10 books by Colorado authors you should read in 2022

Vauhini Vara began writing her debut novel, “The Immortal King Rao,” in 2009, sold it to a publisher just before the pandemic hit in March 2020, and will see it published in hardcover by W.W. Norton & Company on May 3.

“The timing is wild,” Vara said over the phone from her Fort Collins home this week. “I’ve been working on this going on 13 years, and since then I’ve had a bunch of friends put books out, and I’ve gone to their readings in Denver and San Francisco and New York. It’s celebratory and festive and feels like a community occasion … but that’s not currently the case (in publishing), and hasn’t been for the last couple years.”

The historical-dystopian fiction of Vara’s “Rao” ripples out of the Indian village from which her father emigrated to the U.S., and the genre-blending tale has already nabbed endorsements from Vulture, The Guardian and LitHub.

“Rao” is just one of dozens of titles from Colorado authors that will hit shelves and online booksellers this year. Like the rest, it’s got a steep promotional climb as authors crowd online forums and stream their readings to promote new works. The age of long-lined bookstore tours feels distant.

The good news is that publishers watched print book sales soar last year, rising 8.9% in 2021 over 2020 — an increase of about 67 million books, according to Publishers Weekly — with hardcover books leading the way. (In 2020, sales were up 8.2% over 2019, which saw about 694 million books sold.)

Colorado authors have seen mixed results. Reliable best-sellers and a handful of debut writers (fiction and nonfiction) have broken out commercially, but dozens of other essential, expertly reported works have collected little other than critical accolades. Author talks and classes from nonprofits such as Lighthouse Writers Workshop have gone mostly virtual, and there’s no end in sight.

“There’s a sense that publishers are just as confused as authors are,” said Vara, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and New Yorker business editor, as well as a current Lighthouse mentor. (Full disclosure: Vara was an intern at The Denver Post in 2002.)

“In the past, book tours would have been planned five or six months in advance,” she said. :Now authors are saying they haven’t heard anything from their publishers. They want to do right by authors and sell books, so it’s not a matter of less investment on their part.”

Kali Fajardo-Anstine, arguably Colorado’s most celebrated literary voice of this young decade, published her short-story collection, “Sabrina & Corina,” in 2019. She’s grateful she became established in the literary world before the pandemic wiped out most in-person events.

The book, which tells stories of Latinas and Indigenous people living in the West, won an American Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Awards. It received rapturous reviews from U.S. and international critics, and a paperback version was published by Penguin Random House imprint One World.

That last achievement was on April 7, 2020, about a month after the pandemic hit.

“It was the first time I had money coming in from speaking engagements for being a writer,” she said. “I’d never really made any money at this, and I was making the most I’ve ever made. When everybody lost everything, that started me on this trajectory as this virtual person and teacher on the internet.”

Now, Fajardo-Anstine has a debut novel — the epic, deeply researched “Woman of Light” — set for release on June 7. Influential literary voice Roxane Gay just picked it for her book club, and pre-release chatter (not just the promotional kind) is casting it as even better than “Corina & Sabrina” (if not exactly apples-to-apples).

“It follows the vast adventures of this family from the 1860s through 1930s, so in a way it’s very escapist and that might resonate with people right now,” Fajardo-Anstine said. “But how will I promote it? I wrote a piece for Harper’s Bazaar about what it was like promoting ‘Sabrina & Cornina’ on Instagram Live from the bedroom I grew up in at my parents house. … It’ll be (promoted) in a lot more online spaces than bookstores this time, but there’s also a strong community of Chicanos and Indigenous people through the Southwest that I’ve connected with during the pandemic.”

Here are a few more new books from to read from Colorado authors in 2022. (Thanks to Denver Post regional reviewer Sandra Dallas for contributing to some of these mentions.)

“Rise: My Story,” Lindsey Vonn

The tale of how this Colorado-based, World Cup-winning skiing icon did it, filled with her rigorous training schedule, her injuries, and her love of alpine skiing. Nothing about Tiger Woods? Still magnetic. (Out now) — Sandra Dallas and John Wenzel

“Hidden Mercy,” Michael J. O’Loughlin

The Catholic Church’s existential crises — particularly its handling of abuse scandals — has overshadowed the work of progressives such as William Hart “Father Bill” McNichols, a Denver political scion who became a priest that administered to dying AIDS patients in the 1980s and ’90s — against the church’s wishes. Since then, the openly gay priest has become known for his art (paintings of social-justice figures as icons, instead of just religious ones).

Author O’Loughlin isn’t strictly a Colorado name, but “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics and the Untold Story of Compassion in the Face of Fear” centers on McNichols’ still-radical empathy and action, among others. (Out now)

“Attaboy,” Sam Tallent
Denver stand-up and Fine Gentleman’s Club troupe co-founder Sam Tallent has had a surprisingly good pandemic, with solid sales and kudos from comics like Marc Maron for his independently published “Running the Light.” (Maron, Doug Stanhope and others narrated the audio version.)

Now, after the barely fictionalized story of “Running,” comes the Audible original “Attaboy.” The dark, egdy fiction turns away from Tallent’s favorite subject for a tale of bare-knuckle boxing and addiction. It’s narrated by Dan Bitner and Helen Laser. (Out now)

“Jane and the Year Without Summer,” Stephanie Barron

There’s never too much Jane Austen-influenced literature out there — if it’s well-made. Barron, a.k.a. Francine Mathews, has proven that with her Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, and “The Year Without Summer” (its 14th book in it)  using the real-life Austen as a jumping-off point.

It’s absolutely charming, and one of the best among her prolific list of Jane Austen mysteries. (Feb. 8) — Sandra Dallas and John Wenzel

“Being Mary Bennet,” J.C. Peterson
Harper Teen bought and will publish Jenny “J.C.” Peterson’s first YA novel, a fresh reimagining of a “Pride and Prejudice” character (a feat in itself these days) and a debut that establishes Peterson as a witty, deeply empathetic voice in the national YA scene. (March 15)

“The Vortex,” Scott Carney and Jason Miklian
Investigative journalist, New York Times best-selling author and Colorado anthropologist Carney has traveled the world exploring extreme endurance and the mind-body connection.

A strength of Carney’s craft, but still a gear shift from previous nonfiction books, “The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakble War, and Liberation,” sets its sights on November 1970 storm that killed 500,000 and led to revolution and genocide in Southeast Asia. With Ph.D. and conflict-and-crisis expert Jason Miklian, from the University of Oslo. (March 29)

“Little Souls,” Sandra Dallas

Yes, this New York Times best-selling author’s name appears as a contributor to this article (she’s a longtime Denver Post books reviewer) but she’s also a Colorado literary pillar, having appraised nearly every Colorado book worth reading in recent years — and writing more than a few of them herself.

“Little Souls” follows Dallas’ by turns wrenching and uplifting “Westering Women” with a historically based look at our last pandemic (more than 100 years ago), offering plenty of insight into the similarly rancorous present-day. (April 26)

“A Walter Hill Film,” Walter Chaw
Denver film critic and occasional New York Times and NPR contributor Walter Chaw recently debuted on Netflix as part of the tightly curated “Voir” series from director David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “The Social Network”), in a segment that deconstructed director Walter Hill’s influential buddy comedy “48 Hours.”