The Tournament of Books is a crazy and brilliant way to revel in books and, more particularly, the thrill of talking about books and rooting for books and cheering yourself hoarse for  your champions. And So Lucky is on the 2019 shortlist.

Each weekday in March, two of the books on the shortlist below will be read and considered by one of our judges, also listed below. One book from the match will be chosen to advance, with the judge explaining in detail how they came to their decision. Then the judge’s decision is evaluated first by our official commentators, then by you, the commentariat, wherein you politely and respectfully resist going bananas. And the next day we do it all over again, as March gallops on, until one book wins our award, the Rooster, and we all settle down for a long nap.

The madness begins in March. Plenty of time to go read all those faaaabulous books and buy your facepaint!