Latest / Bookies' Favourite / Booker Prize 2025 | Shortlist Reaction

Transcript

Booker Prize 2025 | Shortlist Reaction · Bookies' Favourite

0:10
Hello we're. Back it's that time of year, the
0:16
Booker Prize shortlist. So welcome to the club everyone
0:20
bookies favorite book club that is.
0:22
We discuss literary shortlists and award-winning novels.
0:25
This episode, we're reacting to the Booker Prize shortlist
0:28
announcement. We'll be reading and discussing
0:30
all six books each week before the winner is announced.
0:33
Join us and share your thoughts and read along.
0:36
Some of us have already read some of the books on the
0:38
shortlist, while some of us haven't read any.
0:41
We'll share our opinions on each of the six.
0:43
We'll also set out our reading list if you want to read along.
0:47
But first, let's introduce ourselves.
0:49
Hi, I'm Colin and I am unenthused, Very, very much
0:54
unenthused by this shortlist. I mean going in with an open
0:57
mind, but I feel like we read the room, seeing things online.
1:01
I feel like everyone this in our little club here is going to
1:04
have similar feelings that I'm not very excited for the books
1:08
ahead of us. Yeah, I'm Lucy, and I'm just
1:11
going to kind of echo what Colin said about this.
1:13
I I've read four of them and four I've read.
1:19
I really like Audition. Not the biggest fan of the other
1:23
three. It was a bit of a worst case
1:26
scenario for me this this shortlist.
1:29
It seemed like a big omission. This year was sea scraper and
1:32
ending. I mean, I'm happy about
1:34
Audition. I think if Audition wasn't on
1:36
this list, I would not be doing this podcast.
1:39
I hope that the loneliness of Sonia and Sonia is good.
1:44
I really hope that. Hi, I'm Hannah and I've read
1:47
three out of the six on the shortlist so far.
1:50
Devastated is the word. When last night there I was
1:54
sitting very excited to see the shortlist and there is no
1:58
antling and there is no sea scraper and to find out that the
2:02
rest of our lives is on the shortlist.
2:03
I am mad, furious. All faith and Sarah Jessica
2:06
Parker gone. Gone.
2:11
But yeah, I think, like most people I should know, this just
2:14
wasn't the list I was expecting. I'm Aaron and I have not read
2:18
any of these books, but three of these books were on my
2:22
prediction list from the long list altogether on this podcast,
2:28
I think we had predicted two of the six.
2:32
You know, I seen online, I can't remember whose Instagram it was,
2:35
but they predicted all six, correct?
2:37
Oh wow. And I'm like, they, they have to
2:39
be like a fortune teller or something.
2:41
Like that they. Got a leak?
2:43
Was it just Sarah Jessica Parker?
2:45
Yeah, inside source anything. Going wrong.
2:49
So to start us off, we have the thoughts of Ashley, also known
2:53
as a few of Chai favorite things on Instagram.
2:57
So we heard from Ashley in the last episode when she was hoping
3:00
that Andling would be on the list.
3:02
My reactions to the shortlist were shock, confusion, some joy
3:07
at some of the titles, but it was a it was a list.
3:12
I joked with a friend yesterday after having watched the live
3:14
stream of the judges discussing the shortlisted works, that
3:18
their copies must have read differently than 9, and I wish
3:22
that I had read the book that they were describing with flesh.
3:25
I get that this was supposed to be a novel about a character who
3:29
is separated from their own body and experience of the world.
3:33
I just think this reduced and told a story about a certain
3:36
type of masculinity that I didn't appreciate.
3:40
This title may very well win the ultimate prize, however, Landed
3:44
winter poured me to tears. I really tried.
3:46
I love classic literature just never materialized for me.
3:49
I love Susan Choi's flashlight, I'm happy to see it here.
3:52
I would be happy if it took the ultimate prize, though there
3:55
were some parts I thought could have been edited out.
3:57
I am currently reading The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
4:01
and I am liking it so far. Audition.
4:04
I loved, I loved, I loved, I loved.
4:07
I thought it was brilliant, and it does stand up to a reread
4:09
which I know the judges take into consideration.
4:13
Where the list goes off the rails for me personally is the
4:16
Rest of Our Lives they've been Markovitz.
4:18
The book the judges described is so different than the one I've
4:21
read lots of, and I feel like lots of readers are puzzled by
4:23
its inclusion. Rooting for audition, but where
4:27
was Inling? Where was sea Scraper?
4:29
Thank you as always for asking me to submit something.
4:32
Cute. I mean, truer words have never
4:35
been spoken, you know? Echoing again like this is just
4:38
we're in a cave and we're just echoing back and forth to each
4:40
other. This is not a good luck book of
4:43
friends. I think that she might be my
4:47
American counterpart. Yeah, we in saying that we
4:50
haven't seen Lucy and a few and and Ashley in the same room.
4:54
So you know. I'm putting on an accent and I'm
5:02
that I have some back in my opinion.
5:05
Lucy is my favorite favorite member.
5:09
I'm so happy she loves audition because I'm like, yeah, I'm I'm
5:14
haven't read Sonia's Honey and I haven't read Flashlight yet, but
5:17
I have all my eggs in one basket and it's Audition.
5:20
Obviously it's not going to win because when have I ever been
5:25
able to predict any of these things?
5:26
I really hope it's audition and she's so right about the other
5:30
books because I don't know. I'm, I'm excited to read The
5:34
Land and Winter again because I kind of want to give it maybe
5:37
another chance, but I find it so boring when I first read it.
5:40
Like so boring, which is I'm really, I'm struggling to think
5:45
about rereading some of these books the rest of our lives.
5:48
Yeah, it's a book. I guess she's saying it's like
5:53
it's a list. I think they should put that as
5:55
a quote on the Like Booker website about the shortlist.
6:00
Just it's a list, Ashley. We're going to be reading each
6:04
of these books week by week, and you can follow us along.
6:06
But to start with next week, we'll be discussing Audition by
6:10
Katie Kitamura, published by Fern Press.
6:13
Is Broadway all this cracked up to be question mark?
6:17
Thoughts. What do we think?
6:19
I'm excited to reread this one. When I first read it, I was
6:23
like, I don't know if I got this.
6:26
I messaged Lucy, I think immediately being like, what?
6:29
And then she was like, I love it.
6:31
And I was like, I'm clearly missing something in this.
6:33
So excited, yeah, excited to figure it out.
6:37
And I like the idea that it's split into Part 1 and Part 2.
6:39
So I think my plan is to just read Part 1 totally 3 and then
6:43
try and just read Part 2 clearly 3 and then see how it goes.
6:47
But yeah, excited to reread this one which I was surprised at
6:51
thinking this, but what do you guys think?
6:52
I'm about like a third of the way through and it's like an
6:55
easy read. The characters are interesting.
6:57
Like, I think it's off to a good start and I'm excited to kind of
7:00
keep going with it. So I love this book like.
7:05
Is it like a leopard skin hat love?
7:07
Do you know, what I'm really, really concerned about is I was
7:11
reading it again like I'd started.
7:13
I've kind of read the first chapter, the first part again.
7:15
And I was like, I just love the writing so much.
7:18
And I've been thinking about like every line and stuff.
7:21
And as I'm reading it and I'm like, I'm so prepared for you
7:25
guys to like, go to war with me about this.
7:27
And I'm like, I don't know if I can take any more.
7:30
Like I thought so much and sorry, I'm getting a bit
7:35
emotional and yeah, I know I fought so much for leopard skin
7:38
hat, you know, and it was it means so much to me.
7:41
And I just, I feel like you guys are going to, you're all going
7:44
to hate audition. Give it.
7:46
Give us a second chance, Lucy, Give us a second chance.
7:49
I'm just so prepared for you all to be like, I really love the
7:53
rest of our lives. The best book I've ever read.
7:57
I think it's really well written.
7:59
I think it has real depth. And if you all hate it, I will
8:04
cry. I am really looking forward to
8:07
this one. I'm not a fan of contemporary
8:09
fiction, but this actually does sound interesting to me.
8:12
Oh my. God, Aaron all, the Booker Prize
8:14
is pretty much all contemporary fiction.
8:17
That's fine, it might just not be my favorite kind of thing.
8:22
It doesn't mean I hate it, it's just not my go to.
8:25
I I'm really excited for this book and I'm just in general,
8:29
I'm not a fan of contemporary fiction, but all.
8:32
Right, I'm excited. One out of five.
8:34
What is the likelihood you will finish this book?
8:37
This book 5 come on, look at it. I don't know.
8:41
Never say never, Aaron. I know Never say never.
8:45
I believe you're gonna be listening to this in audio five
8:48
times speed. The Next up is The Land in
8:51
Winter by Andrew Miller, published by Sector 2.
8:54
English couples face a Blizzard in 1962 England.
8:59
Thoughts. Does not entice me at all.
9:03
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
9:04
I'm open minded, but we'll see. I'm trying to be open minded but
9:09
after hearing those people's reviews I'm I'm worried I'm
9:13
going to be bored. I definitely found it boring,
9:15
but I'm willing to give it another go.
9:18
I think of all the ones on the list and maybe think this man
9:21
might be more redeemable than than the other ones.
9:23
So I'm hoping that on a second rate.
9:27
I just I think I was, I actually thought the premise was really
9:29
good and I thought the premise was really interesting.
9:31
So I was like, so excited to get into this and it's 1 Walter
9:35
Scott prize. So I was kind of like, this is
9:36
going to be amazing. But I just was like, I don't
9:39
care about any of these people, don't care about their lives.
9:43
I want to know more about the Blizzard.
9:45
I don't even really feel like there is a Blizzard.
9:47
And then sometimes it kind of teased interesting things and I
9:49
was like, I'm interested in this, tell me more.
9:52
And it didn't tell me more. And I was.
9:54
Like these? Are the bets that I was.
9:57
I was hoping you'd give me more information about South Andrew
10:01
if you're listening. Sorry but I'm not feeling this
10:03
one. Well, I am.
10:05
What I. I, I'm, I'm excited for this
10:07
one. This one was on my prediction
10:09
list along with audition. So so far 2 for two.
10:13
You're so big. Smoke about this.
10:16
You know. Takes place in the past, so
10:18
Aaron is there. I know.
10:21
Time traveller. I'm not, I'm not poor.
10:23
The past novels I like. I like a good contemporary
10:26
fiction. Next up on our list we have
10:28
Flashlight by Susan Choi, published by Jonathan Cape.
10:33
We follow the impact on a family after their father disappears at
10:36
the beach. I'm actually really excited to
10:38
read this one. It was one I picked up and
10:40
didn't manage to read before the shortlist was announced, so I am
10:45
very excited. But what are your thoughts guys?
10:47
Yeah, I mean, people keep raving about this one and talking about
10:50
it being good. So, you know, I'm I again, like
10:52
this is one that I'm like, ah, yeah, I'm more willing to see
10:56
this one on the list. But again, like, I don't know,
10:58
I'm just so not excited. I just, I'm not excited.
11:02
So it's hard to drum up that, that enthusiasm.
11:04
But again, I'll go in with an open mind and I'll I'll, I want
11:09
to be surprised. This and book did interest me to
11:13
begin with. It wasn't on my prediction list,
11:15
but it very easily could have been, so I'm I'm excited for it.
11:20
Yeah, I I'm like PH53 in it, but I kind of give up.
11:24
I'm probably have to go back to the start again because I can't
11:26
really remember what was happening.
11:27
I have hopes for this, but I have heard that it's a bit long,
11:31
like, well, it is a bit long physically, but I've heard that
11:34
it's like a bit longer than it should be.
11:35
I think I actually said that. But I have heard that from other
11:37
people as well, that there's a lot of trauma to it.
11:40
And you know me, I don't like trauma and well, do I?
11:46
Maybe I do, I don't know. A leopard skin hat.
11:49
Cough. A leopard skin hand.
11:51
Oh yeah, no, it's I only like trauma.
11:56
I do hold a wee bit of hope for this.
11:57
This is like a bit of an Oasis. I'm hoping in a in an otherwise
12:03
barren desert aside from audition.
12:06
So, following Flashlight, we will be reading and discussing
12:10
the rest of our lives. By Ben Markovitz published by
12:14
Fieber A father has a midlife crisis on a road trip.
12:18
Can I just start by saying that the design of this cover is so
12:25
not my vibe? I hate it.
12:27
I hate. It I actually kind of like the
12:29
color scheme. I think it's got a good color
12:31
scheme. I think that's the only going
12:32
for this book. Sorry, I'm team Colin here.
12:35
It's a big birds legs color I love.
12:37
That big birds legs it is giving big bird.
12:42
The colours, yeah, I agree on colours, but like, I don't know,
12:45
it gives me one of those like I. Think it's one of the more
12:47
interesting book covers on the list because I think these book
12:50
covers aren't really, I don't know, they're not really doing
12:53
much for me in general. I am not looking forward to this
12:57
reread. I think that this book is
12:58
supposed to drive out some form of like sympathy in a way.
13:02
I don't want to say too much to like spoil it but the character
13:08
makes me angry. But this man, I'm so angry at
13:13
him for being him. So I just.
13:17
I think I'll have to really try to be open minded reading this
13:20
but I might shred this book and I feel really bad to say this to
13:23
an author but like come on. I'm probably just going to echo
13:27
what Hannah said there and I, you know what I'm like, I
13:31
usually give people quite high marks on their books regardless.
13:34
I don't. Will this be your first one?
13:37
Yeah, I I really hope that I reread this and I see some
13:42
hidden depth that wasn't there the first time, which is what
13:45
they kind of judges are getting up by the way they're talking
13:47
about these books. Is that all?
13:48
You give it another read and it'll it'll be good.
13:52
And but I'm concerned here. I find it so the writing I
13:59
didn't love the character I didn't care about like just what
14:07
I'm, I'm genuinely surprised it was on the list.
14:09
Like I really AM. And I'm like, I do, like you
14:12
said, I'm just trying to keep an open mind about it.
14:15
I'm clearly not by the way I'm talking, but like.
14:17
For the week, so biased. Yeah, the week that we do this,
14:20
I'm just have to go. Nope, I've not read this before.
14:22
I read this again and I'll find some.
14:26
Yeah, I'm going to look for hidden depth, but I can get none
14:29
of it and I don't even think it's.
14:31
It isn't bad writing, but it's not good writing, which is gain.
14:36
It just really surprises me that it's on the.
14:37
List I I think for me in this book again, like no one's
14:41
drumming up any excitement for this whatsoever.
14:43
Like, I mean, you've just heard Anna and Lucy have their say and
14:47
but again, going in with an open mind, going in to be surprised.
14:53
Following on from the rest of our lives, we have Flesh by
14:57
David Szaloy. Published by Jonathan Kemp, it
15:00
follows the life of a man who was in a relationship with a
15:03
woman his mother's age when he was a schoolboy.
15:05
So what are we thinking about this one?
15:07
I think this doesn't like that description and like, and the
15:11
blurb of the book doesn't fully give you what the book is about
15:15
in a way. Like there's this one defining
15:18
moment, which obviously impacts other things.
15:21
But like when I read that, I thought this book was going to
15:23
be about something completely kind of different.
15:25
But I I like this way. I don't know why I liked it.
15:29
I don't know. There's just something about it.
15:30
So I'm excited to reread and see if I see anything in it.
15:34
I'm not sure that I will. It's one of my kind of favorites
15:38
from this shortlist. I mean I had to pick one after
15:40
endings and see scraper wasn't there so I'm going to give it to
15:44
to this one. But what do you guys think?
15:46
I'm not massively excited to reread it.
15:48
I just think I again, don't know if I think there's like a
15:52
massive amount of depth to it that I think that a reread will
15:57
give me any more insight to it. I think one of the big things is
16:00
that the narrator is extremely passive.
16:03
And again, what Hannah said about it's not really the most
16:06
accurate. Like this whole book is kind of
16:09
framed around this relationship that he has with a woman who's
16:11
much, much older than him. And it's the start of the book
16:15
and it does impact. I think we can assume that it
16:17
impacts the rest of his life, but it's never mentioned again
16:19
after it. To me it's not.
16:21
The book is just about his life as an immigrant in in the UK
16:25
mainly. I don't know if I am not fussed
16:27
on reading this again. I think it's Quickbook, that's
16:31
all. It'll be a quick read.
16:33
You know what, for me, I think it's that thing of when I read
16:36
it, it's the idea of like, do we ever really know ourselves or do
16:39
we ever really get to know that a character, like fully?
16:43
I don't know. That idea is still playing in my
16:45
mind. So I think that's why I'm
16:46
excited to relook at it again through that kind of a lens.
16:50
I think there's interesting themes to it and I think
16:52
there'll be a lot more to talk about than I can think of to
16:54
talk about about the rest of our lives.
16:57
I'm not particularly interested in this book, but I do think we
17:01
had somebody on Instagram tell us that it was the book that
17:04
they were excited for. So I'm going to trust them and I
17:11
hope that it is enthralling. We will be finishing our
17:16
shortlist with The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Karen Desai
17:20
published by Hamish Hamilton. A young Indian man and women's
17:24
lives intertwine. Are they destined to be soul
17:27
mates? I'm excited for this.
17:29
I'm not excited, Yeah, in the fact that it's over like 600.
17:33
Pages. No need.
17:34
That's going to be like 100 pages a day for like 6 days or
17:38
more and like I just don't know if I have that in me if I'm not
17:42
parting. The end.
17:43
I think we're going to be. So you're going to be so burned
17:46
out from all the books. Are we going to have the mental
17:49
capacity to take in a 600 Page 1?
17:51
Aaron, I will be so surprised if you finish this one.
17:57
Taking your bets bookies if you want to bet on Aaron Finish.
18:03
Leave a comment below. I will.
18:06
I will definitely finish this book just just to spite you,
18:10
Hannah. Big words, big words come in
18:12
here. Big word for a big book.
18:17
We'll be reading all six shortested books week by week
18:20
until the winner is announced in November.
18:22
If you're reading along with us, share your thoughts on auditions
18:25
by this weekend. We are on Instagram at Bookies
18:28
favorite book club. Keep an eye on our social media
18:31
to stay up to date with our book schedule, and you can also
18:34
e-mail us.bookiesfavoritebookclub@gmail.com.
18:39
Subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening on to
18:42
you don't miss the next episode. We also have Good Reads where we
18:45
will be sharing a review of each book on the shortlist.
18:49
Share this episode with a book lover who should join the club
18:52
and read the shortlist along with us.
18:54
Read the podcast 5 stars and Bookies.