Becky's Pick: Final Round of the Dubuque Tournament of Books

It's the final round of the 2014 Dubuque Tournament of Books, and the judges are weighing in on the final match-up. Will it be And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini or Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell?

Judge: Becky
University of Dubuque 

I really wanted to like And The Mountains Echoed. I loved each little vignette of the story, but I struggled with the execution of how the book was constructed. I spent too much time each section trying to figure out how it fit with the previous stories. All the while I kept telling myself that I would figure it out eventually, but I just couldn’t stop picking it apart for details. By the time I reached the end I was emotionally drained both by the stories and the reading experience. I think this book suffered a bit of the too many; too much disorder. Too many characters, too many  vignettes, too many minor connections, too much time and space between opening and resolution, too much going on. I sobbed through A Thousand Splendid Suns but I just didn’t feel the same way about this book. I think emotionally I was spread too thin by the many plots lines early on, that by the end I couldn’t muster the right amount of depth for it to resonate.

Eleanor & Park hit more of those points and angles and emotions for me. The conversations and dialogues carry this book. The emotion in how they speak to each other (and what they don’t or can’t say) gives me depth to the story I don’t expect to get. I also like how Rainbow focuses on those little moments in a relationship. It’s not always the epic or grand gestures that are important. Sometimes it can just be holding hands, or letting someone in to your little world, or giving you batteries for a Walkman. Those are the points in time we remember. And Rainbow captures that and makes us nostalgic for those little moments even if (and especially when) the only seem to occur in a large context of hate, abuse, and sadness.

Eleanor & Park VS The Ocean at the End of the Lane: Dubuque Tournament of Books, round 3

We've reached the semi-finals of the Dubuque Tournament of Books, and there's still time for you to enter the prize drawing by submitting your guess for which book will win the Tournament.

Today's match-up is between Eleanore & Park by Rainbow Rowell and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, and our judges are:

• Becky (University of Dubuque)
• Sue (Clarke University)
• Megan (Telegraph-Herald)
• and Bob (Dubuque 365Ink)

Click here to see the round 2 decision for Eleanor & Park.

Click here to see the round 2 decision for The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Each week these decisions get tougher. Partially because of the books--Eleanor & Park and Ocean at the End of the Lane, also because of the number of judges--4 this round: Bob, Sue, Becky and Megan. We sat down, (ok sent emails) to decide which of these 2 award winning books (Printz Honor and British National Book Award winner respectively) should advance. Written by two amazingly talented and dynamic authors who have both written for YA and adult audiences, AND in both print and graphic formats (Rainbow will partner with Faith Erin Hicks on a pair of forthcoming graphic novels.), these two books are books to be reckoned with.

If you’re interested in learning more about the plots, check out the previous rounds’ reviews.   We decided to give you some of our favorite quotes from the books so you can sample the flavor of the books.

Eleanor & Park

“She saw him after seventh hour in a place she'd never seen him before, carrying a microscope down the hall on the third floor. It was at least twice as nice as seeing him somewhere she expected him to be.”

“If you don't want people to look at you, Park had thought at the time, don't wear fishing lures in your hair. Her jewelry box must look like a junk drawer.”

“Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

“‘Nothing’s ever the same,’ she said. ‘Be it a second later or a hundred years. It’s always churning and roiling. And people change as much as oceans.’”

“Growing up, I took so many cues from books. They taught me most of what I knew about what people did, about how to behave. They were my teachers and my advisers.”

“Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences.”

Now for the decision. It wasn’t an easy one, but in the end we decided to advance Eleanor & Park over Ocean at the End of the Lane. Here is some of our rationale:

• In Ocean, the reader never finds out where any of the supernatural beings really came from or what their motivation was.  I kept reading because I thought that at the end all would be explained. But, alas, the last pages really did not leave me with a tangible explanation.I chose Eleanor & Park over The Ocean at the End of the Lane because the story of Eleanor & Park was more engaging and had a better developed plot.  I was rooting for them both.  It was easy to like and relate to the characters in Eleanor & Park.
• I need to start by saying, I think I liked Ocean at the End of the Lane. I say I think because I’m still feeling a bit shortchanged by the book as a whole even a week after reading it. Gaimain asks so much of his readers with this one. He tells us children meander and adults move in straight lines. I have been accused many times of reading books ‘for’ children, but this book I just couldn’t read it ‘as a child’ like I felt Gaiman wanted from me. I wanted answers and a return on the emotional and mental investment I made in the book. Eleanor & Park required a lot emotionally as well, but it repaid its dividends in tears, hope, and a sense of nostalgia for a time I didn’t even really live through the first time. Any book that can make me nostalgic for batteries and my college discman has to win.
• Eleanor & Park is a terrific book. I surprised myself by liking it as much as I did. Some of the reviews mention that it will make you think of the first time you fell in love. It did that for me but my situation turned out a lot different than the one in the book. My girl was very pretty and she turned out to be a viper, more commonly referred to by me as the Ice Witch From Hell. Well, it rhymes with “witch.” I got over it.I really liked Eleanor & Park but not as much as I liked The Ocean at the End of the Lane. In this round I voted for Ocean. Unfortunately for me and the book, the other three judges voted for Eleanor & Park. So, with a heavy heart I have to wave goodbye to Ocean at the End of the Lane, one of the best books I’ve read all year.

And the Mountains Echoed VS The Husband's Secret: Dubuque Tournament of Books, round 3

We've reached the semi-finals of the Dubuque Tournament of Books, and there's still time for you to enter the prize drawing by submitting your guess for which book will win the Tournament.

Today's match-up is between And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini and The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, and our judges are:

• Fran (River Lights Bookstore)
• Marie (River Lights Bookstore)
• Bethany (Finding Pins and Needles)
• and Charleen (Cheap Thrills)

Click here to see the round 2 decision for And the Mountains Echoed.
Click here to see the round 2 decision for The Husband's Secret.

If you ask a hundred different people what they thought of a book, you'll get a hundred different responses. We may all be reading the same words, but we bring to those words a piece of ourselves and come away with a reaction that is entirely unique.

As you might imagine, when you ask four judges to compare two books, trying to take all of our opinions and arrive at a single decision is a challenge.

So first, here are some of our reactions:

And the Mountains Echoed

“I want to be entertained by a story (so sue me), and I didn't like being yanked around, having to restart without a compass.”

“I find the novel itself to be intricate and beautiful. It grabbed my attention at the outset and still stands as one of my favorite recent reads.”

“I thought I was the only one feeling like I was leaping from decade to decade and spending time trying to figure out the characters.”

“Hosseini made me forget I was reading a book. Those are the books I want to read.”

The Husband’s Secret

“I liked The Husband's Secret although it made me nervous at times.”

“Despite my misgivings, I couldn’t stop turning the pages.”

“This may be the more accessible novel, but I feel it is ultimately forgettable.”

“It built a puzzle with multiple characters converging and successfully pulled together with the crescendo that I enjoy.”


These excerpts from our conversations should give you an idea of just how varied our opinions were. In the end, we had one strong vote for The Husband’s Secret, two strong votes for And the Mountains Echoed, and one judge who “could go either way.”

The two novels are very different, but as Marie points out, they both deal with the decisions we make when faced with tough situations, and how, even when reacting with love, our missteps have consequences. Thinking about that it's rather fitting that these two came up against each other in the tournament.

Either book will take you on a compelling journey. Which one you think is better will come down to personal preference. But our choice to advance to the final round is And the Mountains Echoed.

Eleanor & Park VS The Rosie Project: Dubuque Tournament of Books, round 2

This week we'll be posting the judges' decisions for the second round of the 2nd Annual Dubuque Tournament of Books. To see an overview of the judges and contestants, check out this blog post. To see why Becky selected Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell in the first round, click here. To see why Sue selected The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion in the first round, click here.

Judges: Becky and Sue
University of Dubuque and Clarke University (respectively)

In the spirit of Don Tillman, the main character in The Rosie Project, who was always making lists based on his sometimes odd preferences, we decided to see how Eleanor & Park stacks up against The Rosie Project using our favorite criteria for books!

One point for each criteria that is met:

Criteria (Becky and Sue)	E&P	TRP
Witty one line reviews	X	X
Characters go on a trip--preferably a road trip		X
Characters that have pets
A structural plot device
Graphs and charts to explain complicated plots
Provide a musical playlist	X
Last page of the book is an even number	X
Edited by David Levithan
Author has brown hair	X	X
Characters have pronounable and non-ridiculous names	X	X
An index
Use footnotes--even in fiction
Acronyms are used frequently		X
Create intelligent, strong-willed, quick-witted leads	X	X
Weather is part of the plot
Graphic cover	X	X
One of the sub-characters keeps a diary		X
Snarky best friend/minor character		X
Recipes for the meals they eat in the book

If we tally up the votes, it’s 9-7. But that doesn’t seem right. After some discussion, we both agree that Eleanor & Park should win this round. Maybe if we split it up by reviewer: Becky’s 5-4. Sue’s 4-3 with The Rosie Project still wins both. I think the lesson we learn here is the same one that Don does in The Rosie Project, objectivity is a great approach in science, but maybe not so much in the area of love. Books are more than just the sum of their component parts. The Rosie Project has lots of the characteristics we were looking for, but Eleanor & Park has that little something we didn’t know we wanted. Or didn’t know was exactly what we needed.

When finding a wife or picking a book, I think we all agree that you’ve got to let the heart decide. And these hearts pick Eleanor & Park!