The Booker Prize Longlist
The long list for the Booker Prize has been announced with quite a few good-looking books. Because I’m obsessed with book lists and always want to read the best of the best from each year, I’m going to try and read as many off this list as I can.
For those unfamiliar with the Booker Prize, it’s an award that’s given to the best English-language fiction published in the UK and Ireland. In addition to receiving the prestigious title and a significant increase in book sales, the winner also receives $64,000.
This year, three authors are nominated for their debut novels: Colin Barrett, Yael van der Wouden, and Rita Bullwinkel. For the first time ever, a Native American and a Dutch author are nominated. The long list will be whittled down to just six books next month, and the winner will be announced in November.
Just like any list, some years the winner is a book I love, and other years they are just meh. Last year, the winner was Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. If you read my January blog post, you know I didn’t care for it one bit. The year before, however, was Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, a book I can’t recommend enough. This year’s batch of books have quite eclectic subject matters and are so different from each other. They are going to be fun to read. I’ve heard nothing but great things about The Safekeep, Creation Lake, and Wandering Stars. If you are going to read a few off this list or try to tackle them all, let me know which ones you liked the best.
Without further ado, here is the list, and until next time, happy reading!
Wild Houses by Colin Barrett
I’m not sure why, but I keep reading this title as “Wild Horses." Anyway, I’m a sucker for a moody book that’s set in Ireland. Especially one involving kidnapping gone awry.
This is the author's debut novel; however, he has some impressive accolades. He’s written two short story collections: Young Skins (which won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature) and Homesickness (which was named one of the NYT Best Books of the Year).
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
This novel follows eight female boxers as they compete in a championship tournament. This is also Bullwinkel’s debut novel.
Bullwinkel was a competitive water polo player, so she knows a thing or two about competing in tournaments and the emotions and environment of competitions.
James by Pervical Everett
Read it and loved it! I’m happy to see it’s on the list.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
A story of six astronauts that orbit Earth on the ISS sounds like it has great potential to be a beautiful and unique story.
Harvey has five novels under her belt, with one being long-listed for the Man Booker Prize (AKA Booker Prize, it was known as the Man Booker Prize from 2002–2019).
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
This is being published on September 3rd. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. A friend received an ARC of it and said it was the best book he’s read all year. I read her other novel, The Mars Room, and wasn’t all that impressed. That one made the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize. So, I’m holding my breath on this one. Please deliver, Kushner!
My Friend by Hisham Matar
I wasn’t the biggest fan of this one, but as I mentioned in my review, however, I’m afraid I might be the outlier.
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
I love a multi-generational book when it’s done well, and this seems promising.
This is Messud’s second Booker Prize longlist appearance. Her previous book, The Emperor’s Children, while still nominated, had some real word/sentence structure issues that made it hard to read, landing itself with only a 2.98 rating on Goodreads. I’m going to be cautiously optimistic about this one.
Held by Anne Michaels
Based on the reviews that I’ve read, this is a poetic novel told in little stories. It could be a fun format and, at the very least, something different.
She’s a very decorated author with several awards, and her book Fugitive Pieces was adapted into a movie and selected as part of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped the World. *quickly adding that one to my TBR*
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
I never did read Orange’s beloved and Pulitzer Prize finalist novel There There. If Wandering Stars is as good as promised, then I might have to go down an Orange reading hole.
As I mentioned before, Tommy Orange is the first Native American to be nominated for the Booker Prize. He’s also been selected as the next author for this year’s Future Library Project. If you’re not familiar with this project, every year, one author is selected to write a manuscript that’s stored, locked up, unread, and unpublished until 2114. It started back in 2014 when the project leader, Katie Paterson, planted 1,000 Norwegian spruces in Oslo, which will supply the paper for this project. Authors like Ocean Vuong and Karl Ove Knausgård have all been part of it. Anyway, I’m excited to read both of Orange’s novels, but mostly Wandering Stars.
Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
This book’s plot relies heavily on questioning religion. In an interview with the Guardian, she says that she’s always loved God. The plot also focuses heavily on astronomy, and she had help fact-checking and been given advice on her writing from Carlo Rovelli (a famous theoretical physicist and wonderful author; I highly recommend all of his books). While I’m not stoked about the religion aspect, I am excited about the astronomy aspect.
Perry is a very successful writer, with four other novels, all of which have won at least two different awards. Not too shabby!
Playground by Richard Powers
This one is also not yet published but will be on September 24th. Powers is one of my all-time favorite authors. I couldn’t recommend Bewilderment and The Overstory enough. Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Overstory won the Pultizer Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His prose, characters, and storytelling are some of the best around. Needless to say, I’ve already pre-ordered Playground and cannot wait to get my hands on it.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
There is so much hype around this book that I wasn’t at all surprised to see it on this list. One of my friends in my book club said this was his favorite book of this year. I’m really hoping this isn’t a book that’s too hyped up.
This is her debut novel, and she is the first Dutch writer to be long-listed. Pretty impressive.
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
The novel takes place in an Australian monastery with a climate disaster looming. Just by saying that, I’m already excited. Let’s see how the nuns or monks will handle this chaos!
This is Wood’s seventh novel and she has three non-fiction works, all of which didn’t earn her a ton of praise. I’m ready to see what’s in store with Stone Yard Devotional.
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!”- Jane Austen
