Brackets are SO back in 2025.
We’re somehow nearly halfway through February 2025, which means its time to get ready for the Tournament of Books 2025! Yes, the ultimate battle for bookish glory returns for the second year, including four rounds of voting to decide the Tournament of Books Champion 2025! You will also have the chance to win a sensational prize by filling out your bracket in February to predict the winner!
In case you missed it last year…
In last year’s inaugural Tournament of Books, we saw an absolutely overpowering performance by Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel Lessons in Chemistry to become Russell Library’s first Tournament of Books Champion! Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, the top nonfiction book, was no match for Garmus’ Lessons in the final round, losing to the eventual champion in a landslide. Will we see a similar run of dominance from another title this year?
Selecting the Sublime Sixteen
The books are chosen by circulation statistics from 2024. For last year’s edition of the tournament, the top eight fiction and nonfiction titles were included and seeded 1-8, in order from most checked-out to least. This year, we’ve used a similar methodology to pick the titles, but with a slight twist, which I’ll explain by borrowing some sports terminology.
The books are divided into two conferences: The Non-Fiction Conference (the “NFC”) and the Adult Fiction Conference (the “AFC”). However, this year, each conference will have two divisions; one division based on total print checkouts from the library, and one based on total digital checkouts from apps such as Hoopla and Libby. This means that we’ve taken the top 4 nonfiction titles that were checked out as physical books, and the top 4 nonfiction audiobooks and eBooks, to arrive at 8 titles for the Nonfiction conference. The same goes for fiction, bringing us to 16 titles all competing for the championship!
Without further ado, here are this year’s contestants:
NFC Print Division
1. The Wager – David Grann
2. Astor – Anderson Cooper & Katherine Howe
3. The Demon of Unrest – Erik Larson
4. Oath and Honor – Liz Cheney
NFC Digital Division
1. I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
2. Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann
3. Atomic Habits – James Clear
4. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry
AFC Print Division
1. The Women – Kristin Hannah
2. The Exchange – John Grisham
3. The Secret – Lee Child & Andrew Child
4. Tom Lake – Ann Patchett
AFC Digital Division
1. Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros
2. Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
3. Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt
4. Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
Alas, there will be no quest for a “2-peat” this year, as Lessons in Chemistry was no longer among the top circulating books in 2024. Instead, all eyes will be on The Women, Kristin Hannah’s historical fiction novel about a nurse who serves in the US Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. Hannah’s novel was the most-checked out book at the Russell Library in 2024; is it destined for greatness this year? The Women faces some stiff competition in the AFC, including two novels from Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series, which are available not only as regular audiobooks on Hoopla, but also as Dramatized Adaptations, complete with a full cast and immersive sound effects and score!
In the NFC, author and journalist David Grann will have two books making the cut, including The Wager, which returns to the Tournament of Books for the second year in a row. Also returning is Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, a memoir about McCurdy’s career as a child actress and her relationship with her abusive mother.
You Can’t Win ‘Em All… (Honorable Mentions)
Each year, there are popular titles that Russell Library readers loved that don’t quite land in the Top 16. Although they won’t appear in this year’s contest, I feel they are worthy of an honorable mention:
Nonfiction
The Woman In Me – Britney Spears
Educated: A Memoir – Tara Westover
Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
Fiction
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
None of This is True – Lisa Jewell
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store – James McBride
Guess the Champion, Win a Prize! (Feb. 10th – March 2nd)
The “Predict The Winner” Bracket Contest is now live! You will have from now until Sunday, March 2nd to fill out your bracket and submit it to the front desk at the Russell Library. If you’ve been meaning to read any of these books and haven’t gotten the chance, these three weeks are the perfect opportunity!
Just like filling out a bracket for college basketball, here you will predict the winner of each matchup between books, all the way up to predicting which book will win it all. Full instructions for filling out your bracket and contest rules can be found on the reserve side when you pick yours up.
The top scoring bracket will win a prize of a $20 Downtown Middletown gift card and a Russell Library T-Shirt! Pick up your bracket today in the lobby, or download and print it from our website. Submit your bracket at the Russell Library by Sunday, March 2nd at 5PM. Knowing how your fellow Middletown readers will vote in March will be the key to victory in the Bracket Contest.
Cast Your Vote, and Make Your Voice Heard! (Begins March 3rd)
Voting will begin on Monday, March 3rd. Subscribe to our main newsletter to get a link to the online voting form every Tuesday morning. You can also vote in person by filling out a paper ballot in the lobby when you visit the Russell Library. There will be four rounds of voting; each round will last one week throughout the four weeks in March. The Tournament of Books Champion will be announced on Monday, March 31st!
Which books will be the 2025 Tournament of Books Champion? Is there a clear winner in the crowd, or will a dark horse emerge? Which bestseller is really a bottom-dweller? Can a Pulitzer winner pul-itzelf through to the championship? (sorry).
As a reminder, there’s no requirement to have read all of the books in order to participate. Whether you’ve read them all or only one, the only requirement for participation is to have fun!
Happy Reading!
The Library Vault 
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