Thursday, July 25, 2013

2013 Man Booker Prize Longlist

Hooray, the Man Booker longlist has been announced!

Perusing titles on the longlist for awards like the Giller, the Women's Prize for Fiction, and the Booker is exciting because I know I'll find titles that are new to me that I will enjoy. I also derive some pleasure from having already read some of the books on the lists, partly because it makes me feel au courant and partly for the sense of accomplishment. As if a longlist is a "to do" list and I can check some of them off... which is kind of crazy. It's not like I set out to read every prize contender, only those that appeal to my taste. Anyway, these are the books I've read that are also on the Booker longlist, with links to my reviews:
People have told me they like to see pictures on my blog
so here's a random photo from my garden.  

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Harvest by Jim Crace

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Of the remaining 10 titles, I'm most looking forward to:

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin, because I adored his Brooklyn

Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw, because I loved The Harmony Silk Factory

Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, because everything she writes is wonderful

and

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, because it's described as Dickens meets Deadwood in nineteenth-century New Zealand and I don't mind tackling a doorstopper once in a while. I think The Luminaries is over 800 pages long. I think she's the only author on the list who will be at the Vancouver Writers Fest this year.

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