Monday, April 3, 2017

Results and The Handful of A Levels Bracket (Round 2)


A thousand apologies, my Betties, for not letting the blog know (I told FB!) that I was taking a week's hiatus to escort the van Voorhees children on a cultural tour of San Fransisco for their half-term holidays. Bikes were ridden, ice cream consumed, family visited, boats boarded...We did it all.

The Barfing on His Brogues Bracket name now feels like an ironic joke. Pledge Four sickened for one eventful day and had an episode all over his tolerant aunt. Good thing he is so adorable.

I hated (HATED) to have to break one tie between Blow Hot, Blow Cold and An Old Fashioned Girl. I chose the latter because I love local folks conspiring to get Patience a job, her shapely legs, the blizzard, the dampening she gives the Professor's ego (taken from Betty Debbie's review):

Her (on silently setting down the tea tray in his study): I was told to make no noise...she added kindly, "I dare say you're busy with your book - is it about surgery?"
Him (I imagine a little pompously): Of course it is. It's a learned textbook - a sort of a reference book.
Her: Like Mrs. Beeton's cookery book - full of instructions about the best way to cook food, written by an expert.
Him: Is that a compliment?

The further into the voting we get, the fewer ties I want to break. (Hint, hint) It's so hard when there are things to love about each book going forward. 

EDIT: I just can't do it. After a morning of second-guessing and careful trawling of the record, I'm giving it to Blow Hot, Blow Cold instead of An Old-Fashioned Girl. To those that are sad, I offer you the wild-card round!

One of the books that was a real loss to me was Making Sure of Sarah (falling to The Vicar's Daughter). I knew it could not hold out for long against books that come earlier in The Canon and are full-length novels. But I loves it, anyway.

The only book to come away with no votes was When May Follows against The Girl with Green Eyes.

Here are the results and how the bracket will be configured for the next round. I decided to give Caroline a bye this week because who are we kidding...
The Professor Baron is not kidding.


Sister Peters in Amsterdam vs.
An Old-Fashioned Girl
Magic in Vienna vs.
Dearest Love
The Girl With the Green Eyes vs.
The Vicar's Daughter
An Ordinary Girl vs.
A Girl to Love
Caroline's Waterloo (bye--no match up this week)

Now onto The Handful of A Levels Bracket (Round Two). Enjoy the handwringing and heartbreak ahead...

Here's the link to the Book Review Archive for reference.



18 comments:

  1. So the table will change too, putting Blow Hot, Blow Cold against Sister Peters?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, looking into THAT future is keeping me uncomfortable.

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  2. Well, bummer about 'An Old Fashioned Girl'. Betty Barbara loathes 'Blow Hot, Blow Cold'.
    So, you have actually made it very easy for me to vote for 'Sister Peters' when the time arrives.

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    Replies
    1. Barbara! How can you loathe BHBC? It is my *favourite*! And if I hadn't been out of town my own self, with numerous friends barfing though not as far as I know on anyone's brogues (get this - party at the ambassador's, and several chicken-skewer eaters were ill next day; two to the point of hospitalization for a few hours of rest and IV fluids!), BHBC would have won on the votes, instead of having to fall back on Betty Keira's recognition of its manifold merits.

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  3. Wish With the Candles
    The Chain of Destiny
    A Suitable Match
    Roses for Christmas
    the Moon for Lavinia
    A Girl Named Rose
    The Most Marvelous Summer
    Stormy Springtime

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  4. Betty Barbara here, with her vote:

    Wish with the Candles
    Chain of Destiny
    A Suitable Match
    The Mistletoe Kiss
    The Fifth Day of Christmas
    A Girl Named Rose
    The Most Marvelous Summer
    Stormy Springtime
    The Magic of Living (bye)

    My two hardest decisions were between 'Chain of Destiny' and 'Three for a Wedding' and 'A Girl Named Rose' and 'Saturday's Child'. I did a lot of mental coin-flipping on those two match-ups. As a matter of fact, the match between 'A Girl Named Rose' and 'Saturday's Child' is downright cruel. Gold Medalist Rose should have gotten the bye.
    I'm holding out hope 'Saturday's Child' gets a wild card.

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  5. Wish with the Candles
    Three for a Wedding
    Tulips for Augusta
    The Mistletoe Kiss
    The Fifth Day of Christmas
    Saturday's Child (come on, people!)
    A Gentle Awakening
    Stormy Springtime
    The Magic of Living

    I am devastated by the lack of support so far for Abby and Dominic; I can only cross my fingers for a wildcard entry for Saturday's Child if this continues! The hardest choice for me was between A Christmas Proposal and Wish with the Candles; I love Bertha and I love the ending but Emma's appendicitis-in-theatre attack wins out on excitement value.

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    Replies
    1. I voted for them Melody. It was a difficult choice but..

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  6. Wish With the Candles

    The Chain of Destiny

    Tulips for Augusta

    The Mistletoe Kiss

    The Fifth Day of Christmas

    A Girl Named Rose

    A Gentle Awakening

    Stormy Springtime

    The Magic of Living

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  7. Can I just say how MUCH I love the Alan Rickman meme??? Staring at it and the always delicious Mr. Cooper is helping me to delay the painful moment when I have to choose between Gold Medalist Rose and Abby. Sob! Why didn't you just give us all a dagger with which to cut out our hearts?

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  8. A Christmas Proposal
    Three For a Wedding
    Tulips for Augusta
    Roses for Christmas
    The Moon for Lavinia
    A Girl Named Rose
    The Most Marvelous Summer
    When Two Paths Meet
    The Magic of Living

    That was cruel. Choosing between Rose and Abby, I mean. Sniff, sniff...

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  9. Where was the voting for When May Follows, I didn't see that category?

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    Replies
    1. When May Follows made it in Round One, Barfing on His Brogues Bracket, but didn't get any votes in Round Two, Barfing on His Brogues Bracket.

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  10. Wish With the Candles
    The Chain of Destiny
    A Suitable Match
    The Mistletoe Kiss
    The Fifth Day of Christmas
    A Girl Named Rose
    A Gentle Awakening
    When Two Paths Meet
    The Magic of Living (bye)

    Mine may be the only vote for A Suitable Match; I just adore Eustacia and Sir Colin. AGNR v. SC was SO hard. Sorry, Betty Melody. Rose gets the nod for me because of the ter Brandt poppet and his parents' reappearance, even though Bolly is my favorite FFR in the Canon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also voted for 'A Suitable Match'. As did one other voter in this comment thread. So that makes at least three of us...





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  11. Christmas Proposal
    Three for a Wedding
    Tulips for Augusta
    Roses for Christmas
    the Moon for Lavinia
    A Girl Named Rose
    Gentle Awakening
    When Two Paths Meet

    Looks like I veered off from some popular choices. But that might happen more and more and as go on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Except for A Gentle Awakening your votes match mine exactly , so you're very popular with me, at present. ;o)

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  12. Wish With the Candles
    The Chain of Destiny
    Tulips for Augusta
    Roses for Christmas
    The Moon for Lavinia
    Saturday's Child
    A Gentle Awakening
    Stormy Springtime

    I'm with Betty Melody, the hardest one here was Christmas Proposal vs. Wish with the Candles. Sorry Bertha. Wish I could have traded Christmas Proposal for one of the Moon for Lavinia/5th Day of Christmas pairing, neither of which are favorites of mine.

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