2014 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge: My Sweet Sixteen

January 06, 2015

We're back for the first elimination round of the 2014 Book of the Year (BOTY) Bracket Challenge, hosted by Elle of Erratic Project Junkie! To find out what we're up to, check out my sign-up post or Elle's everything-BOTY headquarters.

(Quick note: Sorry to any readers not similarly swept up in reading challenges right now—BOTY and Bout of Books fell during the same week, so my posts are going to be fairly challenge-heavy. Feel free to tune in again next week if you're sick of my themed ramblings.)

While some other bloggers have 64-slot brackets to work with, my first elimination round reveals my Sweet Sixteen!

First of all: guys, this was hard. I want to write about all the tough decisions I made filling out the second round of the bracket, but I'd end up rambling, and you'd end up asleep. So let me tell you about a few (all images from Goodreads):

 vs.


These two books were probably my top reads of the year (noting, however, that my serious thinking/book blogging only began in November). I'm pretty sure my random number sequence generator conspired against me on this one. I loved both books for similar reasons, ones you can read in my reviews of them. TGoST was ultimately the more poetic, heart-wrenching read for me, so it won this bout. Sorry, White Teeth—I promise I still love you!


 vs.


Both of these are really powerful and disturbing books. Alice Walker's examination of racism and domestic violence crackles with feminist rage, while Chinua Achebe's is quieter, more subdued in its portrayal of the terror of a village watching its traditions crumble. My reasons for choosing Things Fall Apart over The Color Purple aren't purely based on the novels themselves—I have more vivid memories of reading TFA (where I was, what I was doing, the things I was thinking about), and another of Walker's novels already made my sweet sixteen. So there you have it.

vs.

It almost feels unfair to pit these two against each other—one is an extremely important overview of the state of American prisons, including the insidious racism that permeates police work and sentencing, and the other is a beautiful, sprawling classic about love, family, and meeting (and not meeting) expectations. Arguably, I learned a lot more from The New Jim Crow, but I just couldn't cast East of Eden aside. It was a gorgeous novel. I might regret this decision later, but, then again, I don't think Jim Crow would have been my #1 for the year anyway.

And here we are with the bracket (yep, still super ugly):

How did everyone else do this round? I want to hear all about your tough choices!

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10 comments

  1. I didn't have too many tough choices for this round. There were a few that would have gone one way or another if they went up against something else, but overall I'm fine with how my first eliminations went. :) And your bracket isn't ugly!

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    1. They'll be getting harder soon enough, eh? :)

      And thank you! For some reason I'm super averse to it, but I'm glad it isn't making your eyeballs bleed.

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  2. Gah. Comment eaten again. Darn you Blogger!

    I love the matchup of The Color Purple and Things Fall Apart. What a great pairing. I have a couple of books I'm keeping my eye on. (No fair telling you yet, I don't want to influence your decisions. ;) )

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    1. It was such a hard one to choose between! I can't stop second-guessing myself. :)

      Can't wait for tomorrow's post! It's a heartbreaker. Again.

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  3. Man those were some hard choices! I'm glad East of Eden made it to the next round, its a book I've had my eye on and seeing it do so well is bumping it up my tbr! Good luck next round :)

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    1. They really were!

      And don't get too attached to EoE, because it might be vanishing tomorrow... so sad. But you should definitely still read it! It was a wonderful novel.

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  4. I don't know what this is, but I love it. I approve of all these books you're using. I can't believe you chose Things Fall Apart over The Color Purple, though! Maybe I just liked Purple more, because I had to read Things Fall Apart for school. That tends to alter opinions of books.

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    1. This is the 2015 Book of the Year Bracket, hosted by Elle over at http://erraticprojectjunkie.blogspot.com. It's kind of great.

      And yeah, that was one of my tougher picks! Like I said, it isn't entirely about the novels themselves. I remember specifically what I was doing when I was reading Things Fall Apart (a particularly arduous project for my job), and I was on a "reading all the things I never got assigned in high school" book bender. The subject matter of TCP is more up my alley, and Walker is just a badass anyway, but life surprises you sometimes.

      Definitely check out the other BOTY brackets - it's been a lot of fun! You should play along next year. :)

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  5. I have not read any of your 16 to be completely honest because I don't enjoy classics. Steinbeck is my least favorite author of all time. Of Mice and Men was not a good experience for me. I wish you good luck in choosing your elite 8

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    1. It is pretty classics-heavy, but a few (Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Doomsday Book, Just Mercy) are definitely more contemporary.

      So sorry to hear that OMaM wasn't good... I think it gets wrecked for a lot of people from English class. Have you tried any of his other work?

      Good luck to you, too!

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