Tournament of Books discussion

C wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I think Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder might be a fun read for 2022. Lark, I know you've read this one already."

Yes, Nightbitch seems to me like it has To..."

Wow! And it sounds so good. Chouette that is.

C wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I think Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder might be a fun read for 2022. Lark, I know you've read this one already."

Yes, Nightbitch seems to me like it has To..."

Wow - congrats Lark!!! That is so exciting. And I had actually already seen Chouette on a list somewhere so it was on my "want to read" shelf and I believe I just entered the giveaway for it yesterday. What a huge accomplishment!

Well, gosh. I've been extremely nervous about if/how/when to mention my book news in my beloved GR groups, and now the problem is solved for TOB!

lark benobi wrote: "Well, gosh. I've been extremely nervous about if/how/when to mention my book news in my beloved GR groups, and now the problem is solved for TOB!"

Oh no! I hope I didn't overstep!

C wrote: "Oh no! I hope I didn't overstep!"

Absolutely not! I've been wanting to say omg-i'm-getting-a-book-published for a while here now, but it's probably impossible to share this news without sliding into spammy-bad-author territory...also I've been wanting to say that there is no way I would have written this book, or any book, without being part of this group and a few others on goodreads where we've been obsessing together for years about contemporary fiction and how it works.

lark benobi wrote: "C wrote: "Oh no! I hope I didn't overstep!"

Absolutely not! I've been wanting to say omg-i'm-getting-a-book-published for a while here now, but it's probably impossible to share this news without ..."

Well I think that was all you needed to say. And not spammy at all. I'm sure everyone in the ToB crew would be only 1000% supportive. :D

Thanks, C.

Congratulations Lark!

Congrats!

I'm searching but I see no one started a voteable 2022 goodreads tournament picks list yet...

Lark, this is so exciting! Congratulations!!

lark benobi wrote: "C wrote: "Oh no! I hope I didn't overstep!"

Absolutely not! I've been wanting to say omg-i'm-getting-a-book-published for a while here now, but it's probably impossible to share this news without ..."

It would be spammy if you had never participated in conversations here before but then just dropped in asking us to buy the book. That's clearly not the situation here, so we are definitely a space to celebrate this achievement with you! How long did it take to write? Have things been going well with your agent and publisher? Let us know if you'll have any book tour events to check out!

C wrote: "I'm searching but I see no one started a voteable 2022 goodreads tournament picks list yet..."

I don't know how to start those lists, but if you want to, we can all add books to it. :)

Lauren wrote: "C wrote: "I'm searching but I see no one started a voteable 2022 goodreads tournament picks list yet..."

I don't know how to start those lists, but if you want to, we can all add books to it. :)"

Yeah, I don't know how to either, usually someone else starts it.. I'm just the one who asks about it until a list is started. :D

Here is a list!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

lark benobi wrote: "Here is a list!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1..."

AH thank you! :D

Lauren wrote: "How long did it take to write? Have things been going well with your agent and publisher? Let us know if you'll have any book tour events to check out!..."

Lauren I feel super shy about talking about this book. I guess I need to get over that eventually. It could be I'm feeling it more because I'm autistic--actually the most stressful part of the process so far has been whether/how to share my disability as part of my public-facing, author-self.

My agent and publisher are swoony-great to work with. Probably there won't be any book tour or public events, though--Harper Collins and all its imprints have a covid policy in place, so far at least, of not having any in-person events in 2021.

In general I feel like the rat in "Ratatouille" who read Anyone Can Cook by Auguste Gusteau and decided to give it a go.

C wrote: "AH thank you! :D"

I voted!

That was a thrill.

Wow, lark, many congratulations to you on the new book! I can't wait to read it!

Congratulations again, Lark! Goodnreads told me last week that there was a giveaway, so I knew the pub date must be getting closer. I can't wait to read it!

Re: the list, the books added so far look so interesting! I don't know that I've read anything TOB-worthy yet this year (including the summer contenders. Sigh.) But there are some fascinating looking books, and a handful of favorite authors, coming up in the next few months.

I'm now reading The Other Black Girl. After a slow beginning, it's been a really fun read, and so interesting to see everything it's saying about race in the publishing industry.

I voted for the outstanding books in translation I've read so far this year--even though I'm not sure I've mentioned any of them yet in this thread!

Cursed Bunny
The Child
In Memory of Memory
Heaven

I seem to have a distinction in my head between "books that feel like TOB books" vs. "books that I'd love to see in the TOB." These 4 are the second kind of book.

lark benobi wrote: "Lauren wrote: "How long did it take to write? Have things been going well with your agent and publisher? Let us know if you'll have any book tour events to check out!..."

Lauren I feel super shy a..."

Totally understand. I hope everyone is respectful to your wishes on speaking to your disability as much or little as you prefer.

That's great to hear about your experience so far - if they're not planning virtual book events and you'd like to try it out, I'm happy to help with that. :)

Elizabeth wrote: "Congratulations again, Lark! Goodnreads told me last week that there was a giveaway, so I knew the pub date must be getting closer. I can't wait to read it!

Re: the list, the books added so far lo..."

I'm also reading The Other Black Girl! It's getting twisty and I'm trying to keep it all straight at this point (which is harder on audio) but I'm enjoying it!

lark benobi wrote: "I voted for the outstanding books in translation I've read so far this year--even though I'm not sure I've mentioned any of them yet in this thread!

Cursed Bunny
[book:The Child|56..."

Thanks for sharing these! Considering one of these authors has already made it in the ToB I think they all could have a chance. :)

Is Love and Other Thought Experiments eligible for 2022 TOB? It was in last years Booker long list. It’s being published in the US this September. I like the title and I will read it in the fall.

Bryn wrote: "Is Love and Other Thought Experiments eligible for 2022 TOB? It was in last years Booker long list. It’s being published in the US this September. I like the title and I will read it in the fall."

That was a fun book and has a lot of discussability!

I just read in the New Yorker that Rosecrans Baldwin has a new book out! Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles. I admittedly haven't read any of his previous books, but it was cool to see a familiar TOB name in the New Yorker!

Bretnie wrote: "I just read in the New Yorker that Rosecrans Baldwin has a new book out! Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles. I admittedly haven't read any of his previous bo..."

He was in LitHub’s most anticipated too!!

Previous ToB authors Anthony Doerr, Richard Powers, and Sarah Rooney all have books coming out in September 2021. Jonathan Lee has a new one as well, The Great Mistake.

Mike wrote: "Previous ToB authors Anthony Doerr, Richard Powers, and Sarah Rooney all have books coming out in September 2021. Jonathan Lee has a new one as well, The Great Mistake."

Gotta make a pitch for my fave author Percival Everett, who has The Trees coming out in September 2021.

Don’t forget: new 600+ pages of Franzen coming soon too

Bob wrote: "Don’t forget: new 600+ pages of Franzen coming soon too"

Please, no.

Esther Freud has a new one, I Couldn't Love You More, that I loved.

Franzen, when good, is great. When not good, he's pretty damn bad.

I'll wait on reviews to see whether I should check his new one out.

Phyllis wrote: "Mike wrote: "Previous ToB authors Anthony Doerr, Richard Powers, and Sarah Rooney all have books coming out in September 2021. Jonathan Lee has a new one as well, The Great Mistake."

Gotta make a ..."

I saw that last night - sounds like a tough read but worthwhile!

Wasn't Egan supposed to have a book coming out in October? I saw this on LitHub, and somewhere else as well, but I can't find anything about it.

Elizabeth wrote: "Wasn't Egan supposed to have a book coming out in October? I saw this on LitHub, and somewhere else as well, but I can't find anything about it."

There was supposed to a book from Egan with another title, but now it looks like there is a book with characters from 'Goon Squad' coming out in April called 'The Candy House'. Not sure what happened to the one that was supposed to be this year, maybe it's the same book with a different title?

C wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Wasn't Egan supposed to have a book coming out in October? I saw this on LitHub, and somewhere else as well, but I can't find anything about it."

There was supposed to a book fro..."

Ah, thanks, here it is: The Candy House

It still says October (and even has a review) but obviously that’s not happening. I reread Goon Squad for Favorites, and liked it much more the second time around (it even made me cry), so I’ll be looking forward to seeing what she does here.

Bob wrote: "Don’t forget: new 600+ pages of Franzen coming soon too"

I've been Franzen free since 2011 and haven't looked back.

Lauren Groff and Ruth Ozeki also have books coming this fall. We will all be (pleasantly) swamped.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Bob wrote: "Don’t forget: new 600+ pages of Franzen coming soon too"

I've been Franzen free since 2011 and haven't looked back."

Ha ha, me too, almost. In a fit of temporary insanity I bought a Kindle edition of Purity for 99 cents in 2016. I'd feel better about myself if I had used that moment to run down the street naked and screaming ;)

FYI: Just the learned the Franzen is the first of a planned Trilogy called A Key to All Mythologies. Oh, god, I'm probably gonna read them.

Thoughts on the Booker longlist? I'll add mine below, but feel free to challenge me on any of the ones I'm not rooting for...

-A Passage North, Anuk Arudpragasam - I just got the audio version of this one from the library and hope it works in that format. It sounds fascinating; I love books that take place in countries I otherwise don't know too much about.

-Second Place, Rachel Cusk - I don't know, I might get to this one but it's not calling to me too strongly.

-The Promise, Damon Galgut - I have my reservations about reading white South Africans (similar to white folks/colonizers in the Americas, like me though, oops!) so I'm nervous about how the author will grapple with the racism aspect of this story, but I'm hoping that's done well.

-The Sweetness of Water, Nathan Harris - YES. I started listening to this a few weeks ago and 30 minutes in decided I HAVE to read this one in print to savor every word. So excited to see this on the list!

-Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro - Meh, we've talked about this one already and while it ended up being a four-star read for me I feel like the author has won enough awards.

-An Island, Karen Jennings - Another white South African; where are the books from Black South Africans? I need to find those. Recommendations welcome! I am slightly intrigued by the description though.

-A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson - I haven't heard anything about this one yet and it came out February. Has anyone else heard of this one?

-No One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood - Another meh. We've covered this one and I'm surprised to see it here.

-The Fortune Men, Nadifa Mohamed - I hadn't heard of this one yet either, but I'm intrigued!

-Bewilderment, Richard Powers - Meh, he's already won plenty of awards. At least this one is much shorter than The Overstory though.

-China Room, Sunjeev Sahota - I also have this one checked out on audio. Fingers crossed it works out!

-Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead - I started listening to this and stopped because of some questionable content. It sounds like it wasn't what I was thinking, so I might come back to this, but I'd probably need the prompting of it being on the ToB longlist to make it happen since it's a long one.

-Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford - I hadn't heard of this one and London is low on my list of interesting settings, but I'll keep an open mind if I hear folks here like it.

Overall I have a major frustration with awards (especially big ones like this) including already-super-accomplished-and-successful writers like a good chunk of the ones on this list. Awards for newer/less famous writers can make their career and help them afford to write full time (if that's what they want). I'll always be cheering for those nominees with these things, but I have a feeling the literary world (the business/awards/publishing side of things) doesn't necessarily function the way I'd like it to. ;)

I was disappointed that I hadn't read more of the longlist...only 2. I guess the Richard Powers is the only one that is not yet published but I'd like to make a sizable dent in the list before the shortlist is announced. The time between the Booker longlist and the Booker shortlist is too short.

@Lauren, I’m traveling and can’t respond to your full thoughts on the Booker long list (which I enjoyed reading, btw)…but I gotta urge you to keep an open mind about Light Perpetual. I haven’t read it yet, but am very much looking forward to it based on how interesting and different I found Spufford’s earlier book, whose title was something like Golden Hill. Just my $0.02 worth. :-)

Jan wrote: "@Lauren, I’m traveling and can’t respond to your full thoughts on the Booker long list (which I enjoyed reading, btw)…but I gotta urge you to keep an open mind about Light Perpetual. I haven’t read..."

Will do - thanks for sharing the recommendation!

Lauren, have the "TOB POB" ever defined the date-and-where-its-published eligibility rules for the books they pick?

The Booker prize for instance is only open to books that have a UK or Irish publisher in the year a book is nominated. And I don't think every Booker nominee this year has a U.S. publisher, but I'm not sure if that's a requirement for TOB or not.

After the year when Oreo made the shortlist I began to think the rule is "whatever we at The Morning News want the rule to be this year" but maybe they've clarified at some point.

On the "About" page it's not completely spelled out as far as I can tell:

https://themorningnews.org/tob/2018/h...

lark wrote: "Lauren, have the "TOB POB" ever defined the date-and-where-its-published eligibility rules for the books they pick?

The Booker prize for instance is only open to books that have a UK or Irish pub..."

Good question. I don't remember the details of what can be included in the ToB's list but I think that's been explained somewhere in this group, so hopefully whoever knows that can chime in. :)

I meant to do this at the halfway mark for the year... just one month late. ;)

Here are the four and five-star reads I've had for 2021-published novels so far this year. I'd recommend all of these and hope to see them on the longlist!

What Strange Paradise I just finished this today and it was incredibly relevant in a moving way. I'd rank this high on the "important" side of things.

Ghost Forest This had an autofiction feel to it, but it showed some great father-daughter relationship building.

Bolla Oof, this was a lot. A pretty unlikeable protagonist, but I think "likeable" is starting to be overrated, right? ;) Your heart will hurt with this story but mostly in a good way.

At the Edge of the Haight We need a lot more homelessness representation in literature. While this isn't an "own voices" book, the author does a pretty good job with the issue.

Tomorrow They Won't Dare to Murder Us Short and sad, but I appreciated learning about the historical issue connected to the person this story was based on.

Bewilderness Another sad story, but I liked the strong friendship focus.

Skye Falling I'm not sure if this will be "literary" enough (whatever that means, haha) but it was so fun. The protagonist was fantastically flawed and it had me laughing out loud. Excellent for "light summer reading" if you're into that. ;)

Filthy Animals The short stories here were connected enough to almost feel like a novel. It felt similar to Real Life, but I still enjoyed it.

The Atmospherians I met the author recently and this is a fun wild story that really digs at gender in a unique way.

The Chosen and the Beautiful I would have preferred more queer and Asian, but I think it's still worth discussing.

Ace of Spades Wow, this was a trip. I don't want to say too much, but I recommend this.

The Other Black Girl Similar themes to Ace of Spades, but still enough differences to make it worth it to read both!

Home Is Not a Country I'm not sure if this would count, but it's powerful.

The Plot I don't love myster/thriller but this one worked pretty well.

The Man Who Lived Underground Do they include post-humous books? If so this one should be on the list!

The Vietri Project This was a pretty unique idea and I learned some things so I always appreciate that.

Who Is Maud Dixon? I think I could very easily mix this up with The Plot (above) but I gave it four stars so...

How to Order the Universe Oh I LOVED this one! Such a unique short and quiet story. Highly recommend.

Libertie I didn't love the direction of the story, but it was still worth reading.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev This reminded me of Daisy Jones and the Six but I enjoyed this one more.

Firekeeper's Daughter This has had a ton of buzz this year and I'd love to see more Indigenous authors on the list.

What's Mine and Yours I don't remember the details of this one, but I enjoyed it at the time.

How Beautiful We Were I got lost in parts of the audio on this one, but it would definitely spark great discussion.

Infinite Country So sad this didn't make our summer camp list! I want to read it again.

My Brilliant Life Short and sad, but still worth it?

The Kindest Lie I think I get this one confused with What's Mine... but I enjoyed this too.

The Rib King I could see this sparking excellent conversation. I'd read it a second time.

No Heaven for Good Boys Tough story but worthwhile.

One of the Good Ones I'm a fan of this sister-author team! Gripping YA story here.

Ok sorry for this long list, but I welcome the same from others who've found some gems already this year.

Lauren wrote: "I meant to do this at the halfway mark for the year... just one month late. ;)

Here are the four and five-star reads I've had for 2021-published novels so far this year. I'd recommend all of these..."

Thanks for this! I don't think I have read much from 2021 yet this year that wasn't for Camp ToB. I really liked 'Ghost Forest' though. 'Creatures of Passage' is also really good. However, I think The Son of Good Fortune and A Particular Kind of Black Man aren't from 2021 so aren't eligible for ToB.

C wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I meant to do this at the halfway mark for the year... just one month late. ;)

Here are the four and five-star reads I've had for 2021-published novels so far this year. I'd recomme..."

Thanks for catching that; I deleted those two. And Creatures of Passage sounds great!