Celebrate reading by participating in our annual Mikkelsen Madness Book Battle!

The battle is set up as single elimination tournament consisting of 64 books (very similar to the NCAA men and women's Final Four tournament). Books are nominated by students, faculty and staff and then sorted into "regions."

How do I play?

There are 2 ways to play.

• Submit a bracket with your predictions for every game culminating in your selection of the Book Battle Champion. Paper brackets can be turned in at the library or you can submit your bracket online.
• Vote in each round of the battle. Print ballots are available at the library or online. Only 1 vote per email.

How is the Book Battle Champion selected?

The winners of the "games" for each round are determined by open voting. The book with the most votes in each "game" will move on to the next round. At the end of 6 rounds, the book battle champion will be announced. Past winners include The Queen's Gambit (2021), The Princess Bride (2020), Becoming (2019), Book Thief (2018), Ninety Eighty Four (2017), Lord of the Rings (2016), and Harry Potter (2015).

How do I win prizes?

Bracket Prizes

For rounds 1 through 5, the person with the highest number of winning books for that round will be awarded a prize for Best Bracket. The person with the second highest number of winning books will be award a Best Bracket Runner-Up award. For round 6, the championship round, the person with the highest total number of winning books will be declared the Book Battle Champion and second highest total number of winning books will be declared the Book Battle Champion Runner-Up. If there is a tie in any round, a winner will be determined by a random drawing.

Voting Prizes

After each round, 3 names will be randomly drawn from the list of ballots submitted. After the final round, there will be a special drawing from a list of participants who voted in every round.