In the Group Stage, the thirty-two books are randomly assigned to eight groups.
The judges for each group read all four books, and their composite rankings identify
the top two books in each group, which then move on to the knock-out bracket.
​The Group Stage takes place in August and September.
​

Group A
Judges: S. Ben-David, L. Horvitz, C. Grooms

• Asymmetry
• Macbeth
• The Incendiaries
• The Overstory

Group B
Judges: ​P. Ibrahim, C. Goodman, P. Ivey

• Less
• An American Marriage
• How to Stop Time
• The Great Alone

Group C
Judges: J. Crawford, J. Russell, A. Zackria

• The Ninth Hour
• The Power
• Little Fires Everywhere
• Tin Man

Group D
Judges: J. Ittah, E. Scarborough, S. Bell

• The Mars Room
• The Golden House
• The Rules of Magic
• The Address

Group E
Judges: K. Briggs, S. Rubino, K. Shaya

• The Only Story
• Before We Were Yours
• Sing, Unburied, Sing
• Clock Dance

Group F
Judges: S. Echeverry, B. McGuiness, A. Sellers

• Artemis
• The Immortalists
• The Burning Girl
• There There

Group G
Judges: A. Lotz, R. Sheard, S. Bessette

• Circe
• In the Midst of Winter
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation
• Manhattan Beach

Group H
Judges: E. Marshall, A. Sellers, B. McGuiness

• Love and Ruin
• The Female Persuasion
• Florida
• Future Home of the Living God