Round 1 has closed in Booketology, the Library’s 2012 Tournament of Books, and Round 2 has officially begun. Check the bracket below for the results, and cast your votes in the field of 32 until midnight on Wednesday, March 21. May the best book win!

Voting in the first round of Booketology was, to quote one of the books in the match, “extremely loud and incredibly close.” We fielded hundreds of ballots over the weekend, and when voting closed Sunday at midnight, many fine books lay crushed in defeat – some by narrow margins, others by landslides.

Falling into the latter category was the overwhelming victory of Bram Stoker’s vampiric classic Dracula over Stephenie Meyer’s more recent bloodsucking love story, Twilight, which only got 19 percent of the votes. Sorry, Edward and Bella – overhype in the wider world brought you Booketology garlic.

Check the updated bracket below, and follow the link to the next round of voting, which runs through midnight on Wednesday, March 21.

Vote: Booketology Round 2

Other highlights:

Horror: In the closest contest on the ballot, Anne Rice’s vampire Lestat beat out Stephen King’s telekinetic prom queen by a mere two votes. But how will the vampire portrayed by Tom Cruise fare against the mighty Drac in Round 2?

Fantasy: Local hero Jim Butcher was defeated by the heroic rabbits of Watership Down, and Mr. Potter had no problem triumphing over Mr Norrell. But how will the students of Hogwarts fare against the Seven Kingdoms in Round 2?

Sci-Fi, Douglas Adams fans need not panic; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy handily defeated Hal and the boys from 2001. The favored Hunger Games beat H.G. Wells’ Mars attackers by a comfortable (if not overwhelming) 57 percent. As Katniss squares off against Arthur Dent in Round 2, Philip K. Dick dreams of victory over Connie Willis.

Classics: Miss Austen suffered a shattering defeat to Harper Lee, receiving only 35 percent of the votes in a contest expected to be a lot closer. Now we've got an all-American bracket going into Round 2.

Romance: Overall, newer novels beat out classics of the genre. Waiting to Exhale will advance to take on Bridget Jones, and Good in Bed will battle Devil Wears Prada in a chick lit grudge match for the ages.

Mystery: Not a lot of close calls here. Holmes crushed Ripley, Hannibal Lecter bit off Mystic River’s moody face, and Hercule Poirot easily out-sleuthed Easy Rawlins. Sherlock faces a foe greater than Moriarty in Round 2, and giants Grafton and Christie take their gloves off.

Literature: Console yourselves, Help fans. Though Cormac McCarthy’s apocalyptic The Road beat Kathryn Stockett’s Oscar-generating best-seller by a mere three votes, it’s not the end of the world.

Nonfiction: Henrietta Lacks continues in her immortality, Seabiscuit beats the Odessa Permian (or Dillon, if you watch the show) Panthers by more than just a nose, and Capote’s tale of murder in a small Kansas town beat Larson’s story of butchery in Chicago.

All around, Round 1 was one hell of a rumble, and Round 2 looks even fiercer. What did you think? Did your picks advance? Who are you picking in Round 2?  

And don’t forget to submit your ballot for Round 2 by Wednesday at midnight. We’ll have the winners here on KC Unbound by Thursday at noon.

Vote: Booketology Round 2

Latecomers: If you’re just now finding out about Booketology, don’t fret. Voting is open to all. Jump in this round, next, or whenever. Here are the rules.

Trouble voting from home? Some voters living in the same household have found they cannot vote more than once, even using different browsers or computers. The web form tracks the IP of your router, so it’s best to vote from computers in different locations (i.e. home and work), or on your home computer and via a 3G-enabled smartphone.

About the Author

Jason Harper is the web content developer and social media manager at the Kansas City Public Library.