Every March, literary bloodsport reigns supreme

Since 2005, the Tournament of Books has been home to a month-long battle royale among the year’s best novels. Each weekday in March, two works of fiction go head to head, with one of our judges deciding which book moves forward in the competition—until one finally wins that year’s coveted Rooster award.

About the Tournament

Previous Tournaments

2025

Champion:
James by Percival Everett

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2024

Champion:
Blackouts by Justin Torres

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2023

Champion:
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

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2022

Champion:
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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2021

Champion:
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

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2020

Champion:
Normal People by Sally Rooney

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2019

Champion:
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

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2018

Champion:
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

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2017

Champion:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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2016

Champion:
The Sellout by Paul Beatty

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2015

Champion:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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2014

Champion:
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

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2013

Champion:
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

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2012

Champion:
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

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2011

Champion:
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

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2010

Champion:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

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2009

Champion:
A Mercy by Toni Morrison

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2008

Champion:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

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2007

Champion:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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2006

Champion:
The Accidental by Ali Smith

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2005

Champion:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

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