Round 1, Match 3

And now, it’s time to look at the third match of the present round: Doll Bones v Eleanor & Park, Judge Lauren Oliver.

My prediction was: “Doll Bones, because. I also think Eleanor & Park will be the “oh, I cannot believe it lost so early” book.”

And — I was wrong.

But first, let’s look a bit at what happened before I was wrong.

When the judges are announced, and the books they’ll be judging are shared, I confess —

I don’t do my homework.

I’m sure some of you do. You consider not just the types of books they write, so assume something about what they’ll like, but you may also consider shared publishers, agents, editors; you may look at who follows who on Twitter; who comments on Facebook pages.

So, it was with surprise that I saw Oliver’s connection to one of these books: she reviewed Doll Bones for The New York Times!

Would that have really helped me, though, in guessing? Because it’s just one of the two books. And, probably, it wouldn’t have changed my pick.

Still, this adds to the fun. That there are no attempts at the judges being isolated from the books, with no connection.

At this point, I’m not overly worried about getting this one wrong, because even though I had Doll Bones advance to Round 2 I didn’t have it move on towards Round 3, so my picks may not end up too wrong. Am I being too optimistic?

Filed under: Battle of the Books