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The longlist is HERE!

I'll turn around and include the list with links in this spot once I've set up a few other folders (GR's limits the # of updates I make/day)

the Longlist:
100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
All's Well by Mona Awad
And Then the Gray Heaven by RE Katz
Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris
Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins
Civilizations by Laurent Binet, trans. by Sam Taylor
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Confession of Copeland Cane by Keenan Norris
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
A Door Behind and Door by Yelena Moskovich
Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Edie Richter is Not Alone by Rebecca Handler
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Fight Night by Miram Toews
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
Hard Like Water by Yan Lianke, trans. by Carlos Rojas
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
History in One Act by william m. arkin
How to Wrestle a Girl:Stories by Venita Blackburn
In Concrete by Anne Garréta trans. by Emma Ramadan
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
Intimicies by Katie Kitamura
Jaguars� Tomb by Angelica Gorodischer trans by Amalia Gladhart
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Last Summer in the City by Gianfranco Calligarich trans. by Howard Curtis
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright
Matrix by Lauren Groff
Maxwell’s Demon by Steven Hall
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Nervous System by Lina Meruane, trans. by Megan McDowell
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart
Outlawed by Anna North
Picnic in the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen
Popisho by Leone Ross
The Promise by Damon Galgut
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
second place by Rachel Cusk
The Sentence by Louis Erdrich
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
Shaky Town by Lou Mathews
The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate
Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman
The Space Between Two Deaths by Jamie Yourdon
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Subdivision by J. Robert Lennon
The Trees by Percival Everett
Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev, trans. by Antonina W. Bouis
Wayward by Dana Spiotta
We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, trans. by Adrian Nathan West
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, trans. by Lucy North

I read Edie Richter is Not Alone, which is one of the ones on the list that I hadn't heard of before last week.

I really enjoyed it. Read the whole thing in a day because I couldn't put it down. I would love to hear other folks' reactions. It's a quick read and I got it through Hoopla from my library.

Currently reading Nightbitch, which was already on my tbr, but it is BLOWING ME AWAY.

Finishing both A Door Behind A Door and A Spindle Splintered today. Door was...interesting and confusing, in a David Lynch/Brand New Cherry Flavor way. Spindle is an odd one, a sort of YA novella that mostly gets away with the sci-fi stuff w/o much explanation/reason. I found the Fairy Tale aspect more intriguing, particularly our narrator's course of study at college. It's fun book. I did that one on audio so I missed the illustrations.

3 down, 19,752 pages to go....

(so far, I've liked all three, so by induction, this will be the best tournament ever.)

If I read 10 hours a week, I'll be done right after the 4th of July.

I'm out there on Instagram, trying to get #tob22 started again.

Heidi wrote: "Currently reading Nightbitch, which was already on my tbr, but it is BLOWING ME AWAY."

Was I the only person who really didn't like Nightbitch?

Elizabeth wrote: "Was I the only person who really didn't like Nightbitch?"

One thing that stands out about it for me is that it's nearly entirely written in a third-person interior monologue, interrupted only now and then by small interludes of dialog. if you don't buy into the voice and feel comfortable inhabiting that mind (I did!) then it will be a less comfortable read.

I read your review, and saw you had a negative reaction to the cat scene. So many people mention it in their reviews. It's really just one long paragraph (on p. 153, in case people want to skip the intestinal detail) of the protagonist behaving like a dog would behave after it has caught a cat. I've noticed generally in goodreads reviews, though, that a little goes a VERY long way when it comes to animal death.

lark wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Was I the only person who really didn't like Nightbitch?"

One thing that stands out about it for me is that it's nearly entirely written in a third-person interior monologue, int..."

Hmmm, I don't even think it was the voice. I really liked Yoder's writing, and I'd definitely look at anything else she writes. And I really liked the first hour or two of the audio. But the story was starting to feel really repetitive to me.

If I was enjoying the novel by the time I reached the cat scene, I might have been able to get past it and see what was on the other side. But by then I felt like the book just wasn't telling me anything new, I was actually almost bored! And then her inclusion of so much horrific detail in the cat scene, it just felt gratuitous to me. I mean, I had enough advance warning by the time it happened that I could have (should have) skipped ahead, but somehow I had no idea she'd go that far.

I jumped in alphabetically so I have 100 Boyfriends on hold for me at the library, and just finished Afterparties. I've accidentally frontloaded with queer titles, especially since I was listening to Matrix when the list was announced.

Afterparties is very strong in voice, stories flirting between Cambodian American characters in Stockton, CA. A lot about family, identity, and the generational difference (one coming from a genocide, one being lazy in the suburbs.)

So I get to the end of these stories and start reading the acknowledgements, blown away by who he had as teachers and how many of his stories were published in major literary mags, and then at the very end they use past tense because he died in 2020.

The story about the author is as captivating as his stories...

I liked Nightbitch but wasn't as taken by it as I expected. For me (Cat scene aside which yes, was pretty well telegraphed in advance), it didn't go far enough. I thought the synthesis at the end was a bit of a let down.

Elizabeth wrote: "lark wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Was I the only person who really didn't like Nightbitch?"

I can definitely see it being polarizing, but I can't put it down (reading in paper, if people are comparing audio vs visual reading suggestions). There's something about the monotony of the mother's life with her son that that repetition really drills into your brain. I read The Harpy last year and was a bit disappointed, but now keep thinking that Nightbitch is what I hoped The Harpy would be. So full of transformative maternal rage.

And I should say, I've not gotten to the cat scene yet and, though I am an adoring cat parent, animal cruelty on the page doesn't run my red flags up like it does for many others

Elizabeth wrote: "Heidi wrote: "Currently reading Nightbitch, which was already on my tbr, but it is BLOWING ME AWAY."

Was I the only person who really didn't like Nightbitch?"

I confess that the description does not fill me with ... positive anticipation. But, perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised ....

I just picked up Civilizations and Matrix at the library! I am a few days out from being able to start either one, though.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I jumped in alphabetically so I have 100 Boyfriends on hold for me at the library, and just finished Afterparties. I've accidentally frontloaded with queer titles, e..."

I'm reading it now. Agree about the voice. Also - I knew little to nothing about the Cambodian American community in Central California. I recognize that this author's is but one perspective, but it is one more than I had before I started reading these stories.

And, yes, the Syracuse MFA program is loaded with great talent.

@Kyle I’m following the #tob22 hashtag on Instagram - thank you!

@Jenny your comment is hilarious, it sounds like you have 100 boyfriends on hold at the library. You’re going to be busy!

I just finished A Calling For Charlie Barnes and loved it! For anyone who might be interested in listening, the audio version is excellent, Nick Offerman is the reader and he does a great job.

Karin wrote: "@Kyle I’m following the #tob22 hashtag on Instagram - thank you!

@Jenny your comment is hilarious, it sounds like you have 100 boyfriends on hold at the library. You’re going to be busy!"

As busy as a woman can be with 100 gay boyfriends, I suppose. And the author is from Oakland! .. just Googled distance between Stockton and Oakland, just an hour or so. (Afterparties being set in Stockton)...

Also Bronez Purnell founded a dance company?

Kim wrote: "I just finished A Calling For Charlie Barnes and loved it! For anyone who might be interested in listening, the audio version is excellent, Nick Offerman is the reader and he does a great job."

awesome. Thanks. I just came here to ask if there were any particularly good audiobooks on the list.

Second Place is a good short audiobook.

five mins into Intimacies and it sounds like it's being read by a computer.

Jason wrote: "Kim wrote: "I just finished A Calling For Charlie Barnes and loved it! For anyone who might be interested in listening, the audio version is excellent, Nick Offerman is the reader and he does a gre..."

I really liked The Promise and Cloud Cuckoo Land on audio, and Nightbitch was really well done (even if I didn't like the book.)

I listened to Splintered Spindle and that was a good, quick audiobook. Started Last Summer in the City and so far sounds like a monotone Librivox recording from the 80s.

Jason wrote: ".awesome. Thanks. I just came here to ask if there were any particularly good audiobooks on the list.."

The Calvin Kalsuke is great in audio!!!

I can't recommend the Shteyngart in audio..I started it and it was the kind of voice that I just tune out.

The Book of Form and Emptiness is also great on audio, based on my first few hours of listening . Really enjoyed Fight Night on audio as well!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Jason wrote: ".awesome. Thanks. I just came here to ask if there were any particularly good audiobooks on the list.."

The Calvin Kalsuke is great in audio!!!
"

This is baffling to me given the whole "the whole book is in slack channel format" premise. I would have expected it to be very awkward.

Simms wrote: "This is baffling to me given the whole "the whole book is in slack channel format" premise. I would have expected it to be very awkward.

Yeah but NO! It's like a performance.

Hell of a Book has been incredible on audio so far. Harlem Shuffle is read by Dion Graham, who is the GOAT.

Joshua Ferris is a comedic genius. It's not exactly a ToB kinda book, but I haven't enjoyed anything this much in a long time.

Jason, I felt the same exact way!

I liked both Harlem Shuffle and Cloud Cuckoo Land on audio. I just recommended the latter to a patron who had trouble getting into/following the book in print. I told her to give it a little time; I had to listen to the opening bit several time before I got the gist.

Ellen wrote: "I liked both Harlem Shuffle and Cloud Cuckoo Land on audio. I just recommended the latter to a patron who had trouble getting into/following the book in print. I told her to give it a little time; ..."

That is always good to know Ellen. I think sometimes I give up on books too easily.

I'm the opposite. I hold on like grim death. It's so rare for me to not finish a book, and it always makes me feel like a failure when I can't (I'm looking at YOU, Marlon James). I so admire those of you who can walk away.

I just finished Infinite Country, which is lovely.

Fair warning to others deeply upset by violence against cats: there is one (very short but still upsetting) incident in chapter one.

Ellen wrote: "I'm the opposite. I hold on like grim death. It's so rare for me to not finish a book, and it always makes me feel like a failure when I can't (I'm looking at YOU, Marlon James). I so admire those ..."

The ToB Commentariat has been immensely helpful to me with this. I cannot remember to whom to give the credit for this suggestion, but one of our fellow bibliophiles said that she subtracts her age from 100, and that is the number of pages each year that she gives a new book to captivate her; if not by then - she "nopes out".
I can't quite get myself to that sensible place, but I have decreased my "hook me" page allowance from 100 pages to 75. (I will probably stick at this number for awhile, given that the 75 page mark is about when "Piranesi" began to enchant me, and it turned out to be one of my favorites.)

Risa wrote: "Ellen wrote: "I'm the opposite. I hold on like grim death. It's so rare for me to not finish a book, and it always makes me feel like a failure when I can't (I'm looking at YOU, Marlon James). I so..."

While I am not the one who said it, but that particular advise comes from librarian Nancy Pearl. I personally stick to 50 pages before noping out.

I finished the Franzen today, and I think it was pretty good, but I'm not going to be heartbroken if it doesn't make it onto the shortlist. On to my library holds - I've got Opal and Nev, Popisho, and Outlawed.

Risa wrote: " I have decreased my "hook me" page allowance from 100 pages to 75...."

For a non-tournament book, my threshold can be pretty low, but for a ToB book, I consider myself a completist with an asterisk if I get to 50% before I give up on a book.

I'm currently making my way through the audiobook Caul Baby. It also works pretty well in that format.

Rachel wrote: "I'm currently making my way through the audiobook Caul Baby. It also works pretty well in that format."

I've stalled out about a 1/3 into the audiobook. Something about it isn't working for me.

Tim wrote: "Risa wrote: " I have decreased my "hook me" page allowance from 100 pages to 75...."

For a non-tournament book, my threshold can be pretty low, but for a ToB book, I consider myself a completist w..."

That's a good adjustment, Tim. I do like to be a completist, though, if that mega-tome about 9/11 makes the shortlist, I'm not sure I will make it as a completist this year.

Jason wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I'm currently making my way through the audiobook Caul Baby. It also works pretty well in that format."

I've stalled out about a 1/3 into the audiobook. Something ab..."

I'm reading it now. I loved the first 1/3, but the middle 1/3 is bogging down for me. I am going to stick with it to the end because I liked the beginning.

Risa wrote: "Jason wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I'm currently making my way through the audiobook Caul Baby. It also works pretty well in that format."

I've stalled out about a 1/3 into the audiobook..."

I had the same experience a few months ago, it was a DNF for me, unless it makes the long list and someone here tells me it gets better. I loved the idea of the story so much, and started out thinking I'd love it, but there were issues with the writing, and I kept feeling like there was something missing...I forced myself on for a bit, but stopped because I was getting annoyed with it. (That's when I know it's time to give up on a book, when I start getting annoyed.)

Re when to bail on a book, I will almost always stick with a book once I’ve made the decision to start it. I guess I’m an optimist, but I tend to hold out hope that the book will redeem itself…or I’m curious about how the story will conclude.

I love quitting books. John Mulaney said "cancelling plans is like heroin." Quitting books is that same instant relief but for TBR anxiety.

the only TOB book I gave up on was Overthrow....

Kyle wrote: "the only TOB book I gave up on was Overthrow...."

I wish to God I had done so!

E-reader people, is the kindle fire a good reading experience?

I have a paperwhite (which I rarely use because I prefer physical books) but several of the books this year are available from my library only via Hoopla, so I can't access them on the paperwhite, and reading them on my phone is *not satisfying.* I'm realizing that I want to take more advantage of the digital options from my library, and a fire seems to be able to sync with all the services that they use, but I don't want to get one if it's not a good reading experience.

Sorry for going off topic... but this is a longlist post because it's the availability of the longlist that is pushing me down this path. ;-)

Maggie wrote: "E-reader people, is the kindle fire a good reading experience?

I have a paperwhite (which I rarely use because I prefer physical books) but several of the books this year are available from my li..."

My daughter has an old Fire, which she uses only for reading. I don't like it as much as the Paperwhite, but the screen is pretty good, and it's close in size to a paperback. Definitely better than a phone or a computer screen. (I wish they'd make Hoopla Kindle compatible, though!)

Risa wrote: "Kyle wrote: "the only TOB book I gave up on was Overthrow...."

I wish to God I had done so!"

Oh, me, too. Several reading days I'll never get back.

Maggie wrote: "E-reader people, is the kindle fire a good reading experience?"

I used to have a Fire and would never get another. Honestly, it was OK as an e-reader, I suppose; no better or worse than the Kindle app on any other basic tablet. Probably not surprising that it wasn't much good outside due to glare.

But my experience was that apps worked poorly. Since it's not iOS and not *really* Android, apps have to come from the Amazon app store and don't quite work and/or aren't updated to keep pace with the FireOS updates. I never used Hoopla specifically, but I found even Amazon Music, on the Amazon Fire, didn't work like it should. I replaced mine with a cheap Android tablet and am much happier.