Ah well, here goes... today of all days, Brockman has called in sick and it is up to me to remind readers that the Morning News's
Tournament of Books continues today, and that the two books being judged are
Never Let Me Go and
The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole. And the judge is "yours truly."
It has been quite fun being involved in the judging of this, primarily because I get the inside scoop, and if there is one thing I don't deal well with, it is being kept in suspense! The down side of being part of the panel is that I had to be publicly judgmental. As my co-workers are well aware, I have pretty strong opinions about which books I do like and which books I don't. But making grand pronouncements in front of my friends about whose new novel sucked, or whose book I am in love with is one thing, criticizing books in front of an audience is another. Please feel free to comment on whether I was unfair or not! I'll be weighing in on the final round as well, and if there is any constructive criticism you'd like to throw my way, I'm all ears.