2022 ToB Contenders

[Lee]

It's probably an experiment to see what happens if they move all discussion to Discord. Better to try that with the summer camp than with the main event!

They didn't give us any eligibility guidelines for the books, by oversight or not, so theoretically, we could nominate anything... like our favorites from longlists years past that didn't make it...

[Elizabeth]

Lee wrote: "It's probably an experiment to see what happens if they move all discussion to Discord. Better to try that with the summer camp than with the main event!

They didn't give us any eligibility guidel..."

That makes sense. Maybe I just need to get used to the Discord flow.

I hope it's only books from the past year! Otherwise that could be a free for all, and the books with the most votes would all be the well-known bestsellers. What I look for from TOB is to discover books I never would have otherwise, but I guess that's not going to happen this summer.

So far I'm just nominating books from this year that I think do have a chance: Companion Piece (which I just picked up from my indie, the day before it actually came out!) Trust, which I'd preordered and also just got, and Sea of Tranquility, even though it has mixed reviews, since I'd preordered that as well and with the mixed reviews I might not read it otherwise.

[Lauren]

I'd love to make a collective effort to nominate Chouette!

I'm considering these other ones that I've read and think would be good for the summer event, but I might switch a few out for books I have that I haven't read yet but think are going to be fantastic...

Fingers crossed we don't end up with just the already-famous bestsellers.

So far I've read these and think they would be great to discuss:
Memphis
Olga Dies Dreaming
Brown Girls
Velorio
Black Cake
Fiona and Jane

But I might be tempted to nominate some of these, which I'm highly anticipating:
Woman of Light
When We Were Birds
The Swimmers
Glory
Call Me Cassandra
Scattered All Over the Earth
None But the Righteous
Perpetual West
Beasts of a Little Land
What the Fireflies Knew
Don't Cry for Me

Ugh, as usual, too many books make for tough choices!

I'm still trying to narrow down my votes for our longlist favorites tournament as well...

[Chrissy]

It says from this year, which I took to mean 2022 publish date.

[Kip]

Yes, if you click the link it says to list 6 books from 2022.

[Audra]

hhmmm, I'm not sure how many I've read from this year. I loved Sea of Tranquility so I'm down for that.

[Kip]

I ended up doing only 4 books. Have read 9 for this year and was disappointed in majority

[Elizabeth]

Kip wrote: "Yes, if you click the link it says to list 6 books from 2022."

I clicked on the link again and thought I must be blind not to have noticed them specifying 2022, but then I looked at the version I'd uploaded yesterday and started filling out, and it wasn't there at the time...Someone must have added it in the past 24h.

I feel like I've spent less time on new releases this year than ever before...I haven't looked on The Millions of LitHub like I usually do, I'm focusing much more on backlist TBR that I already own. So I was hoping Camp would bring out new books I wasn't aware of...Lauren, thank you so much for your list, these look fantastic. I'd love to hear the books others are choosing on the form, or have read and loved.

[Bob]

Elizabeth wrote: "the next book I'd been planning was Tomb of Sand...I started Elena Knows"

I want to read Tomb so much! But I have the Yanigahara, Marlon James, Olga Tokarczuk all glaring at me...that's like 2000 angry pages.

I loved Elena Knows and wish it was eligible for the Summer.

Maybe if we coordinate our efforts we can get some non-heavy hitters for the summer? Is that unethical?

EDIT: These are the ones I'm thinking about submitting:

The Love Parade by Sergio Pitol
A Sister's Story by Donatella Di Pietrantonio
The Faces by Tove Ditlevson
Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza
Valleyesque: Stories by Fernando Flores
Paradais by Fernanda Melchor

Maybe All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami?

Granted, Kawakami and Gainza made deep TOB runs before so maybe those are more appropriate for 2023?

[Elizabeth]

Yay! I love these lists.

Bob wrote: "Is that unethical?"

I'm going to say on the contrary it's our obligation. 😄 It's what they're looking for, no? We seem to read more diversely than the general TOB followers, and since I'm sure they want to broaden the selections beyond award lists and bestseller lists, it would be a way of having at least a small voice. If the most popular books are nominated, it'll probably be a boring summer.

[Lee]

Good list Bob! This method of choosing the books makes it unlikely anything too under-the-radar gets in, I'd think. I'm sharing 2 with your list. I was thinking of submitting:

When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry (because I loved We Ride Upon Sticks so much)
Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza
Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
The Faces by Tove Ditlevson
End of the World House by Adrienne Celt
Trust by Hernan Diaz

[Phyllis]

I focused on books released between Dec 2021 and May 2022, and went for:
Anthem, by Noah Hawley
Devil House, by John Darnielle
Glory, by NoViolet Bulawayo
Here Goes Nothing, by Steve Toltz
The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East, by Quan Barry

[Risa]

A question for those of you who have managed the Discord setup. When I attempted it, it asked me for some sort of secret code that I needed to provide to get to the ToB "server". Have we already been given that? If so, can someone share the secret? :-). I used the link in the latest message from the ToB folks, but I got a response that the link was "expired". Sigh.

[Elizabeth]

Risa wrote: "A question for those of you who have managed the Discord setup. When I attempted it, it asked me for some sort of secret code that I needed to provide to get to the ToB "server". Have we already be..."

Hi Risa, the link didn't work for me either, but when I went to my Discord account (which I'd set up when they first announced the Discord last winter) I saw a message from Andrew about Camp. So it looks like it's the same group, they'll just be adding additional tabs.

[Phyllis]

Risa wrote: "A question for those of you who have managed the Discord setup. When I attempted it, it asked me for some sort of secret code that I needed to provide to get to the ToB "server". Have we already be..."

Risa, over in the "Camp ToB 2022" discussion, someone said to email Andrew at andrew@themorningnews.org and he'll get you in.

[Elizabeth]

Okay, looking at lists here (thanks so much for showing me what I've been missing!) so far leaning toward:

Trust
Call Me Cassandra
Perpetual West
The Swimmers
Portrait of an Unknown Lady (LOVED Optic Nerve.)
And I'm contemplating adding Nightcrawling, which I'm intrigued by.

So many amazing choices, though. Going to wait a day or two and read sample chapters to decide what to vote for, put on my TBR and order/check out, because looking at these lists is like being in a candy store, I'm having such a hard time choosing. I also am telling myself I should be treating this like I do zombies. Rather than choosing my absolute favorites, instead it makes sense to choose the books I wouldn't mind reading that are more likely to make the popular vote.

I also realize I'm completely overthinking this. 😂

[Risa]

Phyllis wrote: "Risa wrote: "A question for those of you who have managed the Discord setup. When I attempted it, it asked me for some sort of secret code that I needed to provide to get to the ToB "server". Have ..."
THANK YOU!

[Heather]

I forgot to nominate Devil House, so I'm glad you did, Phyllis. I also nominated:

Memphis
Olga Dies Dreaming
Joan Is Okay
Chouette
Other People's Clothes
Cleopatra and Frankenstein

[C]

I wonder if this means whatever books are voted for in the summer will NOT be in the official tournament, except for the winner?  What if the ToB crew really wanted them to be in the official tournament? I will definitely vote for 'Chouette', as the publication was middle of November and the older tournaments would allow at least SOME leeway.
I agree with Elizabeth -- this will mean "summer blockbuster" books get voted in for summer  every time (like Rooney) and really the ToB crew will have no say over that?  Otherwise, forgive me if I'm assuming, but I always think whatever books I have an interest in are probably underdogs, meaning they won't have a chance in a popular vote, and then I naturally avoid voting for the popular books because I figure they have enough support.  I am considering these (note, I have read NONE of these and there are a thousand other books I'd also be thrilled to read in the summer):
Phenotypes - Paulo Scott
The Family Chao - Lan Samantha Chang 
When We Lost Our Heads - Heather O'Neill  
Drowning Practice - Mike Meginnis  
Eleutheria - Allegra Hyde 
The World Cannot Give - Tara Isabella Burton  
End of the World House - Adrienne Celt
Seven Steeples - Sara Baume
A Tiny Upward Shove - Melissa Chadburn 

[Jessica]

I submitted books that I've purchased this year but haven't read and want an excuse to bump up on my TBR:

Last Resort
Sedating Elaine
Acts of Service
Disorientation
Other People's Clothes
When We Lost Our Heads

Adding everyone else's responses to my list too!

[Matthew]

This should be interesting. To this point, I have read almost none of the 2022 releases (been catching up on 2021 stuff), but here is the list I voted for:

Devil House
Trust
Black Village
Defenestrate
The Swimmers
Lapvona

[Lauren]

Great to see all these lists! I agree with Elizabeth that collectively submitting "underdog" books is how we can help prevent the summer list from just being the super popular bestsellers.

With the restriction of 2022 nominations only, I think we should hold off on adding Chouette here, and push for it instead to be part of the main tournament's longlist, but let me know if I'm off on that strategy.

Also, I'm now concerned about my favorite books making the summer list and not being eligible to be in the main tournament unless they win...

Kip, can you share which books were a disappointment? Even if our tastes aren't exactly the same, your list could help me prioritize my TBR for 2022 novels. ;)

But overall, I need to remind myself to relax. I'm sure there will be some summer books I enjoy, and that many more will be on the longlist later. It will be fine (I'm saying this more to myself than to y'all, haha). Hoping to see some of you as discussion leaders!

[Kip]

Book of Jacob was the heartbreaking one, Drive Your Plow was one of my favorite books from that year and while I loved the myriad perspectives, I did not feel smart enough for much of it, it really gets into the minutiae of Jewish beliefs. The Cartographers was just not a good mystery, it felt very telegraphed and I am not the sort of person who generally has any idea where a mystery is going. Same situation where Book of M was so enjoyable that expectations were up. The Trouble with Happiness by Tove Ditlevsen had nothing wrong with it per se, it was just so overwhelmingly melancholy. Bibliolepsy by Apostol was very heavy on sex and books but very light on the promised revolution. Much more navel-gazy than I typically enjoy.

I think much if my disappointment comes from these all being authors I have enjoyed in the past (other than Tove and she is a legend). And now I will go and spend the rest of the day in shame as I had to explain why I didn’t like these 4 books written by women (two in translation), happy Mother’s Day……

[Lauren]

Thanks for sharing this, Kip. I get your points on these. Hopefully the next few 2022 books you read are winners!

[Nadine in California]

Among the many things I liked about Quan Barry's When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East is that the setting and story is so totally different from anything I've read in a long time. Also totally different from her last book, We Ride Upon Sticks. I liked Weike Wang's Joan Is Okay just as much as Chemistry (which is very much, not being snarky.) I also liked The Family Chao as I was reading it, but it's not sticking with me all that much. I loved the first, title story in Shit Cassandra Saw but the others, not as much.

Re: Kip's experiences: I'm feeling so tentative about starting The Books of Jacob - even though I am Jewish, I'm sure the arcana of beliefs is beyond me. But who knows, maybe it will tap into some ancestral knowledge buried in my DNA ;) I loved Apostol's Insurrecto, and have The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata on my shelf, so Bibliolepsy is tempting. It's the first book she wrote, so maybe it's weaker than her others?

[Phyllis]

I just finished The Books of Jacob, and I don't at all regret the (huge) investment of time in reading it. For those of us who are not Jewish, it is helpful to just decide to not worry much about the arcana of Jewish theology -- this is really a story about mankind (of any or no religion) seeking after a better life and an understanding of why we are here, how we should live our lives, and what happens in the hereafter. Certainly it can also be read as the many ways in which Jewish folks have been persecuted, both by others and by battling Jewish strands. It is also a story of how a charismatic person can influence multitudes to follow them and convince powerbrokers to back them. Funner still, though, is the story of people living in 18th century eastern Europe, from the lowliest of the low to the highest of the high and all in between, along with lots of intriguing historical facts and political machinations. I liked it a lot.

[Kip]

I will say, I read 700 pages, and I ALREADY had the desire to maybe give it another shot, so I do think there is something to it. I stick by my initial opinion, but I do plan on trying again at some point, which is not something I would normally say about a small book I don’t like, let alone this tome.

[Jan]

@Phyllis et at, thanks for making me more eager to read The Books of Jacob. I’m not Jewish, but I’ve bought Jacob and am planning to tackle it after I read Yanagihara’s To Paradise and some shorter works. I’m not voting for the summer camp choices and may be too distracted to join Discord, but I love following the discussions here. I still don’t see how the “new” approaches addresses the problem of the year’s big books being hashed over and tired when March rolls around.

[Nadine in California]

Jan wrote: "@Phyllis et at, thanks for making me more eager to read The Books of Jacob. I’m not Jewish, but I’ve bought Jacob and am planning to tackle it after I read Yanagihara’s To Paradise and some shorter..."

Me too. Plus, the 18th century is my favorite period for European historical fiction.

[Kyle]

I also have Books of Jacob looming on my bookshelf, and one of my friends was less than enthusiastic about it. Glad that I can hear some positive about it, Phyllis.