The Tournament of Books 2014 has arrived

The Morning News’ annual Tournament of Books has started its engines. On Tuesday, the ToB announced its lineup of contenders to be named the winner -- actually, the Rooster -- for 2014.

Initially conceived as “a goof” that took the college basketball tournament model and filled brackets with books, the ToB has proved both long-lasting and inspirational. While it has been followed by dozens of book-bracket imitators that set up all kinds of reading competitions -- children’s books, books about Los Angeles -- the race for the Rooster remains central.

Maybe I’m biased: I’m a former judge, and I adore its freewheeling criticism, accompanied by play-by-play commentary by Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner. It’s been 10 years since ToB began -- a near eternity in Internet time -- and it’s still going strong.

Also announced today are the readers who will be judges, a list that includes our own Hector Tobar. Below are the books that are in the running for the Rooster.

“At Night We Walk in Circles” by Daniel Alarcón
“The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton
“The Tuner of Silences” by Mia Couto
“The Signature of All Things” by Elizabeth Gilbert
“How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” by Mohsin Hamid
“The Dinner” by Herman Koch
“The Lowland” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Long Division” by Kiese Laymon
“The Good Lord Bird” by James McBride
“Hill William” by Scott McClanahan
“The Son” by Philipp Meyer
“A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki
“Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell
“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt
“The People in the Trees” by Hanya Yanagihara
[Winner of the Pre-Tournament Playoff Round]

Pre-Tournament Playoff Round
“Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson
“Woke Up Lonely” by Fiona Maazel

The 2014 judges are musician John Darnielle, writers John Green, Mat Johnson, Roxane Gay,
Jami Attenberg, Hector Tobar, Lydia Kiesling, Jeff Martin, John McElwee, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Schulman, Jane Hu, Roger D. Hodge, John Freeman, publisher Lizzie Skurnick and Tumblr’s Rachel Fershleiser.

ALSO:

Nation’s first bookless public library opens

Lebanese library burned, loses more than 50,000 books

Zola acquires Bookish, consolidating book discovery sites

Carolyn Kellogg: Join me on Twitter, Facebook and Google+