Tournament of Books discussion

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Thanks to the team effort to make this happen! :)

Tournament starts Wednesday March 8, so get your entries in before then!

Bretnie wrote: "...Tournament starts Wednesday March 8, so get your entries in before then!"
Thank you, Bretnie, for getting this to a place where we can all actually find it. With some of the old stalwarts out of commission this year, it is really taking a village to make this stuff happen . . . or that huge family we've all become, as the character in The Passenger suggested, from us all having read a dozen or more books in common.

Thanks to everyone for making this happen! If I remember correctly, the person with the highest score gets eternal bragging rights and a book sent to them (from an updated "want to read" shelf?) from other contestants (who have the means, no pressure if now's not a good time to purchase and ship a book, and for limited budgets with some wiggle room, I believe gently used books are acceptable). :)

I have yet to win one of these but definitely enjoy picking out a book for the winner each time.

Good luck to everyone in their reading and bracket predictions!

Just a reminder that you have until midnight Pacific time on March 7 (this coming Tuesday night) to enter your guesses into the bracket competition spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

And just like that, we are off! 14 out of 30 keep their perfect bracket after the play-in.

Oh, dear, I've fallen off the top 20 list.

and I'm done, lol

But sir, you now rank in the newly updated Top 29!

Kip wrote: "But sir, you now rank in the newly updated Top 29!"
So Kip, there are only 31 entrants (yes?). Were you just trying to save us all from the shame of appearing as last and next-to-last?

well I lasted 1 day.

Phyllis wrote: "Kip wrote: "But sir, you now rank in the newly updated Top 29!"
So Kip, there are only 31 entrants (yes?). Were you just trying to save us all from the shame of appearing as last and next-to-last?"

That would have been very polite but no there were technically 30 columns with names and 1 of those did not fill out any guesses so they were erased.

Kyle wrote: "and I'm done, lol"
Oh Kyle, you aren't anywhere near to done. I don't think I recall ever seeing the bracket entries from everyone being so all over the boards as they are this year. To me, it looks like it is still any reader's game to win.

I'm proud to be one of the only FIVE participants with a PERFECT SCORE of 0!!!!

The few, the proud.

3 with perfect brackets, 5 with the most thoroughly imperfect.

Thoroughly imperfect! Proud to be 0 for 3. (Okay, perhaps not that proud...)

Through the luck of whatever, the rounds so far were a lot of books I haven't read. I'm interested to see if my odds get any better with the ones I have.

Shouldn't there be 8 points for the three with the highest scores on the brackets?
My Volcano - 1
Mouth to Mouth - 4
Book of Goose - 3
Though to be honest, I never did understand the brackets points completely...

C wrote: "Shouldn't there be 8 points for the three with the highest scores on the brackets?..."

Every round is worth at least 1 point.
Whether and how many additional points a round is worth depends on the difference in seeding between the two competing books.

Play-in round was worth 1 point because: 1 point for the win, and no additional points because all the contenders had the same seeding of 4.
Opening round 1 was worth 4 points because: 1 point for the win, plus 3 points for the seeding [MtM seeded at 4 beat out TP seeded at 1]
Opening round 2 was worth 2 points because: 1 point for the win, plus 1 point for the seeding [BoG seeded at 3 beat out MPP seeded at 2]

Make sense?

Quarter-final rounds are always worth at least 2 points, plus seeding difference.
Semi-final rounds . . . 3 points, plus seeding difference.
Zombie rounds . . . 4 points, plus seeding difference.

The other place for extra points is correctly predicting the zombies. You get 5 points for each correct prediction.

Phyllis wrote: "C wrote: "Shouldn't there be 8 points for the three with the highest scores on the brackets?..."

Every round is worth at least 1 point.
Whether and how many additional points a round is worth depe..."

AH okay. Thanks for explaining that, Phyllis!

Phyllis wrote: "C wrote: "Shouldn't there be 8 points for the three with the highest scores on the brackets?..."

Every round is worth at least 1 point.
Whether and how many additional points a round is worth depe..."



I've been curious about how the seeding is determined. Is it based on sales? average Amazon rating?

Nadine in NY wrote: "I've been curious about how the seeding is determined. Is it based on sales? average Amazon rating?..."

Now that I can't answer. The seeding is set by the ToB organizers. You can see it on the official bracket they released. That would be a really fun question to ask them over in the Commentariat.

And for what it's worth, I didn't establish the method we've historically used to award points in the bracket competition here. I believe it was Amy who first put together the competition spreadsheet, and I just wholesale plagiarized her formulas & methods for this year.

Woohoo! This is the first year that I have not been totally busted by the end of the first week. I am inordinately excited about this.

Wooohooo, I'm at two for two! (I didn't read any of the play-ins.) Ever the fan of the small, underdog, indy, weird books, I'm a happy camper right now. Clearly, this is short-lived. I'm sure my tiny winning streak will be crushed on Monday.

I'm doing just as wonderfully as always. (Am I in last place?)

I already have more correct guesses for the Oscars than the ToB. Just saying.

Tina wrote: "I already have more correct guesses for the Oscars than the ToB. Just saying."

Same.

Well I’m toast since I had Seven Moons taking the rooster (and there’s no way it will zombie), but at least the judge was thoughtful about it :/

Go, go, Lauren O and JoDee, with 8 points each. This is a crazy year, so far, and you guys are somehow out ahead of everyone!

Nadine and Gwendolyn, your time is coming! Surely it must be!

Phyllis wrote: "Go, go, Lauren O and JoDee, with 8 points each. This is a crazy year, so far, and you guys are somehow out ahead of everyone!"

I have The Passenger in the finals, though! I loved so many of the books on the left side of the bracket, and was not a fan of much of the right side, so less to root for coming up. Today's match was a hard one, I loved them both.

I still have hope that 7 Moons will zombie... I suppose Dinosaurs has a shot on this side as well.

Kip wrote: "Nadine and Gwendolyn, your time is coming! Surely it must be!"



LOL!!! We two are the few, the proud, the PERFECT ZEROES!!! So, tomorrow I need Babel to be chosen so I can maintain my zero.

I never thought I’d be rooting to have the worst bracket, but here we are…. 😆

Really, that takes talent! There should be a booby prize for last place. Like, being gifted a Colleen Hoover.

Elizabeth wrote: "Really, that takes talent! There should be a booby prize for last place. Like, being gifted a Colleen Hoover."

LOL

JoDee maintains top spot.

In a shocking development, Gwendolyn has a point! She now joins Kyle with a solitary point in the race for the Hoover.

Kip wrote: "JoDee maintains top spot.

In a shocking development, Gwendolyn has a point! She now joins Kyle with a solitary point in the race for the Hoover."

Yes! I finally got a point!

I'll be very interested to see the Zombie rankings once this final match-up of the first round finishes tomorrow...

Kyle wrote: "I'll be very interested to see the Zombie rankings once this final match-up of the first round finishes tomorrow..."

Me. Too.

It's up, also my 2 favorite eliminated books are currently the zombies which is nice.

Same!

oh I really wanted Dinosaurs to come back!!! (But I didn't vote for it, since I hadn't read it yet back when zombie voting was happening)

Man everything for me has just fallen apart!

Me too!! Bracket looks terrible. I had Dinosaurs and The Passenger for my zombies. So now, holding out hope for The Book of Goose or Rabbit Hutch to take the Rooster. But the really good news is I finished my last book on Saturday and today it won!!! Completist yay. I really liked Nightcrawling.

Unless you all start being completely wrong from here on out, I'm doomed. I hope I did a better job with bracket spreadsheet creation than with bracket outcome predictions.

JoDee and Ellen got through all of the opening rounds only missing one matchup, which feels like cheating! The only thing separating the two was the correct prediction of the play-in round.

Congratulations so far to Ellen!

If you can't come first in the bracket contest, then next best is to come last and be in the running for the Hoover award, right? It's sure looking like me, Kyle, and Brock may end up in a three-way tie for last place. (I see Gwendolyn will definitely lose her last place status based on her zombie picks). Fortunately (?unfortunately?), there are oh so many Hoovers.

Phyllis wrote: "If you can't come first in the bracket contest, then next best is to come last and be in the running for the Hoover award, right? It's sure looking like me, Kyle, and Brock may end up in a three-wa..."




Kyle has been holding onto last place like a BOSS!!!

Nadine in NY wrote: "Kyle has been holding onto last place like a BOSS!!!"

You're right. It clearly looks like Kyle will keep that title through to the end.