Announcing the brackets for the 2016 edition of The Morning News Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes.

You already know the titles and judges that will participate in this year’s tournament. You likely perused the “long list” for a glance at 86 of our favorite works of fiction from last year. You might have even checked out our 11 previous tournaments, just to whet your appetite—or maybe you have no idea what we’re talking about, in which case you should go read this primer.

Hopefully, while you’ve been waiting anxiously for the damn Rooster to wake up and demand his morning blood, you picked up some groovy notebooks from Field Notes, our presenting sponsor, and bought a couple novels from our books sponsor Powell’s—not only because those notebooks are very well made and buying books makes you happy, but because our sponsors support us in hopes that you will support them, and the virtuous cycle makes this whole thing possible.

Buy this special ToB Memo Book for $2 and Field Notes will match your $2 and donate $4 to 826 National, which provides free educational programs to under-resourced youth.

Anyway, maybe you’ve also hung out with the alt-ToB crowd over at Goodreads, who kill non-ToB time by talking about the ToB and even hosting their own tournament (we aren’t involved, but we love it). The point is, you know the Rooster. You like the Rooster. You are counting the hours until this stupid thing starts. And you agree with us that this endeavor is stupid, and you don’t care. So you know what comes next: the brackets.

As always, we seed books from one to four, one being strongest, four being less. The seeds don’t reflect the quality of the books but their public perception as we judge it: awards, sales, acclaim, publicity campaigns (or lack thereof), press mentions, reader reviews, author reputations, publisher reputations, and so on. It’s a tricky game and we don’t always get it right (but we obviously did this year—obviously), but it certainly makes gambling easier.

So download, print out, fill in to your heart’s content. Start office pools. Start English Dept. pools. Start Bhanu Kapil chants in a crowded street, or make merch about A Little Life and wear it to work. Are we legally allowed to encourage gambling? We have no idea. Twenty bucks says no.

Finally, two announcements. First, Powell’s is hosting a contest where a lucky winner will win every book from this year’s tournament. Second, the alt-ToB is hosting an “ask me anything” with our very own Nozlee Samadzadeh, the ToB’s producer, on Monday, Feb. 22. If you’ve ever wondered how this whole thing works or came about—see various previous explanations—don’t worry, she’ll tell you.

Anyway, have fun, be patient, lose sleep, brew coffee using coffee instead of water and stare at the walls all night imagining your favorite book getting brutally misunderstood by some insensitive butthead judge—whatever works. We’ll see you when the whole thing kicks off in March, 12 years and counting.

The Brackets for The Morning News 2016 Tournament of Books

Download the 2016 brackets as a PDF

Here is a schedule of this year’s match-ups. (Also, we get a cut from any purchases made through the links below.)

March 7

2015 ToB Introduction

by Kevin Guilfoile & John Warner

Play-in Match

March 8

Avenue of Mysteries v. A Spool of Blue Thread

Judged by Lizzie Molyneux, Wendy Molyneux, and Kelvin Yu

Opening Round

March 9

Fates and Furies v. Bats of the Republic

Judged by Maria Bustillos

March 10

The Sympathizer v. Oreo

Judged by Brad Listi

March 11

The Turner House v. Ban en Banlieue

Judged by Miriam Tuliao

March 14

Our Souls at Night v. The Whites

Judged by Syreeta McFadden

March 15

A Little Life v. The New World

Judged by Choire Sicha

March 16

The Book of Aron v. The Tsar of Love and Techno

Judged by Doree Shafrir

March 17

Play-in Winner v. The Story of My Teeth

Judged by Daniel Wallace

March 18

The Sellout v. The Invaders

Judged by Liz Lopatto

Quarterfinals

March 21

TBD v. TBD

Judged by Kit Rachlis

March 22

TBD v. TBD

Judged by Jess Zimmerman

March 23

TBD v. TBD

Judged by John Taylor

March 24

TBD v. TBD

Judged by Danielle Henderson

Semifinals

March 25

TBD v. TBD

Judged by Jaime Green

March 28

TBD v. TBD

Judged by Jeff VanderMeer

Zombie Round

March 29

Zombie Pick No. 1 v. TBD

Judged by Blake Bailey

March 30

Zombie Pick No. 2 v. TBD

Judged by Celeste Ng

Championship

March 31

TBD v. TBD

All Judges