The Library Vault

Middletown readers can’t get enough of Kristin Hannah.

When the bracket for this year’s tournament was unveiled in late February, the librarians at Russell Library were puzzled about which ones to pick in their brackets. “I have NO idea which one is going to win,” said one of my coworkers. “I could honestly see at least five of these fiction books winning the whole thing, or even one of the nonfiction books.”

But one book stood in their way. Kristin Hannah‘s The Women was last year’s Tournament of Books Champion, and was the only book from last year’s bracket to qualify for this year’s tournament. Qualification is based on checkout statistics (with a couple of Librarian recommendations thrown in for good mix), so people were still reading Hannah’s 2024 Vietnam War novel well into 2025. Did The Women have what it takes to go back-to-back? Let’s dive in to the results round-by-round.

Round 1 – The Sublime Sixteen

Not too many surprises in the first round of voting in the Non Fiction Conference (NFC). The closest matchup was the 2-7, with The Anxious Generation going neck-and-neck with Framed until the very end. Although Everything Is Tuberculosis entered the field as a 6-seed, it’s no surprise that anything written by John Green would be a tough out.

In the Adult Fiction Conference (AFC), The God of the Woods won with the largest margin of any matchup in the first round. Atmosphere soundly defeated Onyx Storm in a battle of two romances which both happen to involve air travel of some sort (rockets, dragons… take your pick). Percival Everett‘s Pulitzer Prize winning James drew the toughest matchup in the first round, getting knocked out by the eventual champion.

Round 2 – The Exquisite Eight

The second round was perhaps the most dramatic of this year’s tournament, with nailbiter finishes and stunning upsets. For the second year in a row, an NFC matchup was decided by exactly one vote. (Last year it was I’m Glad My Mom Died over Killers of the Flower Moon). This year, it was Everything Is Tuberculosis securing the win over The Anxious Generation. I said it last year, and I’ll say it again now: every vote counts!

The biggest upset of the tournament occurred in the AFC, as The Wedding People by Alison Espach was eliminated by Liz Moore‘s The God of the Woods. The Wedding People entered the tournament in the top overall seed as the most-checked-out book last year. This was a true bracket-buster, as The Wedding People was the most popular pick to win outright.

Round 3 – The Formidable Four

Another close finish in the NFC. The Let Them Theory was looking like the book to beat, but Everything Is Tuberculosis managed to stay ahead in another close vote. In the AFC, the “Cinderella” run for The God of the Woods came to an end at the hands (spine?) of the defending champ. The final is set.

Round 4 – The Championship Round

Of all three iterations of the Tournament of Books so far, this was the closest championship round we’ve seen. Perhaps some votes for Everything Is Tuberculosis were cast out of voter fatigue, but to be the best, you have to beat the best. The Women would not be stopped, as readers picked it to be the Tournament of Books Champion for a second straight year!

Bracket Contest Results

At this point, all participants of the bracket contest have been notified of their results, including the winner who will receive a $50 Downtown Middletown Gift Card and a Russell Library Tumbler. Congratulations to them!

I mentioned that Russell Library staff like to play the bracket contest, but since we’re not eligible to win the prize, we had to come up with something more tangible than “bragging rights” to compete for. Last year, the winner (our administrative assistant Cate) fashioned a Halloween-grade WWE champs belt into a Tournament of Books champs belt. And unfortunately for her, she was unable to defend her title, and passed the belt on to this year’s winner, yours truly:

That’s a wrap on this year’s Tournament of Books! Will The Women return for a three-peat? Probably not, but you’ll have to wait until February 2027 before next year’s bracket is announced. If you don’t want to wait that long for your next Library-centric competitive fix, consider signing up for the Russell Library Games, which have now officially begun! You can accumulate points and win prizes all the way through mid-November, taking you about 75% of the way until the next Tournament of Books (thoughtful of us, I know!).

Until then, Happy reading!