Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I'm Mike - this is Riiff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
Today I’m launching an original BookTube tag I created — the TBR Tough Choices Tag, also known as the Gunfight at the Bo(OK)Tube Corral. (Bonus points if you get the reference)
The rules are simple:
👉 I present 26 pairs of books (A–Z)
👉 You are ONLY allowed to choose one book from each pair
👉 If you haven’t read them, pass or substitute your own!
👉 You’re all tagged if you’ve ever stressed over your TBR pile!
This video covers matchups including:
• The Aeneid vs Ovid's Metamorphoses
• Vanity Fair vs Middlemarch
• The Road vs Blood Meridian
• Crime and Punishment vs The Brothers Karamazov
• East of Eden vs Lonesome Dove
• Fahrenheit 451 vs Brave New World
• Don Quixote vs Moby-Dick
• Anna Karenina vs War and Peace
• Dracula vs Frankenstein
…plus bonus “honourable mention” shootouts!
This tag is all about reading priorities, TBR anxiety, and making difficult choices between classics, modern masterpieces, and books we all mean to get to but struggle to find the time or make the decisions between them.
💬 Drop your choices in the comments — you don’t need to answer all 26! Tell me where you have strong opinions. I need your help!
🎥 Feel free to make your own video response. I would love to see how different readers decide between these tough literary choices.
If you enjoy this BookTube ramble, please:
👍 Like the video ( this gets you more similar content)
💬 Comment or leave an emoji (this tells the algorithm to spread the video)
🔔 Subscribe & ring the bell (this brings my future videos to your attention)
Your support means a lot to me. Thank you for watching and engaging.
Until next time — thank you and happy reading,. ❤️
The Specific Tags
A is for ANCIENT ASSAULT: Virgil’s The Aenid VS Ovid’s Metamorphoses
B is for BIG GIRL BATTLE: Vanity Fair (Becky Sharp) VS Middlemarch (Dorothea)
C is for CORMAC’S CLASH: The Road VS Blood Meridian
D is for DOSTOEVSKY DUEL: Crime & Punishment VS The Brothers Karamazov
E is for EPIC ENGAGEMENT: East Of Eden VS Lonesome Dove
F is for FUTURISTIC FIREFIGHT: Fahrenheit 451 VS Brave New World
G is for GIRL-POWER GRAPPLE: Little Women VS Anne of Green Gables
H is for HOMERIC HOSTILITIES: The Iliad VS The Odyssey
I is for INFINITE JOUST : Ulysses (Joyce) VS Infinite Jest (D Foster Wallace)
J is for JOURNEYING JUNKET: Tom Jones (Fielding) VS Gullivers Travels (Swift)
K is for KOPY-KAT KNOCK DOWN: Demon Copperhead VS James
L is for LEGAL LAST STAND: To Kill A Mockingbird VS Bleak House
M is for MIDDLE AGES MELEE: Canterbury Tales VS The Decameron
N is for NON FICTION NEMESIS : Rise & Fall of the 3rd Reich VS Ian Kershaw’s Hitler
O is for ORWELL’S OFFENSIVE : Animal Farm VS 1984
P is for PARADISE PUNCH-UP: The Divine Comedy VS Paradise Lost
Q is for QUARREL OF THE QUESTS: Don Quixote VS Moby Dick
R is for RUMBLE OF THE REDS : The Red & the Black VS The Red Badge of Courage
S is for SALMAN’S SHOWDOWN: Midnight’s Children VS The Satanic Verses
T is for TOLSTOY THROWDOWN: ANNA KARENINA vs WAR & PEACE
U is for UNSEEN UPHEAVAL : Beloved (Morrison) VS Wide Sargasso Sea (Ryhs)
V is for VIRGINIA’S VOLLEY: To The Lighthouse VS Orlando (not Mrs Dalloway)
W is for WHARTON’s WARFARE: The House of Mirth VS The Age of Innocence
X is for X=RATED X-POSURE: Lolita VS Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Y is for YOUNG ADULT YARDFIGHT: My Dark Vanessa VS My Absolute Darling
Z is for ZOMBIE ZAPPER: : Dracula VS Frankenstein
Honorable mentions:
HISTORICAL HAVOC: Diary of a Young Girl VS Man’s Search For Meaning
FITZGERALD FISTFIGHT: The Great Gatsby VS Tender Is The Night
SWASHBUCKLING SWORDFIGHT: Count of Monte Cristo VS 3 Musketeers
Have fun!
Chapters
00:00 Intro - So Many Books, So Little Time
01:24 The Rules of the Tag
02:45 A – Ancient Assault
03:12 B – Big Girl Battle
03:36 C – Cormac Clash
04:00 D – Dostoyevsky Duel
04:44 E – Epic Engagement
05:14 F – Futuristic Firefight
05:31 G – Girl Power Grapple
05:43 H – Homeric Hostilities
05:56 I – Infinite Joust
06:52 J – Journeying Junket
07:19 K – Kopy-kat Knockdown
07:55 L – Legal Last Stand
08:34 M – Middle Ages Melee
09:13 N – Non-Fiction Nemesis
09:43 O – Orwell's Offensive
10:06 P – Paradise Punch-Up
10:17 Q – Quarrel of the Quests
10:58 R – Rumble of the Reds
11:13 S – Salman’s Showdown
11:45 T – Tolstoy’s Throwdown
13:05 U – Unseen Upheaval
13:33 V – Virginia’s Volley
14:16 W – Wharton’s Warfare
14:34 X – X-Rated X-posure
15:27 Y – Young Adult Yard Fight
16:38 Z – Zombie Zapper
17:36 Bonus Honorable Mentions
19:19 Closing Thoughts
And for the Almighty Algorithm:
#Booktube #TBRTag #BookTag #ReadingChallenge #BookRecommendations #ClassicBooks
#OriginalTag #ReaderCommunity #BooktubeOriginal #TBRProblems #BookDiscussion
I'm Mike - this is Riiff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
Today I’m launching an original BookTube tag I created — the TBR Tough Choices Tag, also known as the Gunfight at the Bo(OK)Tube Corral. (Bonus points if you get the reference)
The rules are simple:
👉 I present 26 pairs of books (A–Z)
👉 You are ONLY allowed to choose one book from each pair
👉 If you haven’t read them, pass or substitute your own!
👉 You’re all tagged if you’ve ever stressed over your TBR pile!
This video covers matchups including:
• The Aeneid vs Ovid's Metamorphoses
• Vanity Fair vs Middlemarch
• The Road vs Blood Meridian
• Crime and Punishment vs The Brothers Karamazov
• East of Eden vs Lonesome Dove
• Fahrenheit 451 vs Brave New World
• Don Quixote vs Moby-Dick
• Anna Karenina vs War and Peace
• Dracula vs Frankenstein
…plus bonus “honourable mention” shootouts!
This tag is all about reading priorities, TBR anxiety, and making difficult choices between classics, modern masterpieces, and books we all mean to get to but struggle to find the time or make the decisions between them.
💬 Drop your choices in the comments — you don’t need to answer all 26! Tell me where you have strong opinions. I need your help!
🎥 Feel free to make your own video response. I would love to see how different readers decide between these tough literary choices.
If you enjoy this BookTube ramble, please:
👍 Like the video ( this gets you more similar content)
💬 Comment or leave an emoji (this tells the algorithm to spread the video)
🔔 Subscribe & ring the bell (this brings my future videos to your attention)
Your support means a lot to me. Thank you for watching and engaging.
Until next time — thank you and happy reading,. ❤️
The Specific Tags
A is for ANCIENT ASSAULT: Virgil’s The Aenid VS Ovid’s Metamorphoses
B is for BIG GIRL BATTLE: Vanity Fair (Becky Sharp) VS Middlemarch (Dorothea)
C is for CORMAC’S CLASH: The Road VS Blood Meridian
D is for DOSTOEVSKY DUEL: Crime & Punishment VS The Brothers Karamazov
E is for EPIC ENGAGEMENT: East Of Eden VS Lonesome Dove
F is for FUTURISTIC FIREFIGHT: Fahrenheit 451 VS Brave New World
G is for GIRL-POWER GRAPPLE: Little Women VS Anne of Green Gables
H is for HOMERIC HOSTILITIES: The Iliad VS The Odyssey
I is for INFINITE JOUST : Ulysses (Joyce) VS Infinite Jest (D Foster Wallace)
J is for JOURNEYING JUNKET: Tom Jones (Fielding) VS Gullivers Travels (Swift)
K is for KOPY-KAT KNOCK DOWN: Demon Copperhead VS James
L is for LEGAL LAST STAND: To Kill A Mockingbird VS Bleak House
M is for MIDDLE AGES MELEE: Canterbury Tales VS The Decameron
N is for NON FICTION NEMESIS : Rise & Fall of the 3rd Reich VS Ian Kershaw’s Hitler
O is for ORWELL’S OFFENSIVE : Animal Farm VS 1984
P is for PARADISE PUNCH-UP: The Divine Comedy VS Paradise Lost
Q is for QUARREL OF THE QUESTS: Don Quixote VS Moby Dick
R is for RUMBLE OF THE REDS : The Red & the Black VS The Red Badge of Courage
S is for SALMAN’S SHOWDOWN: Midnight’s Children VS The Satanic Verses
T is for TOLSTOY THROWDOWN: ANNA KARENINA vs WAR & PEACE
U is for UNSEEN UPHEAVAL : Beloved (Morrison) VS Wide Sargasso Sea (Ryhs)
V is for VIRGINIA’S VOLLEY: To The Lighthouse VS Orlando (not Mrs Dalloway)
W is for WHARTON’s WARFARE: The House of Mirth VS The Age of Innocence
X is for X=RATED X-POSURE: Lolita VS Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Y is for YOUNG ADULT YARDFIGHT: My Dark Vanessa VS My Absolute Darling
Z is for ZOMBIE ZAPPER: : Dracula VS Frankenstein
Honorable mentions:
HISTORICAL HAVOC: Diary of a Young Girl VS Man’s Search For Meaning
FITZGERALD FISTFIGHT: The Great Gatsby VS Tender Is The Night
SWASHBUCKLING SWORDFIGHT: Count of Monte Cristo VS 3 Musketeers
Have fun!
Chapters
00:00 Intro - So Many Books, So Little Time
01:24 The Rules of the Tag
02:45 A – Ancient Assault
03:12 B – Big Girl Battle
03:36 C – Cormac Clash
04:00 D – Dostoyevsky Duel
04:44 E – Epic Engagement
05:14 F – Futuristic Firefight
05:31 G – Girl Power Grapple
05:43 H – Homeric Hostilities
05:56 I – Infinite Joust
06:52 J – Journeying Junket
07:19 K – Kopy-kat Knockdown
07:55 L – Legal Last Stand
08:34 M – Middle Ages Melee
09:13 N – Non-Fiction Nemesis
09:43 O – Orwell's Offensive
10:06 P – Paradise Punch-Up
10:17 Q – Quarrel of the Quests
10:58 R – Rumble of the Reds
11:13 S – Salman’s Showdown
11:45 T – Tolstoy’s Throwdown
13:05 U – Unseen Upheaval
13:33 V – Virginia’s Volley
14:16 W – Wharton’s Warfare
14:34 X – X-Rated X-posure
15:27 Y – Young Adult Yard Fight
16:38 Z – Zombie Zapper
17:36 Bonus Honorable Mentions
19:19 Closing Thoughts
And for the Almighty Algorithm:
#Booktube #TBRTag #BookTag #ReadingChallenge #BookRecommendations #ClassicBooks
#OriginalTag #ReaderCommunity #BooktubeOriginal #TBRProblems #BookDiscussion
