WeHa Book Club

I apologize for not posting for a little while, but it’s been a pretty hectic couple weeks of travel for me. From a few days in sunny LA to a weekend in snowy Vermont, it’s safe to say my immune system is shot right now. But lucky for all of you, a runny nose won’t keep me from writing. So I’m back with a delayed update on the WHPL ‘winter madness’ book tournament.

We’re onto the elite eight now and things are really heating up. I lost one of my favorite books on the list, in The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman but I’m still holding out hope for R.F. Kuang’s latest offering, Katabasis. But this round of voting is already over, we’re just waiting for them to post the results. So hopefully, Katabasis is still there at the end of the day.

General Fiction vs. Romance

If you’ve been following my coverage of this book tournament, then you know I don’t have a particularly strong opinion about the Romance region. Which isn’t to say I don’t read anything from the genre, I’m just unfamiliar with this year’s offerings. So by default, I’m much more interested in The Correspondent, a story told through a lifetime of letter-writing, than I am in Great Big Beautiful Life, a story about two writers who inevitably fall in love. But at the end of the day, it’s all about genre preference for this one. Still, I’m rooting for the Virginia Evans offering in this one.

Historical Fiction vs. Mystery/Thriller

Ah, I had a feeling this was coming but I’m still a little disappointed. The Impossible Fortune has been eliminated by Heartwood by Amity Gaige. Hey, I’d imagine it’s difficult for the fifth book in a series to win a tournament like this, but I would really like to encourage people to check out The Thursday Murder Club series if you’re looking for a quick, delightfully charming book about septuagenarian sleuths. With that said, I swear I’m not holding a grudge against the book that knocked my book out of contention. Alli’s favorite book of this tournament was The Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid so I’m pulling for it to advance. It’s as simple as that.

Fantasy vs. Science Fiction

We take a moment, we analyze our surroundings, and we make the best decision moving forward. Now that my favorite book has been knocked out, my new rooting interest is with Katabasis. A pretty out-there plot about having to journey into hell to save your boss’s soul makes this a must-read for me. But my vote is really going towards the author, who penned The Poppy War, one of my favorite books in recent years. Plus she’s studying at Yale so I’m hoping there’s a shot the WeHa Public Library can book her for an author event. The Compound is an intriguing debut from Aisling Rawle, however, and it may edge it out. We’ll have to wait and see.

Memoir/Biography vs. Non-Fiction

Both of these offerings seemed to be pretty obvious Elite Eight selections. Nobody’s Girl is about a high-profile, early accuser of Jeffrey Epstein and, of course, holds tremendous relevance to today’s biggest story. And Everything is Tuberculosis is a non-fiction offering by the writer of the best-selling The Fault in Our Stars. I’ll be honest, I’m more interested in the subject of Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s offering, however Alli seemed to really enjoy John Green’s newest book. So I guess we’ll just let the voters decide who will be representing the non-fiction region as we head into the final four.

Go Huskies!!

Well, it’s officially march and the madness is upon us. The UConn Huskies are currently projected to be the final #1 seed of the tournament, but there is still work to be done before we begin. With one final road game at Marquette and a Big East Tournament that seems destined to end with a rubber-match between UConn and St. John’s – who got absolutely embarrassed by the Huskies in their last game – it’s important to not get ahead of ourselves and remember that you have to win the game in front of you.

That said, in honor of the Elite Eight of the Winter Madness Book Tournament, I think it’s only fitting to show you the highlights of the most impressive Elite Eight performance I’ve ever witnessed. Back in 2024, after being tied 23-23 with just over a minute left in the first half, UConn put together a spectacular 30-0 run to take firm control of their ticket to the Final Four. To do that to an extremely dangerous Illinois team was unbelievably impressive. This year’s team proved they have that in them as well, after holding #15 St. John’s without a field goal for the last 17:28 of the game last Wednesday. But let’s take a look back at that 2024 run now.