Tournament of Books discussion

Not sure where to ask this, but ANY book?

The email says, “ We want you to tell us—by midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday—the top six books you want to read this summer.” Fiction, non-fiction? This will be some tallying job.

What direction are you taking?

Any book published this year.

I went all fiction, thinking it would more likely go that way, and chose books I haven’t read yet but are in my holds or on my list for the summer. I wonder if non-fiction has a chance? Alas, my vote is already in - didn’t want to overthink or forget!

Thanks for clarifying this. It makes sense.

Heh, cynical me asks, how exactly is this very different? Why would our own picks be different than what the TOB organizers would pick, which would likely end up in the full TOB?

I'm going all random - sci-fi, non-fiction, fiction!

Good for you. I can see your point.

Patty - thanks so much for setting up the thread!
I personally wish I had a list to pick from — open ended is just TOO much choice for my indecisive self!

Oh I immediately listed six books I'd already read this year and loved (all written by women which wasn't planned but I wasn't sorry about)...I've felt that this year has been a particularly good one for great fiction. I was glad they went this route as I haven't loved or even really liked the Camp slate the last few years.

I just chose the 2022 books that are sitting around my apartment unread. Easy!!

I tried to join the discord and it said the link is expired, anyone able to help me out?

I could only come up with 5 without digging, so I nominated 5. Many I already had eARCs of, just to make it easier. :)

Bretnie wrote: "Heh, cynical me asks, how exactly is this very different? Why would our own picks be different than what the TOB organizers would pick, which would likely end up in the full TOB?"

I'm still stumping for a long-list retrospective in the summer. No conflicts with the next year's tournament, a nice finite list to vote from, and a chance to make a case for the books that were overlooked in the Big Show.

What are your six most overlooked books from the longlist?

Amy wrote: "Patty - thanks so much for setting up the thread!
I personally wish I had a list to pick from — open ended is just TOO much choice for my indecisive self!"

You are welcome. My brain exploded and I needed help.

Kip wrote: "I tried to join the discord and it said the link is expired, anyone able to help me out?"

I asked and Andrew says to shoot him an email at andrew@themorningnews.org and he'll get you in.

I'm pretty sure it's irrational to think of it as some sort of barrier when it's just creating another account and linking to another website but I don't want to sign up for discord. I'm sad, though.

So far I've read Devil House and am working on Moon Witch, Spider King. I've got Trust (Hernan Diaz) lined up as well, so I'd vote for that as well. After that, I don't know what else I'd vote for.

Trust is a good pick. I did the new Marra, the new Emezi, Our Wives Under the Sea, Babel by R.F. Kuang, and the new Elif Batuman

I'm cross-posting here, now that we've got this discussion set up.
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

I voted for:
Trust
Lessons in Chemistry
Sea of Tranquility
The Cartographers
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Mercury Pictures Presents

But also want to read this summer:
The Dance Tree
Atomic Anna

Thanks for setting up this thread since we've accidentally been in the "2022 Contenders" one. :) I'll post here moving forward.

Ugh, I can't decide! All the ones I had in mind ended up being 2021, heh.

The only one I know for sure I want to nominate is Unlikely Animals - which looks like it has enough fantasy/magical realism for a good summer TOB book.

I went through my list and marked all the books that were /are going to be published in 2022 and then picked the six most interesting (to me) of those.

Trust
Booth
The Final Case
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Sea of Tranquility
How High We Go in the Dark

If you go by those of us who have posted in here so far, it looks like Trust is a shoo-in...

I'm building my list, several overlaps with titles above...

Just wondering: Anyone else worried about doing this on Discord? I wasn't impressed with what we saw at the outset of TOB2022.

Lljones wrote: "I'm building my list, several overlaps with titles above...

Just wondering: Anyone else worried about doing this on Discord? I wasn't impressed with what we saw at the outset of TOB2022."

Yes, I'm not a big fan of Discord. I use Slack for everything and can't understand why Discord doesn't thread like Slack does. It's terribly cluttered and confusing, so I can't follow conversations there like we can on Disqus (or find my previous threads, or know when people are replying to me). Oh well, we'll make the best of it. :/

Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or already read and want to discuss), that I also saw at least one other person mention in the lists here and in the 2022 Contenders thread (thanks for sharing those!). Even though I'm very interested in When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East, I think I'd rather see books by authors who have not yet been in the tournaments.

So far I have it narrowed down to nine, so I need to cut three of these. Y'all can help by mentioning which of these you plan to nominate (or if you already did nominate them), and I'll keep those since they might have a chance. Thanks!

*Means I own the book but haven't read it
**Means I've read it

Olga Dies Dreaming**
A Tiny Upward Shove
Glory*
A Sister's Story
Call Me Cassandra*
Perpetual West*
Memphis**
Trust
The Swimmers*

Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or already read and want to discuss), ..."

Our lists are pretty similar, Lauren! Of these, I’m pretty sure I’m choosing Call Me Cassandra, Perpetual West, Trust, The Swimmers, and A Sister’s Story. Still trying to figure out my 6th. (It’s too hard to narrow want-to-reads down, I don’t know how the organizers do it every year…)

Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or already read and want to discuss), ..."

Yeah, I'm definitely taking note of what others are voting for as well. SO MANY CHOICES. 'A Tiny Upward Shove' will definitely be one of my votes, from your list..

Thank you all for all of the ideas! My TBR pile just got bigger.

I voted for
Unlikely Animals, by Annie Hartnet
Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St John
Trust, by Hernan Diaz
Gallant, by VE Schwab
When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East, by Quan Barry
A Tiny Upward Shove, by Melissa Chadburn

In my sifting, I saw that Susanna Clarke (Piranesi) has a new book coming out later this year! The Cistern. Woohoo!

Andrew says that Sea of Tranquility is pretty much assured of a spot already, everything else too close to call. I didn’t include it on my list but have read it and am a huge ESJM fan and looking forward to discussion about it.

My votes went to :

The Swimmers —Julie Otsuka
Free love—Tessa Hadley
Joan is okay—Weike Wang
Eleutheria—Allegra Hyde
Either/or—Elif Batuman
Lessons in Chemistry—Bonnie Garmus

I chose these because they are the 2022 books I currently have from the library (except Lessons in Chemistry, which is on hold). I’ve only read Eleutheria, which I think would make for a great discussion! I just noticed that I too chose all books written by women.

Huh -- going by us, I'd have said Trust was also assured a spot!

I'm kicking myself for somehow missing both Anthem and Portrait of an Unknown Lady; my method of choosing was clearly flawed. Hopefully, it will all come out in the wash.

And: "In my sifting, I saw that Susanna Clarke (Piranesi) has a new book coming out later this year! The Cistern. Woohoo!"
Woo hoo, indeed!!! In my sifting, I saw that Kevin Wilson (Nothing to See Here) has a new book coming out in November. Fingers crossed that it is good timing for 2023 ToB...

How about TRUST up against THRUST by Lidia Yuknavitch?? har har. Released in June! Between that cover and the description, it sounds like a ToB book to me.

Also, I really do hope that new Susanna Clarke really happens in October!

C wrote: "How about TRUST up against THRUST by Lidia Yuknavitch?? har har. Released in June! Between that cover and the description, it sounds like a ToB book to me."

That cover! Thrust looks fantastic, immediately added it to my TBR.

Trust and Thrust are the two books I'm most excited to read so far this year! I never put the titles side by side before ;)

Lazy Sunday afternoon reading after a morning of gardening with my kiddo. The spouse is taking over entertainment to give me some Mother’s Day R&R time, and I just started Trust this afternoon.

It’s definitely engaging, the writing and construction are genius, very fun read and I know it’ll become much more layered and complex. But it’s not In the Distance yet, at least not for me. (I will say though, I admire that he’s been able to keep me fully absorbed in a novel about ultra rich White folks in NYC!) He’s such a fascinating author, and so careful and clever with his sentences, I’ll read anything he puts out.

The Susanna Clarke book is one of those "I'll believe it when I see a press release" kinda things. It could be that she had a second book underway at the same time as Piranesi, but I've seen the "no really, this book totally exists" Goodreads page a bit too many times.

Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or already read and want to discuss), ..."

I nominated both Memphis and Olga Dies Dreaming.

Heather wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or already read and wan..."

Excellent - I'll stick with those for my votes then!



Also, there are very few people I can complain to about this who will get it, but I had a sad bookish thing happen this past week. I feel like y'all will understand... I was in New Mexico for six days for work and I was already bringing three books in my carry-on-only luggage (and knew I'd be purchasing new books on the trip from local bookstores, I ended up getting nine - oops!) so I opted to leave my book journal at home to save space. While traveling I listened to four audiobooks from the library, and to free up space for holds, I took my notes on them (based on bookmarks made throughout listening) on a sheet of paper then returned them, planning to transfer the notes to my book journal when I got home. I left that paper in a magazine on the plane! :(((

I called Southwest and they said I could fill out a claim form on the website for lost and found, but I'm pretty sure it would have been thrown out. One of the books I took notes on (including my favorite passages) was Memphis, which I really loved. But now I'd need to read all of those books again to get the notes down that I wanted to get, and that's not going to happen. I plan to get a print copy of Memphis if it makes the summer list, but otherwise I can only remember parts of what I loved about it. :/

Anyway, thanks for listening and hope everyone has a good week. :)

Lauren wrote: "Heather wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this summer (or alre..."

I'm belting out a giant, guttural URRRGGGHHH for you :)

Nadine in California wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Heather wrote: "Lauren wrote: "Ok, even though it rarely pays off to be "strategic" when it comes to the ToB... ;) My strategy is to submit six books that I really want to read this ..."

LOL thank you!

Lauren wrote: "...Also, there are very few people I can complain to about this who will get it, but I had a sad bookish thing happen this past week. I feel like y'all will understand... I was in New Mexico for six days for work ..."

OMG, Lauren, I feel your pain! Also, I hope you were in southern New Mexico, well away from these hideous fires!!

Jan wrote: "Lauren wrote: "...Also, there are very few people I can complain to about this who will get it, but I had a sad bookish thing happen this past week. I feel like y'all will understand... I was in Ne..."

Thank you, knew y'all would get it.

I was in ABQ and Santa Fe. The smoke was pretty bad my last night in Santa Fe. So sad for all that's being lost there. :(

So I still haven't submitted my final six choices, if anyone else wants to weigh in with what they chose. Most of my choices would probably be underdogs that I will especially vote for if I see others voting for some underdogs. So far I'm definitely going with A Tiny Upward Shove and End of the world House since I saw a couple people mention those. Also, did most decide NOT to vote for Chouette because it isn't actually a 2022 book? I would have LOVED to discuss that for Camp.

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 
Fire Season - Leyna Krow
Nightcrawling -  Leila Mottley
The Invisible Things - Mat Johnson
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies -  Maddie Mortimer
Thrust - Lidia Yuknavitch 
Woman of Light - Kali Fajardo-Anstine
The Visitors -Jessi Jezewska Stevens  
An Island - Karen Jennings
The Women Could Fly - Megan Giddings

Yes, I have since ADDED to the list.  The list keeps getting longgggerrr. I realize there is a lack of Black novels on this list but that is because I am aware of SO MANY right now... it is so hard to choose.. but that is only an amazing, good thing to have so many options for Black books right now.

These are my nominations based on the Venn diagram of what I want to read & discuss and what I THINK other people might also nominate.

Violetta - Isabel Allende
Sea of Tranquility - Emily St John Mandel
Time is a Mother - Ocean Vuong
The Memory Librarian - Janelle Monae
Goliath - Tochi Onyebuchi
How High We Go in the Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu

C wrote: "So I still haven't submitted my final six choices, if anyone else wants to weigh in with what they chose. Most of my choices would probably be underdogs that I will especially vote for if I see oth..."

The only book I've started from your list is End of the World House, but I ended up DNF'ing it. It wasn't written especially well, was a bit boring and jumbled, and overall did nothing for me. Interesting concept, though.

Thanks for the input, Elizabeth!

From Edie's list I DNF (a rarity for me) How High We Go in the Dark because it was just too too sad for me.

C wrote: "So I still haven't submitted my final six choices, if anyone else wants to weigh in with what they chose. Most of my choices would probably be underdogs that I will especially vote for if I see oth..."

I read The Family Chao. It was entertaining, but I think not as great as many you and others have mentioned. Had a few plot holes you just have to ignore to enjoy it.

I gotta say "Moon Witch, Spider King" turned out to be a major slog. Couldn't recommend it.

The new lists here are tempting me to consider switching a vote to some of these...

-Woman of Light - Kali Fajardo-Anstine (Love this author, I've met her a few times and took a workshop with her in Boulder recently)
-Time is a Mother - Ocean Vuong (Although I'm trying to only nominate books by authors who haven't already had a book in the tournament, but I do have a copy of this one)
-The Memory Librarian - Janelle Monae (I won a giveaway for this one and am about to start it)


Good to know, Kyle. The first one also felt like a slog for me, so I don't think I'll try Moon Witch. :/

Lauren wrote: "-The Memory Librarian - Janelle Monae (I won a giveaway for this one and am about to start it) ..."

Ooh, I'm intrigued by this! Could you please report back on how you like it?

I've seen mixed reviews on Time is a Mother (but of course On Earth had very mixed reviews as well.)