Welcome to Litsy!

Here Comes the Rooster! | Jerry Dunne

We are approaching the final match of the #ToB23 (Goose vs Babel) and of the #LitsyToB23. I love that we‘re ending with two different books again. In our tournament it is Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow against The Rabbit Hutch.

For the final time I‘m asking you to vote. Please vote for your winner in the comments below!

BkClubCare, Megabooks, Hooked_on_books, Cinfhen, Jas16, cariashley, Well-ReadNeck, Larkken, Suet624, Deblovestoread, merelybookish, batsy, Readerann, Sophronisba, Chelsea.Poole, rmaclean4, kwmg40, squirrelbrain, RidgewayGirl, RebelReader, jlhammar, Addison_Reads, Ruthiella, sarahbarnes, ImperfectCJ

Megabooks Tomorrow x3!!! 2y

Megabooks But I enjoyed both. 👍🏻 2y

BarbaraBB My own vote is for

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Chelsea.Poole

ImperfectCJ I vote for

Cinfhen I‘m voting for Rabbit 🫀🐰Thanks for hosting, Barbara❤️ 2y

jlhammar

merelybookish I also vote for

squirrelbrain Gosh, this is difficult! I liked both and can‘t even remember which I put above the other in my final list. I think, for its quirkiness I‘ll go with

Suet624 Tomorrow x3 2y

Hooked_on_books I vote for Tomorrow! 🎮 2y

Deblovestoread I went back to Storygraph and what I rated these two when I read them. The Rabbit Hutch had .25 stars more than Tomorrow so my vote his to Rabbit. 2y

Ruthiella The Rabbit Hutch! 🐇🐇🐇 2y

RebelReader I vote

Readerann This was a tough choice because neither was my favorite. I‘m going with Tomorrow. 2y

Jas16

Larkken Tomorrow x3 👍🏻 2y

batsy I haven't read both so will abstain from the vote 🙈 But based on the description alone, I think I might be partial to Rabbit... Interesting to see how it ends! 2y

Addison_Reads I also loved Rabbit, but Tx3 is my pick.

kwmg40 This is a tough one, as I liked both books, but I'll go with Tomorrow! 2y

Well-ReadNeck Such a good m 2y

Well-ReadNeck Whoops! Hit send by accident … anyway … a great matchup and so much to love about Rabbit Hutch, but Tomorrow stuck with me and gets my vote.

Well-ReadNeck Also, I‘m MUCH more excited by our final than the official one. 😝 2y

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BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @Readerann @Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen @RebelReader @RidgewayGirl @kwmg40 @Sophronisba @Larkken @rmaclean4 @batsy 2y

The Book of Goose: A Novel | Yiyun Li

Wow, a judge and his kid who don‘t care for Sam and Sadie of Tomorrow x3! The result is The Goose marches on, on its way to become a Rooster?!

In our Zombie round, Tomorrow x3 does win however. With a difference of three Zombie votes it beats Dinosaurs.

So one animal wins, another loses.
I can‘t wait to so see where the rest of both the #ToB23 and the #LitsyToB23 will take us 🐓

BarbaraBB @Megabooks @Suet624 @squirrelbrain @merelybookish @cariashley @Addison_Reads @Chelsea.Poole @BkClubCare @Jas16 @ImperfectCJ @jlhammar @Well-ReadNeck @Ruthiella @Deblovestoread 2y

merelybookish Wow, I am thrilled and shocked that Goose is doing so well! And loved that essay/judgement.❤️ 2y

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Jas16 Today is not my day in either version of the tournament. 2y

jlhammar Really enjoyed reading the judgement today. So happy to see Goose make it to the final match. Also glad Tomorrow lives on in our tournament. 2y

Cinfhen Im sad to see Dino out and actually a bit surprised 😅 pretty shocked to see Goose advance but I‘m happy with the decision ❤️ 2y

BkClubCare Ouch - I thought the TTT criticism a bit harsh. I admit, I liked TTT more right after I read it than now with time gone by. So conflicted today. But always fun to think about why I love books 📚❤️ 2y

squirrelbrain I did feel a bit that he was abdicating responsibility for his decision. 🤔 2y

Hooked_on_books I would like to slap today‘s judge. What an asshole! And keeping T3 away from his kid just because he himself didn‘t like it? How‘s that different from book banning? After all he thought Fabienne was great and his kid (rightly) indicated that she‘s awful! This judgment was so gross. I would have been fine with our choice either way, though I do prefer T3 personally. 2y

batsy I loved reading the judgment. It's great when judges can just come out and say that the find a book or its concept inane or derivative. I also like that it made me re-think my reaction to Goose; I gave it a so-so because the ending made me think "Why bother?" But now I just feel compelled to read it again at some point. Happy to see Goose advance. 2y

sarahbarnes I was very excited to see Goose move forward! I thought the judgment was really creative - you sometimes look at things in the world and think, is this worthy of them (your kid) and I feel like that‘s the sentiment the judge was trying to capture. 2y

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BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @Readerann @Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen @RebelReader @RidgewayGirl @kwmg40 @Sophronisba @Larkken @rmaclean4 @batsy 2y

The Book of Goose: A Novel | Yiyun Li

In the #ToB23 The Book of Goose was up against Notes on your sudden disappearance, in ours against Tomorrow x3.

The Goose wins in the ToB, based on the thought of the judge (and maybe we all) having their own Fabienne. In the #LitsyToB23 however, a majority voted for Tomorrow. Maybe we feel more connected to Sam and Sadie than Agnès and Fabienne.

Anyhow, Tomorrow advances in our tournament. Later today I‘ll share our zombies. Stay tuned!

BarbaraBB @Megabooks @Suet624 @squirrelbrain @merelybookish @cariashley @Addison_Reads @Chelsea.Poole @BkClubCare @Jas16 @ImperfectCJ @jlhammar @Well-ReadNeck @Ruthiella @Deblovestoread 2y

Suet624 I appreciate how much the judge identified with one over the other, specifically because she and maybe many of us have/had a Fabienne in our lives. 2y

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merelybookish I'm happy Goose is still alive in one tournament. It's kind of fun when a judge doesn't even attempt to be measured but just absolutely prefers one book to the other. No hemming and hawing. It was refreshing. (Saying all that as someone who agrees with him. I would no doubt feel differently if I was rooting for Notes.) 2y

jlhammar Hurrah for Goose! I really enjoyed Tomorrow so okay with it advancing in our version. Maybe Goose will end up against Tomorrow in the official tournament‘s zombie round? 2y

Ruthiella I‘m glad to see Goose advance in the real TOB. I love the unpredictable nature of it! What makes our tournament interesting to me is that it is more predictable since I have access to most Littens‘ opinions in advance. So not surprised to see Tx3 advance here. 😀 2y

sarahbarnes Very excited to see Goose move forward in the real TOB. I‘m still to this day on a library hold list for Tx3 and haven‘t wanted to read it badly enough to buy it, so I will have to remain in suspense as to how I feel about it for now. 😁 2y

BarbaraBB @Ruthiella That is true! Tomorrow was a super close call though within our tournament. And I hope our zombies can spice things up a bit 😉 2y

Hooked_on_books Today‘s judgment was really heartfelt and just goes to show how much each matchup of this tournament relies on the taste/life experience of just one person. Which ultimately makes it a bit arbitrary in a way a panel would not be. I appreciated reading it even though their choice was clear from the start. And hooray for T3 in our tourney! 2y

BkClubCare @merelybookish - No, no; I was rooting for Notes, wasn‘t a fan of Goose but the judgement was beautiful. 2y

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BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @Readerann @Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen @RebelReader @RidgewayGirl @kwmg40 @Sophronisba @Larkken @rmaclean4 @batsy 2y

The Rabbit Hutch: A Novel | Tess Gunty

I loved the analytic way today‘s judge considered both contenders. It was a hard choice. This final QF has been the hardest for us in the #LitsyToB23. With just a few votes in its favor, Rabbit Hutch is our winner. It advances to the Semifinals, in which it‘ll be up against Sea of Tranquility.

Please vote for the semifinals before Monday! https://forms.gle/FJYyLjjA53TFh8qr7 ‼️

BarbaraBB @Megabooks @Suet624 @squirrelbrain @merelybookish @cariashley @Addison_Reads @Chelsea.Poole @BkClubCare @Jas16 @ImperfectCJ @jlhammar @Well-ReadNeck @Ruthiella @Deblovestoread 2y

jlhammar Voted! Thanks, Barbara. Such a fun judgement today 😆 - loved it! And, of course, I'm over the moon that both Goose and Rabbit make it to the semifinals. 2y

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squirrelbrain I just voted too! I‘m pleased with today‘s outcome; both great books though. 2y

Ruthiella I voted! I‘d love to see Goose and Rabbit duke it out for the Rooster! 🐓 2y

Jas16 I voted. I appreciated the judgment although I would have a different decision. I liked both books and am not mad seeing Rabbit Hutch advance. 2y

merelybookish Nice to return to a good judgement today. Enjoyed the graphs! Also very happy that both animals are still in it. 🦆🐇💪 @jlhammar @Ruthiella 2y

sarahbarnes Yay for Rabbit Hutch! Agreed with @Ruthiella @jlhammar @merelybookish - very glad to see the goose and the rabbit still hanging in there. 😁 2y

Hooked_on_books With today‘s judgment, every single matchup of this round went against me! Oh well. I also appreciated the judgement as some others did today. It helps that she liked the books, but her creativity and playfulness are refreshing. 2y

Suet624 I smiled all the way through reading this judge‘s remarks. I loved the process used to determine the winner. 2y

BkClubCare @Suet624 - Yay MATH! 🧮 2y

Suet624 @BkClubCare 😂😂😂 2y

Cinfhen Ohhhh, I think I see an animal matchup 🐇 vs 🦆 2y

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BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @Readerann @Hooked_on_books @Cinfhen @RebelReader @RidgewayGirl @kwmg40 @Sophronisba @Larkken @rmaclean4 @batsy 2y

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance: A Novel | Alison Espach

This is the only QF that‘s different from the #ToB23 one. In the real ToB Notes on your sudden disappearance is up against T3, in the #LitsyToB23 it is Seven Moons vs T3. With more than 20 votes T3 is our winner and therefor our second semi-finalist! The real tournament has its first surprise: Notes advances, which didn‘t make it past the opening round in our tournament!

BarbaraBB @Megabooks @Suet624 @squirrelbrain @merelybookish @cariashley @Addison_Reads @Chelsea.Poole @BkClubCare @Jas16 @ImperfectCJ @jlhammar @Well-ReadNeck @Ruthiella @Deblovestoread 2y

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rmaclean4 Wow!! 2y

Suet624 I had to rush over to the website to read the results because I honestly couldn‘t believe what you were saying. 2y

BkClubCare Surprise! 🎉 2y

BkClubCare I whooped out loud - I love knowing others LOVE Notes! YAY! 2y

jlhammar Sad to see T3 knocked-out in the official tournament, but at least there‘s a chance of it returning as a zombie. Very happy it advances in our version! 2y

RebelReader Very surprised! I liked Notes but like T3 more. 2y

Megabooks No question that T3 is a better book than either it was against. It was one of my favorite books of last year, and it is probably top 10 all time. 2y

Cinfhen I enjoyed the judges comments and appreciated the decision. It was definitely a surprise & I LOVED it!! I wasn‘t as enamored with T3 as many others were so I respect Notes advancing. @jlhammar is right… T3 might sweep back in during the zombie 🧟‍♀️ 2y

Ruthiella I love it when there are surprising upsets like this in the ToB! I enjoyed Notes more than Tx3 or The 7 Moons. But I do have to give props to 7 Moons in that I didn‘t love the experience of slogging through it, but it has really stayed with me. Definitely, Tx3 could zombie. I just didn‘t connect with it emotionally the way other readers did. 2y

Addison_Reads I was surprised by today's choice in the official tournament. Like @Megabooks Tx3 is one of my favorite books, and not just in the ToB. I hope it gets an extra life and some extended playing time thanks to the zombie round. 2y

Larkken Oof! Oy. Maybe I should be happy (?) that everyone adores a book where so much of it reminds me of my cringy inner monologue from high school alongside juicy Hallmark-movie-esque plot developments? I don‘t know if I can believe something so like my inner demons can count as art-adjacent lol 2y

squirrelbrain Of course, Notes is the one book I didn‘t read…trots off to see if it‘s come down in price anywhere. 2y

Readerann I haven‘t read Notes, but am in the middle of Seven Moons and am happy with our decision today! 2y

Hooked_on_books Wow, Notes beat T3?!? I did not see that coming! I‘m even more curious now to read this judgment! 2y

Hooked_on_books The judgement is really thoughtful, as many of them seem to be. I like that. And I‘m happy to see T3 as a zombie, especially as it boots out MPP (though I wish it had booted Babel). 😆 2y

54 likes18 comments

The School for Good Mothers: A Novel

Sea of Tranquility: A Novel | Emily St. John Mandel

Babel might have been the most surprising read for us this year. Most participants of the #LitsyToB23 enjoyed it more than expected. @Cinfhen @RebelReader and @kwmg40 even root for it in this years tournament.
It was up against Sea of Tranquility however, a book even more popular among us. Unfortunately Babel didn‘t stand a chance. Sea of Tranquility is our winner in this match! Unexpectedly, in my humble opinion, the #ToB23 judged likewise

BkClubCare, Megabooks, Hooked_on_books, Jas16, cariashley, Well-ReadNeck, Larkken, Suet624, Deblovestoread, merelybookish, batsy, Readerann, Sophronisba, Chelsea.Poole, rmaclean4, squirrelbrain, RidgewayGirl, jlhammar, Addison_Reads, Ruthiella, sarahbarnes, ImperfectCJ

Addison_Reads I loved them both, and I'm sad to see Babel out. I hated that these two were paired together. 2y

Megabooks @Addison_Reads same!! 2y

Megabooks Even though Mandel and that book have a huge place in my heart. I‘ll definitely read Kuang again though. 2y

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jlhammar Pleased with this outcome. I have to disagree with the judge regarding the HBO Station Eleven adaptation. It‘s quite different from the book, but I absolutely loved it. Funny that someone who avoids sci-fi and fantasy gets stuck judging this match. Though I think Babel is one that many who don‘t usually read fantasy have loved and same for Sea and those who may not usually enjoy sci-fi elements. 2y

RebelReader I‘m disappointed that Babel didn‘t move on because Sea was not my cup of tea, but on to the next matchup! 🤣 2y

Jas16 Another match up of two of my favorites from the list and another outcome I wish had gone the other way. 2y

kwmg40 Too bad for Babel, but I loved Sea also (just a tiny bit less) so I can live with the judgements. I do hope Babel returns as a zombie. 2y

batsy I've not read Mandel because it does feel like I should start from the beginning which I think is Station Eleven (that I haven't read), but I think the assessment of Babel was fair. I liked it, but with the same qualifications as the judge—the heavy-handedness grew exhausting. 2y

Deblovestoread I enjoyed both books. And although Babel got my vote I‘m not sorry to see Sea of Tranquility advance. 2y

batsy ("I really wished Babel would branch out beyond the scone" made me laugh lol) 2y

squirrelbrain I agree also! @Addison_Reads @Megabooks 2y

Cinfhen I am disappointed since this was my least favorite book by Mandel but I‘m ok with Sea moving on. I do wish these two weren‘t up against each other but that‘s life. 2y

Readerann I, too, wish both could have moved on. But Sea was my fav of this ToB. 2y

Suet624 I believe I voted for Sea because a) I liked it and b) there was no way I was going to tackle Babel. I sing praises on all of you ambitious readers who read it and enjoyed it. 2y

Ruthiella I definitely preferred the deft and understated writing in Sea over the didactic tone of Babel. 2y

BarbaraBB @batsy I agree with the judge too, it was too long and turned exhausting. Buy it deserved to make it further in the tournament. The brackets suck this year! @Addison_Reads @Megabooks @squirrelbrain @Jas16 @kwmg40 @Deblovestoread @Readerann 2y

sarahbarnes Agreed that I liked Babel more than I expected to, but as a huge Mandel fan, I was happy to see that one advance. 2y

Larkken This is one where I changed my mind after voting! I think Babel was hugely cerebral and grows on me despite the dragged-on tragic ending while I‘m finding the long author-in-a-pandemic subplot of SoT is sticking in my mind and not in a good way. #unpopularopinions I think! 🤪 but I‘m also with all of you thinking both books deserved to move on! So it‘s nitpicky. Should I be more annoyed that genre books were pitted against each other? (edited) 2y

Larkken @batsy just read that! Lol 2y

Hooked_on_books Have you read a book where you enjoyed parts of it, but the author did something that made you by the end almost hate the book? Then every time you see someone say how great it is, you hate it a little bit more? That‘s me with Babel. I was so sure we were going to pick it and I‘m so glad we didn‘t. I‘m really happy to see Sea move on in both. 2y

BarbaraBB @Larkken I wonder too why they set up genre books against one another. Did they always do this I wonder? 2y

BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books Yes! I know that feeling very well. Not with Babel though. I had it recently with

Suet624 @BarbaraBB oh gosh, yes. School for mothers…grumble, grumble. Just no. 2y

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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A Novel | Gabrielle Zevin

“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow ends its odyssey where we began, with Sam and Sadie and a video game. It‘s an elegant reset, and there‘s always the hope that this time around, they‘ll play it better.” It‘s the reason why today‘s #ToB23 judge has chosen Tomorrow over Dinosaurs.
In the #LitsyToB23 we were less outspoken. Many of us loved Dinosaurs and voted it but those votes are not enough: Tomorrow is our winner too!

jlhammar Yay! I really liked Dinosaurs, but not as much as Tomorrow. I totally agree with the judge about Tomorrow wearing “its heart on its sleeve.” 2y

merelybookish I am sad! 😭 🦖🦕💚 2y

Cinfhen This was one of the more interesting matchups for me, as I liked both but didn‘t LOVE either book. Im fine with the outcome but would have been ok if the winner was Dinosaurs. 2y

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Suet624 I would have been happy with either. 2y

squirrelbrain I liked both, but Dinosaurs has stayed with me longer. I don‘t mind so much that Tomorrow won though. 2y

BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain I felt exactly the same! 2y

Hooked_on_books I‘m the opposite of @squirrelbrain and @BarbaraBB —I read T3 last July and it‘s still with me, whereas I read (and liked) Dinosaurs after the shortlist was released and it‘s already mostly gone. I feel like todays judge quite liked both books, which made the judgement interesting to read (thought they should have made the redacted part available). I wasn‘t sure which way we would go, though! 2y

jlhammar @Hooked_on_books Yeah, I think T3 will stay with me more as well. If you highlight the redacted/cloaked part of the judgement you should be able to read it. I couldn‘t get it to work on my phone, but it worked okay on my laptop. 2y

Hooked_on_books @jlhammar Oh, I see. I was reading it on my phone, so that explains that. I‘m a little surprised that they were concerned about spoilers for T3 but not Dinosaurs, since they didn‘t redact spoilers for that one. 2y

jlhammar @Hooked_on_books Yes, I had wondered about that as well! 2y

Jas16 The bracket this year seems to love having my favorite books face off against each other. The decision on this one was going to hurt either way although Dinosaurs was my favorite of the two and one of my absolute favorites of the tournament. 2y

BkClubCare @Hooked_on_books - makes me wonder about the “popular” vote; I think reader counts are WAY higher for T&T&T (not that it makes sense to me as I reread this, but I wonder about this silent majority that “zombie-verbs” the Zombie vote. Am I making any sense? (edited) 2y

BkClubCare @Jas16 - I rated Tx3 the same as Dinosaurs but I felt more for Millet, especially as time goes by. 2y

Addison_Reads Both of these books I loved, but Tx3 is a favorite of mine so I'm happy with the results. Both of these authors are ones I love though so this match was my hardest to decide on. 2y

kwmg40 I liked Dinosaurs but am glad to see Tomorrow continue in both tournaments! 2y

Hooked_on_books @BkClubCare Uh, maybe? 😆 I agree that far more people have likely read T3 and it would thus be the more likely Zombie of these two. But I don‘t think that would impact the judge (not sure if that‘s what you meant or not). 2y

Ruthiella I wasn‘t overly fond of either book, so this could‘ve gone either way for me. But as usual, I really enjoy reading the commentary on the site because it shows me points that I didn‘t fully appreciate. 2y

BkClubCare @Ruthiella - I so enjoy the analysis and the convos of why things work or not for an individual reader. I dislike the “sorry, this book is just stupid and so are you” sounding comments. LOL (of course, some sting more than others.) Fun stuff! (edited) 2y

BkClubCare @Hooked_on_books - yeah, I don‘t know what I meant either 🤷🏻‍♀️ And was it the judge who decided to shield spoilers or the TOB production team? Whatever… not a big deal, I guess. (edited) 2y

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Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance: A Novel | Alison Espach

There it is! The first bomb placed under the #ToB23! Notes wins from Seven Moons because the judge liked both and calls himself “one who roots for the underdog”. And he did, what a surprise!

In the #LitsyToB23 it was a close call as well. However, with two votes in its favour, we literature snobs, made Seven Moons today‘s winner 😉
So we are already drifting apart. Love it!

rmaclean4 Wow...that is a shock. 2y

BarbaraBB @rmaclean4 I am as surprised about the ToB‘a choice as about our! 2y

RebelReader I thought they would pick Moons even though I enjoyed Notes more. 2y

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merelybookish I picked Moons (not having read it) because I found Notes kinda dull. 2y

jlhammar Yeah, kind of surprised by this judgement, but don‘t feel strongly about this particular match. I bailed on Notes and probably should have bailed on Seven Moons. 2y

Suet624 I didn‘t read Moons but assumed it would beat Notes. So much for assumptions. 2y

batsy I am surprised by their choice! Didn't read Notes but felt like Seven Moons was a shoo-in. 2y

Jas16 Surprised by this one too. I liked Notes more but really thought Seven Moons would easily win. (edited) 2y

Chelsea.Poole I‘m surprised at how much Notes has stayed with me. I am in agreement with the judge, though I agree-it‘s surprising! 2y

squirrelbrain I didn‘t read Notes as I couldn‘t get hold of it, but didn‘t like Seven Moons. Interesting choices from both sides! 😁 2y

BkClubCare I am happy! And though, some books are more “obvious” (but, are they? Really?!) to win, I dislike the slight condescension in a few of the comments. So you didn‘t like xyz, even thought it weak, but GET OVER IT. Recognize that for some, this book hit the right buttons. Shhheeeeesh. 2y

BkClubCare Sorry, had some buttons pushed. Carry on, 🥺 2y

Cinfhen Wow!!! Surprised like the rest of you!! I didn‘t love Notes and bailed (twice) on Moons but I was expecting the reverse decision- thought for sure Moon would advance in the official tournament and Notes would have won ours. Like @Suet624 so much for assumptions 😁 (edited) 2y

Ruthiella A classic ToB upset! Love it! 😂 2y

Hooked_on_books I was curious but uninvested in this particular decision. As I finished each pair, I jotted down my vote. This is the only one that changed on later reflection. I initially picked Moons, but when we voted I went with Notes, as it had stuck with me more. Interesting results today! 2y

sarahbarnes We literature snobs indeed! 😂 I didn‘t read Notes but I‘m okay with that one advancing in the real tournament. 2y

Larkken I didn‘t like Notes, and thought there were others on the longlist that did young woman‘s Bildungsroman better. Bah 😂 2y

BkClubCare @Ruthiella - my first reaction, too! It all usually falls apart for me anyway, that I love these mini wins. (And I really did enjoy 7Moons very much.) 2y

BkClubCare @sarahbarnes - I just found some positive critiques of Notes and… well, it is just fascinating how books hit or miss with people. 2y

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