Guys, why isn't it Friday? There's this three-day weekend looming in the distance, tantalizing me with its many long, unplanned hours (no work shift this Saturday, woo!), and yet it's still only Thursday. Life is hard and stuff. (P.S. Are there any MLK, Jr. Day weekend read-a-thons going on? Would anyone join if I started one? Maybe I'll just, y'know, decide to read a lot on my own. That could be a thing, too.)

All right, ridiculous internal monologue out of the way. BOTY bracket! If you don't know what that is, head on over to Erratic Project Junkie and check out everything Elle has to say about it.

I made two hard decisions today. One was a bit easier than the other, but I still spent a lot of time staring at my bracket and wishing I didn't have to choose. Like I said in my last post, each of these four is a really, really good book. Can't we share the love? But, I DID IT. I did it for you. Or at least for Elle.

I might be just a tad hyper today.


This one was the easier of the two. Women—and tough topics associated with womanhood—are the driving force of both. I've written a little about them in previous BOTY Bracket posts, so refer to those if you want more of my reasoning. While He, She and It was a fantastic read, Possessing the Secret of Joy was a fantastic read and a punch in the gut. Apparently, I like gut punches, because the latter takes the win.


I'm still agonizing over this one. The pairing had me looking up memorable quotes on Goodreads and thinking over the context in which I read each book, because there just wasn't a clear winner in terms of subject matter. Both of them rock, and I've told you why a few different times over the course of this challenge. I finally settled on an answer: it was rough to let The Cider House Rules go, but The God of Small Things takes this match-up.

So we're left with two super heavy books by awesome women. I can't complain about this, but I will complain about having to pick between the two of them on Saturday. Why?

Aaaaand when I first posted this, I forgot the bracket. Go me. Here you are:


Have you guys picked your semifinalists? Did they surprise you? Does anyone else feel like the calendar is wrong and it's definitely Friday? Talk to me!