March Madness is underway! I'm referring, of course, to The Morning News' annual Tournament of Books.

The first big upset: Unaccustomed Earth gets sent packing in the first round by City of Refuge.

Perhaps upset is too strong a word. After all, I haven't read City of Refuge. But Unaccustomed Earth was one of my favorite books of 2008, so count me intrigued.

Perusing the list of contenders, I realize I've read about as many of them as I've seen NCAA men's basketball teams play. The only other book on the list I've read, in part, is 2666, which I'm about a third of the way through and which I'd assume is the presumptive #1 seed based on the critical praise it's garnered to date (it also has the sentimental vote a la Heath Ledger at the Oscars as author Roberto Bolano is no longer with us).

My attention span for reading new fiction novels seems to shrink just a little bit more each year.

UPDATE: Oops, I'm just fractionally more well-read than I thought. I have read The Dart League King, and I recommend that for your reading list also.

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