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Home » The Bookwoman Blog » 2022 Great Group Reads Press Release

2022 Great Group Reads Press Release

The 2022 Great Group Reads Announcement

NEW YORK — September 28, 2022 — The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) is proud to announce its 2022 Great Group Reads list. The annual list features 20 books that were chosen by a reading committee of 46 readers out of hundreds of submissions. The books were chosen for literary merit and for their ability to promote meaningful discussions.

Since its creation in 2009, Great Group Reads (GGR) has served as a resource that promotes shared reading. Reading groups, individual facilitators, educators, bookstores and libraries use the lists to recommend books, pick selections for book clubs and classes and find books from small, independent, or university presses or mid-list books from large publishers that may otherwise have been missed.

“Every year it is a privilege to be able to read and work on the list of books that the Great Group Reads selection committee chooses. This year’s list should offer readers, especially book clubs of all sorts, wonderful reading experiences that will take them out of their own meeting spaces and into the lives and experiences of other people, down the street, across the country, across oceans and across time. The list is an outstanding selection of well-written works that will broaden understanding, foster empathy, and engender thoughtful consideration,” said Kristen Knox, GGR chair.

Between February and July, the GGR selection committee reads the books submitted by publishers. Books must be literary fiction or memoir, written in or translated into English and published between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 to be eligible.

The books on this year’s list are set in at least eight different countries, dozens of states and various time periods. They address personal and global issues. This year’s list also had several firsts:

• 13 books by independent or small presses and 2 books by university presses

• 10 books by presses or imprints that have never before had a book selected

• 4 short story collections

• 3 books with co-authors, 2 of which are memoir

The 2022 Great Group Reads list and marketing materials will be sent to bookstores, libraries, and book clubs across the United States. The list will be distributed at book festivals throughout the upcoming year. Over the next year and beyond, the WNBA will conduct interviews and host events with the books’ authors to provide the books with continual support and to spread awareness for these titles.

The submission period for the 2023 Great Group Reads will open in January.

To see descriptions and additional resources for this year’s list, view the 2022 Great Group Reads.

2022 Great Group Reads

The Barrens by Kurt Johnson and Ellie Johnson

(Arcade Publishing/Skyhorse)

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim

(Ecco/Harper Collins)

Blue-Skinned Gods by S. J. Sindu

(Soho Press)

Drowned Town by Jayne Moore Waldrup

(University of Kentucky Press)

Fighting Time by Amy Banks and Isaac Knapper

(Pact Press/Regal House Publishing)

The Foundling by Ann Leary

(Marysue Rucci Books/Scribner/Simon & Shuster)

A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter by Carolyn Hays

(Blair)

Here Lies by Olivia Clare Friedman

(Grove Atlantic)

I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart

(Two Dollar Radio)

Let the Wild Grasses Grow by Kase Johnstun

(Torrey House Press)

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

(Algonquin Books)

Like a Drop of Ink in a Downpour by Yelena Lembersky and Galina Lembersky

(Cherry Orchard Books/Academic Studies Press)

The Man with Eight Pairs of Legs by Leslie Kirk Campbell

(Sarabande Books)

A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang

(Penguin Press/Penguin Random House)

My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

(Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

(Tin House Press)

Oklahoma Odyssey by John Mort

(Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press)

Provenance by Sue Mell

(Madville Publishing)

Truth and Other Lies by Maggie Smith

(Ten16Press/Orange Hat Publishing)

The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West

(Park Row Books/Harper Collins)

About the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA):

The Women’s National Book Association is a professional literary nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting books, fostering literacy and supporting women in the book world. Formed in 1917 by a group of female booksellers in New York City who were not allowed to join the all-male booksellers’ organizations, the WNBA continues to advocate for equality and representation in the book world and to amplify marginalized voices. The WNBA welcomes members of all genders and professions.

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