It was a close call for today‘s match. With 11 to 10 votes our winner is Beautiful World, Where Are You. Again we differ from the judges‘ choice in the real #ToB22! In this case it isn‘t that surprising I think, as they almost never favour the more mainstream novels. What do you think of the judges‘ comments?
Chelsea wants the Rooney to be this year‘s winner so for her it‘s a good thing that the book is one step closer in getting there!
BkClubCare, Flaneurette, Megabooks, Hooked_on_books, Cinfhen, Mindyrecycles, cariashley, Well-ReadNeck, Suet624, merelybookish, Readerann, Sophronisba, Chelsea.Poole, alisiakae, kwmg40, squirrelbrain, thebluestocking, Addison_Reads, Ruthiella, sarahbarnes, ImperfectCJBarbaraBB I am now a bit sorry I didn‘t vote for In Concrete. Iiked neither of these books very much but after reading Cari Luna‘s thoughts I do agree with her that I should have gone with the more daring book. (edited) 2y
Addison_Reads Interesting results today. Personally, neither of these were favorites, but I did enjoy In Concrete more than the Rooney. I don't think either are strong enough to win it all though when compared to other books on the list. 2y
Addison_Reads @BarbaraBB that's the reason I voted for In Concrete because it pushed boundaries in literature, whereas the Rooney just felt like her other books and didn't bring anything exciting or new to the table. 2y
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ImperfectCJ I wasn't a fan of either of these, but I am happy that In Concrete won in the actual ToB. The book that pushes boundaries and doesn't quite hit me personally should get the vote over a book that doesn't quite succeed at doing something conventional. I suppose this is a good argument for Copeland Cane, too (although I think The Sentence does succeed at what it attempts). (edited) 2y
Cinfhen Because I didn‘t read In Concrete I voted for the Rooney but in truth, I dislike Rooney and I‘m happy to see its journey end in the real tournament. #BeingPetty 😜 2y
Addison_Reads @Cinfhen I loved your response. 😂 I'm glad it's out of the real one and hope it doesn't come back from the dead either. 2y
Cinfhen Thanks @Addison_Reads how are you feeling today?? BTW: I TOTALLY forgot about the pesky zombie 🧟 🧟♀️ 🧟♂️ 2y
BkClubCare Applause 👏 (by which I mean, I love this stuff - and I am cheering that one TOB goes for In Concrete, and this one, not.) (edited) 2y
merelybookish @Cinfhen I also voted for Rooney because I hadn't read the other. I do like Rooney and liked that book. Still, I don't think it should have been included in the first place. Rooney won the rooster once. Feels unnecessary for her to be included again. 2y
Ruthiella I don‘t remember which way I voted now! 😂 But honestly, I didn‘t care for either. In Concrete was clever, but not enough story for me. And Rooney writes basically what I consider “romance” in the sense that the plot hinges on a “will they won‘t they” and I don‘t typically care for that in novels. 2y
Suet624 Like @merelybookish and @Cinfhen I didn‘t read In Concrete. I‘m currently 0-2 with the judges. I‘m okay with Rooney leaving though. I liked the book but it didn‘t match the caliber of some of the other books in the TOB. 2y
Cinfhen Love this discussion @Suet624 @merelybookish @Ruthiella @BarbaraBB 2y
BkClubCare @Ruthiella - I don‘t remember how I voted here in Litsy (and that‘s fine) but this is my first year to enter a bracket anywhere else.🏆 2y
BarbaraBB @Addison_Reads @ImperfectCJ @Cinfhen @BkClubCare @merelybookish @Ruthiella @Suet624 Bases on all comments I don‘t think Beautiful World will come very far in our tournament either 😃 (edited) 2y
sarahbarnes I unabashedly love Rooney novels and was disappointed that it didn‘t make it today. But I agree with others here that In Concrete is a much more daring and creative book, and I‘m also glad it‘s not out of the running. The joys of the ToB. 2y
squirrelbrain I voted for In Concrete as I found it very clever, although I agree with @ruthiella that there wasn‘t much storyline. Pleased that it‘s moving on in the real #tob. 2y
Well-ReadNeck It just happens that I didn‘t read either of these but voted for Concrete because I feel like the judge about Rooney. But, the judgment did not make me want to go back and pick up Concrete, either mostly because I think the puns would drive me 🥜 2y
Hooked_on_books I could have made my vote for today with a coin toss since, like many others here, I didn‘t love either of these books. I like the idea here and from Luna of choosing the more daring book, though I voted for BW. I‘m shocked but kinda glad it‘s been booted out of the official TOB. 2y
Readerann I haven‘t read either book, but I have In Concrete on my Kindle and WILL read it so that‘s the one that got my vote. The comments about it here intrigue me - not so much with the Rooney. 2y
BkClubCare @Hooked_on_books - and I‘ll be shocked if it doesn‘t Zombie 🧟♀️ 2y
Hooked_on_books @BkClubCare Yeah, me too. Unfortunately. 😜 2y
thebluestocking Like @sarahbarnes I‘m a Rooney fan. I liked Beautiful World, and I did not enjoy the experience of reading In Concrete at all. That said, I could see the decision coming a mile away once the judge said she wasn‘t a Rooney fan. I was surprised that the score was so close here on Litsy though! (edited) 2y
kwmg40 I didn't care all that much for Normal People so I didn't bother reading Beautiful World. I have mixed feelings about Concrete but appreciated the judge's comments about it. 2y
Mindyrecycles I‘m not anti-Rooney and frankly I think the Rooney “hate” goes a little over the top sometimes. However I am anti-Beautiful World. 😂 Not her best effort or even a good one. 2y
Addison_Reads @Mindyrecycles I loved Normal People by Rooney, but I agree that Beautiful World wasn't her best effort. 2y
BarbaraBB @Mindyrecycles I agree about the Rooney hate. Like @Addison_Reads I was not a fan of this book but I LOVED![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
Conversations with Friends 2y
Conversations with Friendscariashley Agree with so many of the comments here - didn‘t love either book but was so impressed by the process of In Concrete. I ambivalently voted for BW because it had a bit more meat on the bones plot wise, but I‘m happy to see In Concrete progress in the official. 2y
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