It’s the time of year when one finally clicks the x on the many open browser tabs full of Best of the Year book lists and then opens twice as many more Anticipated Books of the Year pages. My virtual TBR pile is growing at rates I will never realistically be able to tackle. Lists from BookRiot, LitHub, the Millions, and LGBTQ+ Reads have my lists and my ambitions (and me) spiraling out of control.
My reading plans almost never remain static throughout the year; I’m too moody for that. But the beginning of the year always finds me chipping away at the shortlist for the Tournament of Books from The Morning News - an annual tradition that once meant to acknowledge the absurdity of awards bodies purporting to pick out the best book of the year that has grown into the internet’s best comment section for book criticism. The list routinely unearths gems I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up, as well as one or two that will end up being my least favorite reads of the year. That’s the fun of it, I guess - you just never know! My favorite never wins, but the conversation and community are unparalleled.
A couple of the books below (that I wouldn’t have ever picked up) are from the list. They’re joined by a wistful, Texan Golden Girls homage.
If you’ve got opinions about what I should read this year, let me know!
THE LIBRARY IS OPEN
Manhunt
by Gretchen Felker-Martin (2022)
No, this book is not the oral history of the famous hook up site for men from the early 2000s - bless its eternal memory - but it’s an apocalyptic adventure novel about trans* folks on the run after a viral disease that turns folks with testosterone into feral monsters invades the world. On T-Day, as it’s memorialized, a virus attacks all human vessels for testosterone and transforms them into bloodthirsty monsters who stop at nothing to attack their prey. Worse than that, in the wake of the pandemic, camps of cis women assemble in TERF colonies and set out to eradicate trans folks once and for all. In order to make sure that they themselves don’t meet a similar fate as their AMAB counterparts, they spend their days in community in former New England harvesting men’s organs to distill their hormones and ensure they won’t meet a similar fate.
Yikes. So much is going on here. Our trans heroes/heroines are outrunning men, TERFs, and their own pasts all at the same time. If you’re the kind of person who loves gore, graphic sex, and more gore, then this book is for you. I’m not! There were moments in this book when I had no idea what was happening - that’s probably my own fault. But I’m still glad I picked this up for a couple reasons. To wit: you just don’t find complicated moments of conflict and tenderness among trans folks like this in books very often. Very rarely has a thesis indicting the evil nature of TERFs been so pronounced. The narrative - like its protagonists - pulls absolutely no punches. The concept is bananas, and we need more bananas lit in 2023.
Not everything about this worked for me, but who cares? It’s a thrill to start the year being forced out of my comfort zone. Maybe you need that too?
My Volcano
by John Elizabeth Stintzi (2022)
Speaking of bananas lit, My Volcano starts when a jogger who can barely be bothered to care spots what may be a breached whale in a lake in Central Park. She runs away without knowing that it’s actually much weirder than that. A volcano has started to form there, and by the time it’s finished, its peak will have ascended to 2.5 miles in the air effectively disrupting everything around it for miles.
That not all that’s awry in the world in 2016 though (eyes emoji). The books threads an intense amount of sometimes-connected narratives as the volcano emerges. Such as:
an 8-year old Mexican boy is transported back to ancient Aztec times to chill with indigenous tribes as colonization begins
a New Jersey trans writer struggles to write a novel while a volcano emerges across the river
a Nigerian scholar who studies volcanic folks takes and his volcanologist girlfriend can’t meaningfully connect outside of live cam voyeurism
a Mongolian nomad becomes a sentient, growing patch of greenery that longs to pull all living things into its consciousness
chapter breaks that list real-life extrajudicial murders, including the names of everyone who died at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub.
This book is surreal, chaotic, politically astute, queer-sensible, and highly symbolic. (What other earth shaking entities came out of NYC in 2016?) The author describes it as “doomscrolling in novel form,” but “with more heart than the algorithm.” My Volcano doesn’t have much to offer by way of of plot or tidy endings, but it’s a difficult read that makes you work and rewards you with beautiful imagery. I’m still thinking about this one just about everyday since I put it down.
A very quick friend book interlude.
The Case for Cancel Culture
by Ernest Owens (2023)
I can’t believe I have friends who write books! So when they do, I feel like I need to let you know about them. This one won’t be released until March 2023, but I got a sneak preview since we run in the same Philadelphia leadership circles. The Case for Cancel Culture, which acts as a survey of the history of protest and how the spirit of holding entities accountable has always been a vital part of the American project, is definitely going to be causing some conversation. That’s the author’s speciality. I’m excited for the discussion that’s to come as folks see cancelation through the lens of the marginalized and activist communities. The book is a fun, informative intersection of history and pop culture, and I flew through it.
The Old Place
by Bobby Finger (2022)
Like many, I suspect, I picked up this one because I’m an avid listener of the podcast that the author co-hosts: Who Weekly, everything you need to know about the celebrities you don’t. Wholigans unite! If you’re picking up the book expecting the same madcap, sardonic tone as that podcast, you might be disappointed. But this book is very much worth reading as a sad, wistful look at aging, family secrets, small towns, and how we maintain friendships as we grow old. Plus, you can tell that the author/host is a big fan of the Golden Girls because there’s so much lanai culture imprinted on the dialogue of the ladies of a certain age that this book celebrates.
Mary Alice Roth, a widowed spinster forged in the Zbornak tradition, lives in rural Texas and has just rekindled a friendship with her neighbor, Ellie. They both lost their sons at the same time many years ago and are still navigating their ways out of the deep grief that comes along with losing a child. Mary Alice has also been marginalized out of her teaching position where for 40 years she was the math teacher who raised everyone in the small town of Billington to respect and fear her. As she begins to make life difficult for her replacement, a city slicker from up north, her estranged sister arrives with explosive news that will change all their lives.
I won’t tell you what that is, but I gasped. I had the rug pulled out from under me. This book is SAD, but it ends in a hopeful place. There are also queer elements and light humor throughout. I’d recommend picking it up but keeping your kleenex near. Mary Alice would surely reprimand you if you cried AND made a mess.
LIGHTNING ROUND - Tournament of Books Winners Edition
Maybe you’re in the mood for a formally inventive novel about how we undervalue Asian representation as we root for Everything Everywhere All At Once to clean up Oscar nominations?
Maybe you’re in the mood to have the shit scared out of you in an aptly named novel that feels like a Fever Dream?
Wait, have you ever read the multi-genre, matryoshka doll novel that kicked off the parade of the winners in the first place?
Until next time….happy reading!
ALSO. I think Manhunt is going to get so much criticism in the TOB this year. I am already sharpening my sword to be its champion.
I love that you are plugging Interior Chinatown for fans of Everything Everywhere All at Once! That's a great recommendation.