's all novels. No plays, no children's books, no
autobiographies. While I enjoy the occasional nonficiton and memoirs have typically been
the name of that game year after year, in 2018 I apparently stuck to the land of
imagination.
Contemporary Fiction: 9
YA Fiction: 18
Classics: 5
This division is a bit sketchy, I'll be honest. My definition of these categories could be
slightly different from that of another reader. But...overall, I think the tally is a decent
representation of my reading trends for 2018. It was another heavy YA reading year. Not
a big surprise...
Historical Fiction: 4
Fantasy: 9
Reimagined Fairy Tales: 5
Series books: 15
Wowza. Almost half of the books I read in 2018 were part of a series?? That's a new trend.
Especially when you consider that the most books read in a single series was three, and
that only existed in one case. That is a lot of serious series reading. The more I think about
it, the more daunting it becomes. Particularly since I only completed two out of the nine
series involved.
ARCs: 2
Audiobooks: 1
E-books: 26
Physical copies: 5
This is not all that surprising to me other than two small things.
#1 - There were only 2 ARCs. That's somewhat disappointing. I plan on increasing that
percentage this year. I very much enjoy reading new authors who I may not have
otherwise sought out.
#2 - I listened to my very first audiobook in 2018. I had always been resistant to
audiobooks, seeing them as "cheating". But with two small children and other
projects needing accomplished, I discovered that an audiobook allowed me to get
things done while still enjoying a story. And it didn't involve screen time. An added
bonus, since prior to that I tended to run random Netflix series in the background
while I got things done.
3 or 3 1/2 star ratings: 11
4 or 4 1/2 star ratings: 18
5 star ratings: 4
This seems like a decent spread, but I'm thinking maybe my classification of a 4-star book
may require some examination. It seems that there should be a tapering amount from 3-
to 5-star, instead of a ballooning 4-star category
Now, let's get to the real purpose of this post. Time for some competition!
The right side of the bracket was much more difficult for me than the left. As usual, randomization resulted in some good face-offs right off the bat. Though the ratings I gave the books as I read them certainly play a part, I don't rely on them to choose winners as I go. Typically higher rated books will automatically win, but I go with my gut as the decision maker. It's kind of a way for me to eliminate some of the human error element in my rankings system.
Let's talk about the three hardest decisions in this round.
This was easily the hardest choice and (of course) it was the very first decision I had to make. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is fantastic and I really loved it. It was a 2017 Goodreads Choice Winner. Obviously, that makes it a formidable opponent. The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye was an ARC I received from the publisher and it was amazing. A historical fiction novel with a shifting timeline and an intriguing plot, it was a pleasant surprise in 2018 reading pile.
I didn't want to get rid of either one of these. I sincerely considered getting a new randomized number list, but...I refrained from cheating. It was painful, but it had to be done. I will tell you right now that, had these two not faced off right off the bat, they both would have likely made it to the Elite Eight...perhaps even the Final Four. But...that's why I do the randomized bracket. Though the decisions are often hard, it makes the path to find the winner even more interesting.
And so, with a saddened heart, I had to wave goodbye to one of these fantastic challengers. Little Fires Everywhere takes the win and I have to let the lovely The Paragon Hotel go. Don't let the fact that it didn't make it further sway you from reading it. The Paragon Hotel is (without a doubt) one of the finest books I read in 2018. It is very much worth a read.
This pairing pitted two of my most favorite authors against each other.
Margaret Atwood is a genius. Seriously. I love her and her work. She is an incredibly smart woman with an amazing writing talent. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak live a few years ago and I love her ever so much. Her The Blind Assassin was a lengthy historical novel that kept my stomach somewhat in knots and was one of those books I had difficulty putting down.
And then there's Philippa Gregory. I have read several of her books and love her novels. They always walk away with very high ratings. Arguably the best of the English monarchy historical fiction writers, Gregory's Three Sisters, Three Queens did not disappoint. It was awesome. Told from the perspective of Katherine of Aragon, Margaret Tudor, and Mary Tudor, it brings to live another segment of the Tudor/Plantagenet history with complete magnificence. It is an incredibly strong challenger.
I went back and forth for quite a while on this one. In fact, it was the last decision I made in this round. I just couldn't decide who should move on and who should be cut. They are both such fantastic reads. But you know the rules...there can only be one winner. And so I had to let Three Sisters, Three Queens go. Margaret Atwood's chunky novel The Blind Assassin moves into the Sweet Sixteen.
The last of the three most difficult choices is one that probably would surprise most who look at the bracket. It should have been easy, right? If you know my reading history, you know that I am a huge fan of John Green. In fact, not only was Paper Towns my first read of 2018, his Turtles All the Way Down was one of my last reads of 2017 and his An Abundance of Katherines was my first read of 2017. He is a very strong challenger.
But...Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I Love You had been sitting on my TBR for quite a while, biding it's time. And, though I had seen the movie (which never bodes well), I found myself in love with it. It only rated at 3-stars because of an ending issue and (quite honestly) I think because of some tainting of opinion from watching the movie. As far as heartstrings go though, it was one that landed tough. So when it came to deciding here, I felt myself struggling.
I will admit, I wasn't surprised at the winner. I was more surprised at the amount of debate this took. P.S. I Love You ultimately just didn't have what it took. Paper Towns by John Green moves forward in the rankings.
And thus, with what I consider to be some pretty painful goodbyes, the Sweet Sixteen were chosen. Here's where this year's bracket now stands.
I'll be back for more challenging book exclusions as we progress into the Elite Eight!
I'm appreciate your writing skill. Please keep on working hard. Thanks
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