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International Booker Prize 2026 | Shortlist Predictions · Bookies' Favourite

0:10
Hello, welcome to the club bookies favorite book club.
0:14
We read literary shortlists and award-winning novels.
0:17
Happy anniversary Lucy. I would say this to Colin and
0:21
Hannah as well, but it's only me and you here as per usual.
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You. Know guys, sort it out, sort it
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out, Yes, we're back with the International Booker.
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Which is due to popular demand, yeah.
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Upwards of or including two people have this, yes, this is
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really exciting because this is where we we started outlook how
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far we've come. 3 literary prizes down, we have like 32
0:49
episodes out and about half of those are Eden Shore.
0:53
So yes, we we are diving into the International Booker Prize
0:56
2026. Is there anything in particular
0:59
that you are looking out for now that that we've?
1:03
Introduced ourselves, Aaron. Sorry, you're, you're completely
1:05
right. Go, go ahead.
1:07
I'm Lucy. I am broadcast journalist Aaron
1:10
Rice at Aaron Rice Media. Let me get my my Instagram in at
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the top here. Yeah.
1:16
So we, yeah, we're back. We're back-to-back to the OG.
1:20
Have you read any in advance? Do you know of any or should we
1:24
just go straight through them? Oh.
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I I definitely know of some. I, I have some.
1:29
I haven't read any, but you definitely have dived or dove.
1:36
What's the word? You would think after all this
1:38
reading, I would know the word. No, I would say dove.
1:41
You have dove and that sounds so wrong.
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You, you, you have as some experience with this long list.
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So this this episode we're going to be talking about what we hope
1:54
or what we expect will make it to the shortlist.
1:56
So just a quick little check in before we actually have the
2:02
shortlist announced tomorrow and then we will kind of come back
2:05
to you with a reaction and a reading schedule of what does
2:08
make it to the shortlist. So the first one I read, and the
2:11
first one on our list so far is The Deserters by Matthias
2:15
Ennard, translated from French by Charlotte Mandel.
2:19
It was originally published in French in 2023, and now it's
2:22
been published by Fitzcarraldo in 2025.
2:24
I kind of struggled with this one.
2:26
It's two separate narratives and writing.
2:29
Fantastic, brilliant. I would read, I would 100% read
2:32
more from him, but I kind of struggled to see how the
2:36
narratives met each other. And so one story is I got a
2:41
soldier and his experience kind of he's deserted an unnamed war.
2:46
And the other one is these people on a conference in a boat
2:50
in I think it's on the Danube. I can't remember.
2:52
Sorry if I'm wrong there. And a mass conference.
2:55
And I'm sorry I should probably say that in a non Belfast way.
2:59
Maths conference and 911 happens and it's like their reaction to
3:04
911. Still not entirely sure about
3:07
how the two narratives got on. I actually really, really
3:11
enjoyed the soldier narrative, maybe slightly more than I
3:14
enjoyed the 9/11 narrative. This is the first time I'm
3:17
hearing about this, which is weird because I've locked into
3:19
every single book that was on the long list, so this sounds
3:21
completely brand new to me. I mean, it sounds interesting,
3:26
like as boring as it is for our first book, it's, I'm not like
3:30
sold on it, but uh, do you think, do you hope it will make
3:35
it to the shortlist? I'm pretty sure I again, I
3:37
apologize if I'm saying something wrong.
3:39
I'm pretty sure there's like a mathematician on the.
3:41
The the judge. Yeah.
3:43
So actually I'm surprised. I I kind of wanted to put this
3:46
on one of my guesses for what would be on the long list and I
3:48
didn't and I maybe shouldn't have done that.
3:50
So I'm maybe thinking is that maybe a reason that it's on it?
3:52
But I actually think it will improve at the second rate.
3:54
I definitely think it will. And but right now I'm not.
3:57
I wouldn't be massively happy, I wouldn't be sad, but it wouldn't
4:01
be one that I'd be really passionate to get on to the
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long, sorry, the short list. The next book is The Wax Child
4:06
by Olga Rone. Translated from Danish by Martin
4:10
Atkin. Originally published in Danish
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in 2023. Published by Penguin Viking in
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2025. Have you read this one?
4:19
Yes, I have, and I believe you own this one.
4:21
I. Do.
4:22
Yeah, I really enjoyed it and I read it last year.
4:25
So again, it's one of those ones that's maybe a bit more fuzzy in
4:27
my head and I really enjoyed it. It's really different.
4:30
Everything by Olga Room is just her writing is is strange.
4:35
It's, it's hard to grasp. It requires a lot of effort, but
4:39
I really, really enjoyed this one.
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It's the themes are basically it's, it's from the point of
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view of a wax child who's been created by this woman.
4:47
Like a little doll. Yeah, yeah.
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And it's like these, it goes into quite a lot of detail about
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how this wax doll is made, and it has some form of sentience
4:56
that it can think. And the story of this woman is
5:00
told through this wax child, and she is eventually brought to
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trial as a witch. So I love anything, anything
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European witch trials actually, I'll go to the Americas with
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witch trials as well. I won't say no to that.
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And but I love all that stuff. I kind of like Scandinavian,
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Scottish at times and we don't really do do that much of it in
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Ireland. There's a couple of, there is a
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couple of stuff, but all that other stuffs I find fascinating.
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I would love it to be on the shortlist, absolutely.
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But maybe I wouldn't predict it to be on the shortlist because
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it is so different. It's maybe a little less
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accessible than some of the other ones.
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I would love for it to be on the shortlist because I already have
5:42
it and it's one book that I have been wanting to read.
5:47
So this gives me a reason to read it and so I'm I'm hoping
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that that it shows up there I'm. Really, I really, I would really
5:56
love it to be there because I, I'm excited to to to hear
6:00
because I don't think that in on this podcast we've read a book
6:04
like this. So I actually going into it, I'm
6:07
like, I have no idea what Aaron would say about this.
6:09
I think it is quite hard to grasp.
6:11
And I think that you enjoy that. I think you enjoy and challenge.
6:14
I am kind of like this part of me that's like, yeah, I think
6:16
you would really like it. And then I'm like, would he just
6:17
be completely turned off? But I'm fascinated.
6:20
I want to know what you think of this book.
6:22
What's the next one? Our third one on the list is On
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Earth As It Is Beneath by Anna Paula Maya, translated from
6:30
Portuguese by Padma Vesvanathan, and it was originally published
6:35
in Portuguese in 2017 and then published again in Charcoal
6:38
Press in 2025. I bought all of the Charcoal
6:43
Press books for 2025 and 2026. My mom did.
6:47
My mom got me them for Christmas.
6:48
So I think you'll love it. I really hope it's in the short
6:52
list. I think it's really accessible,
6:54
which I think could be why it's maybe sometimes not as
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considered as literary. It's set in a prison in a land
7:02
that was once for enslaved people, and it's a really
7:07
gripping, action-packed story about the the waning of this
7:12
prison and the fact that prisoners aren't being sent
7:14
there anymore. Nobody's keeping an eye on it
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and one prison guard starts to kill off prisoners that are
7:24
staying there. And it is, it really reminded me
7:28
of if you've ever read and then there Were None by Agatha
7:30
Christie. It's kind of, I think Agatha
7:32
Christie uses and I think maybe this is a bit unfair, but
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there's a lot of books that are written after and then there
7:37
were None that are very similar to that, like kind of closed
7:40
room mystery. It had vibes of that.
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And it's, I don't think she's very flurry with her language.
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She's it's a very short book and she's very to the point, but the
7:48
the atmosphere that she's able to create, it would make a
7:52
fantastic film, like a fantastic film I think if it was done
7:56
right. It's just it's action from the
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start and I absolutely loved it. Yeah, I am interested in this
8:03
book too. Umm, I'm glad that you said
8:06
that. You think I would enjoy it?
8:07
Umm. It's a prequel to the previous
8:12
winner of the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize, which at
8:18
the time was known as the Republic of Consciousness Prize,
8:21
and that book was of Catalan men.
8:23
Yes, yeah. I preferred this one to of
8:26
Catalan Men, but I think of Catalan men's very good and it
8:28
kind of made me want to reread it.
8:29
I haven't done that yet. OK, if it gets on the shortlist,
8:32
I think I'll read both at the same time.
8:33
They're both very short. I actually own this book as well
8:37
because of my sister series, the novel series where I read a book
8:44
series to completion preemptively.
8:47
Well, it was honestly, if, if I'm going to be fully honest, it
8:50
was because I had to buy books was a couple of books that we
8:54
were reading for the podcast and to get free delivery, I needed
9:00
to parse it over the whatever the threshold was.
9:04
So I knew that this book was on the long list, and I knew that
9:07
it was part of a book series. So I was like, might as well
9:12
just get both of those books. And so I have the two books in
9:16
that series so far. And you said, I think to me
9:18
earlier that it's part of a trilogy.
9:21
Yeah. I.
9:21
Think there's another one coming out?
9:22
I'm not. It's tough because I think a lot
9:24
of the English language media around it is a bit unclear, but
9:29
I'm I could be completely wrong and just like putting together
9:34
things wrong. From what I have grasped, I
9:36
believe that the I think it's bury your dead or something
9:39
along those. I wish I'd researched this a bit
9:42
more and it's coming out this year in summer Augustish and I'm
9:48
so excited for. It OK, well, hopefully it makes
9:51
it to the shortlist. The next book is She Who Remains
9:54
by Renee Kurabash. Translated from Bulgarian by
9:57
Isadora Angel. Originally published in
10:00
Bulgarian in 2018, Published by Pyrene in 2026.
10:05
You you've read this one. Yep.
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And it's another, another Pyrenee.
10:08
So we read on the Greenwich line, which is also published.
10:12
I think it was published last year.
10:13
This this one published this year.
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And yeah, I really like this one again.
10:18
I, I don't know if it, I think it will be on the shortlist, but
10:22
it's so it's so fascinating and it's about sworn virgins in
10:27
Albania and it's have a lot to do with this Canon law in
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Albania and like this blood feuds that they have.
10:35
And it's so fascinating reading it.
10:36
And the story deals with like themes of guilt, themes of like
10:41
virginity, which actually comes up as well in another book later
10:43
on. I think there's, there's a bit
10:44
of a tie there. And yeah, I really, really
10:48
enjoyed it. One thing I would say, I find I
10:51
didn't love the ending. And we'll discuss that if it
10:54
gets on the shortlist, though. And but yeah, I did also really
10:58
enjoy this book. I think a lot of these books I
10:59
really enjoyed. It sounds interesting to me and
11:02
I wasn't aware of it until I found out that it was on the
11:05
long list and I don't have a copy of it.
11:08
But yeah, I would definitely be up for jumping into this one if
11:13
it shows up. It's really short iron.
11:16
Good, then I'm definitely. The ones that we've talked about
11:19
so far are so short, but our next one is Not the Duke by
11:24
Mateo Melchiori, translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri,
11:31
and it was originally published in Italian in 2022, and it was
11:35
published again by Small Press Foundry Editions in 2025.
11:38
I have read this one and I this is like catnip to me.
11:44
I loved this book. You know when you just start
11:48
reading something and you're like, this is me.
11:51
This is, I probably doesn't come out in this podcast very much,
11:54
but I love 19th century fiction and this very much the way it is
11:58
set in the current day. This very much is the vibes of
12:01
19th century fiction. It's set in the Dolomites in a
12:03
small town where a man whose account or of a family of
12:08
account has come to to come back to his ancestral home after his
12:12
family dies. And his grandfather was
12:15
nicknamed the Duke because they almost the times people felt
12:19
that he thought better of himself than anybody.
12:22
And it's this man's kind of modern grasp of what it what it
12:26
means to kind of be a bit higher than these people in the town.
12:30
And the fact he's very modern in the sense that he doesn't think
12:32
of himself as the Duke, but eventually he kind of becomes
12:37
more and more despotic as he goes along.
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If this writing and translation duo, Mateo and Antonella wrote a
12:46
pamphlet about like, switching a light bulb, I think it would be
12:49
still literary. It's so incredible.
12:53
The writing is just, I love this.
12:56
What he would say plot wise is I love the first 2/3, the 1st 2/3.
13:00
I was like, this is amazing. This is so me.
13:03
This is so everything I love in a book.
13:06
And then I feel like it may be the, the plot specifically, I
13:10
didn't really, I almost even felt like it could have gone on
13:13
longer if I had a more satisfying plot kind of ending.
13:17
And but I suppose we'll talk about that again like later.
13:19
But I would love to see this in the shortlist because it is 460
13:24
pages and 460 small typed pages. I feel like this might be a
13:30
struggle for our week kind of format.
13:35
But yeah, I still really hope for Mateo and Antonella that it
13:40
will appear. Well, whenever you said I think
13:42
this might be a struggle for our week and I thought you were
13:46
going to describe me as being a weak reader, but you're.
13:51
Not can I also figure out the amount of stuff Aaron does in
13:54
his actual life, both work and for this podcast, Like it's
13:59
like, oh, Lucy's done the work because she's read the book, but
14:01
it's like that is actually so minimal.
14:04
That takes up so much less time than doing all that you do.
14:07
I work a standard nine to five job like I do nothing else with
14:12
my life. So it's kind of it's kind of
14:14
understandable that I've read it.
14:16
Let me say now that my goal is to read every book on this
14:20
shortlist. I don't.
14:21
I'm not saying I will meet that goal, but that that is my goal.
14:25
I don't think we've done a shortlist yet that I have read
14:29
every single book so. Dear, dear Aaron.
14:33
I know, I know. It's it's actually it's, it's
14:36
embarrassing, but. Not I, I feel like, I feel like
14:40
you're almost very unfair to yourself and we're possibly very
14:43
unfair to you. I'm possibly, I don't know.
14:47
I think you need to give yourself a bit of grace here.
14:49
Yes, but at the same time, this is a book club podcast and at
14:55
the end of the day, we're only giving ourselves like 6 books to
14:58
read. So I, I know that is a lot in a
15:01
six week time period, but hopefully I have enough free
15:06
time that I can actually do it for for this.
15:10
And I think a year on, let's see how much I've grown as a reader
15:14
and let's see if I can do it. That's.
15:16
Quite exciting. Yeah, I didn't think about that.
15:18
But you have kind of thrown yourself in at the deep end, and
15:21
I think, yes, I think you're swimming.
15:23
On to the next book, which is Taiwan Travelogue by Young
15:28
Schwang Sue. Translated from Mandarin Chinese
15:32
by Lynn King. Originally published in Mandarin
15:36
Chinese in 2020. Published in the UK by And Other
15:41
Stories in 2026. What are your thoughts on this
15:44
one? This is another one I again, I
15:46
really enjoyed. So I see when I read this was
15:48
the one that I was like, I'm not going to want to read this.
15:50
And I have a bit of a history with and other stories where I'm
15:54
at times and they won last year with Heartland.
15:56
But at times I'm like some of their stuff has been very
15:59
unaccessible to me as a reader. So I've really struggled with a
16:02
lot of their stuff. And I suppose as well, maybe
16:05
it's like a lot of people struggle with heart Lamp.
16:08
I think they go for a really, really cultural stories of a
16:13
place. And it's something I have so
16:15
much respect for, but sometimes I can't handle.
16:19
And this one, I was really, really struggling going in with
16:24
it, into it and being like, I'm going to really struggle with
16:27
this. I'm not going to enjoy this.
16:28
This is going to be a slog. I did not find that.
16:31
And if I explain the plot to myself, no, I still would think
16:35
I would be in that existing mindset of being like, I can't
16:38
read this. It's about a Japanese woman
16:40
during the occupation of Taiwan, I think in the 30s, late 30s,
16:46
before kind of Japan's entrance into and the whole world's
16:51
entrance into World War 2. And basically it kind of covers
16:57
her relationship with the translator that she has.
17:00
And this woman has, I'm going to say it's a problem with food.
17:06
She is obsessed with food to like NTH degree and she wants to
17:10
try every Taiwanese dish And she can't get that when she talks to
17:13
the Japanese people because there's the Japanese people who
17:16
live in Taiwan. There's also indigenous
17:18
Taiwanese people. There's also the people who came
17:20
previously from China over. So there's the all these
17:23
cultural things. And she's kind of, I understand
17:27
the world and there's a lot of dynamics, personal interpersonal
17:29
dynamics, relationship dynamics going on there.
17:32
There is so much I say, if you edited this and removed the
17:36
descriptions of food, you would have a very short book.
17:40
It was, it was food porn. Like a genuinely was, and I'm
17:43
currently doing Lent. I read the start of Lent and I
17:47
was like, I actually can't even. I'm I'm glad, though, that most
17:50
of these dishes are not available in the Belfast area
17:53
because like I was like, this is, this is ridiculous.
17:55
Like reading everything that she's eating.
17:58
And I was like, I hate this woman so much right now because
18:00
I'm like eating nothing for Len. I actually did find myself just
18:04
just on an enjoyment level. I really enjoyed it and I think
18:07
that there's a lot of things to discuss on it.
18:08
So I would actually be really interested.
18:10
I think Hannah would like this because Hannah loves Southeast
18:15
Asian book. Does she?
18:17
Hannah loves a Japanese translated book, but I don't.
18:20
And I know it's not a Japanese book, it's the author's
18:22
Taiwanese, but I feel like Hannah will enjoy the Japanese
18:27
dimension of it. And I think that, umm, yeah,
18:29
this is, this is Hannah all over it for me.
18:33
Hmm, OK, interesting. I was not aware of this book and
18:39
this is a part of the world that I have very limited knowledge
18:43
about, which is actually exciting because it sounds like
18:48
it is basically this Japanese woman's, uh, dive into that
18:54
culture and learning about it and I, that sounds interesting
18:58
to me. And also with this talk about
19:03
food, should there potentially be some kind of return of like
19:08
my my baking or cooking for? Thinking this the whole way
19:12
through reading it and we would be like you.
19:16
You would have your work cut from you from the first page.
19:19
So it'd be like, I can't like I can't just show you like there's
19:23
this part in it where basically she wants this dish made for her
19:26
and the dish is made out of like 14 or 12 or 14 other dishes.
19:32
And then all it's so confusing, but you're just reading this
19:36
banquet happening and it's like, it's not it's nearest the end,
19:40
but it's kind of like, you know, you're you're just kind of like,
19:43
oh, OK, we're just going to go into another like chapter on
19:46
just food for and each chapter has like a food in the title.
19:50
Also, something I haven't mentioned is the book is kind of
19:53
framed as a Japanese woman's novel about going to Taiwan and
20:01
it's her Taiwan travelogue. And then a Chinese person has
20:05
then. So basically it's styled as this
20:09
Chinese woman has got this. Japanese manuscript and has then
20:15
translated it into Chinese in 2020 and.
20:19
Now it's been translated into English.
20:21
So really you, you have like it's basically it sounds like an
20:24
exploration of Asia. Yeah, like.
20:28
Not not all of Asia, but three different like unique cultures
20:31
in Asia. Yeah, yes, yeah, I guess so.
20:34
Like it's so, but yeah, it's, it's so interesting.
20:37
I think it'd be a really great one to talk about.
20:38
I think a lot of these ones would be great ones to talk
20:40
about. How about the next book?
20:43
So the next one is Small Comfort by Yan Bear, translated from
20:49
Swedish by Kira Yosefsson, and it was originally published in
20:54
Sweden in 2018, published by Wildfire, an imprint of Headline
20:58
Publishing in 2026. I have read this one.
21:01
I've read another book by Yan Bear.
21:05
She was shortlisted previously for the details.
21:08
I don't know how I feel about A and her writing because I do
21:12
think she's an excellent writer, but I have, I didn't really
21:15
enjoy the details that much, but I think she's an excellent
21:18
writer. I think the writing, there was
21:20
nothing wrong with the writing. So I was like, oh, I'm excited
21:22
to read another book of hers. And then I kind of felt the
21:24
same. I was like, OK, I like your
21:26
writing. I think your writing is
21:27
excellent by the subject matter or it's a short.
21:31
It's 5 short stories and they all, I think the theme is
21:34
supposed to be maybe money. I enjoyed some of them more than
21:37
others. I struggle to really.
21:40
There are things that tie them together, but I struggle to
21:43
actually see a proper link, a more concrete link.
21:47
It's not exactly like I suppose Heartlamp is.
21:49
They're all very different stories, but the theme is so
21:52
tight with them. And I think that the the theme
21:54
with this maybe, which is money, and maybe this is just me.
21:58
I'm, I'd be really excited to hear other people's thoughts on
21:59
it. But for me, I just didn't think
22:02
the theme was overarching enough.
22:04
And there's maybe bits and pieces where they all kind of
22:07
link together or there's characters that are mentioned in
22:09
in multiple ones. For me, I didn't, I didn't find
22:12
it. I didn't find it that
22:13
interesting. I didn't find it that enjoyable,
22:16
but I was very excited to read it because I actually think
22:18
money is a really interesting element in in fiction and it was
22:21
something I was very excited about.
22:23
But maybe it just didn't live up to the hype that I'd kind of
22:25
given it in my head. Are you excited to read this one
22:27
or what are you? What are your thoughts?
22:28
No, honestly, pass for me. Like, I mean, I might end up
22:34
enjoying it. I haven't read it at all.
22:35
So this is not a declaration as to whether or not it's a good
22:38
book, but just it doesn't sound like my kind of book.
22:44
Yeah. I don't know how I feel because
22:46
I think sometimes you surprise me with what you like, so you
22:48
might love it. What's the next one, Aaron?
22:52
Women Without Men by Shanus Parsipper, translated from
22:56
Persian by Faradun Farak, originally published in Persian
23:01
in 1989. Is this the oldest original book
23:05
that that on this list? Yeah, on this list.
23:07
Okay, interesting. Published by Penguin as part of
23:10
their Penguin International Writers in 2026.
23:14
I don't know anything about this one.
23:16
This is definitely one of my top ones of of the whole thing.
23:19
It's really, really short. It's really strange.
23:22
It's kind of magical realism. It's set during the 1953 Iranian
23:29
coup d'etat, and it's about these various women's lives and
23:37
all the strange things that happened to them.
23:40
I would draw parallels between this and Heartland.
23:46
Definitely it has the similar, a similar vibe of maybe how
23:53
religion and society, definitely society, how they're affecting
23:59
these women's lives. And a lot of the same issues
24:01
that the women in Heartland maybe are having are similar to
24:06
the women in Women Without Men. But I think that this is a
24:10
different style of story. And even though a lot of the
24:15
like the nitty gritty kind of stuff is kind of told in a
24:17
similar way, this is and a lot of horrible things happen to the
24:21
women in this book. And it kind of almost because it
24:25
came out of nowhere, because it's quite funny at times.
24:27
It's quite, yeah, the way it's told, quite magical.
24:29
A lot of the things couldn't actually happen, but then it's
24:32
like all of a sudden then something really horrific
24:34
happens and you're like, oh, great.
24:36
But I love the style. I wish it had been longer.
24:39
I actually think that's maybe my biggest criticism of it is very
24:41
short and it's very like, OK, we've met these women by now,
24:47
but it's so fantastical and the right.
24:50
I just love the writing. I love this style of story this
24:54
like people in society and I know that's every book, but it's
24:58
so like the nitty gritty of the home domesticity I love as a
25:03
theme in books. So it's very domestic and how
25:08
its outlook and I just, I really, really enjoyed this
25:11
book. I'm it's been published multiple
25:13
times in English in the US and other other territories, but
25:16
this is the first time that it's been published in the UK and
25:19
Ireland. So yeah, it feels quite belated.
25:21
There's also a film from like 2009 that and honestly, I was
25:25
trying to buy it and I was struggling to buy it, but I was
25:28
like, how do you make this into a film?
25:30
I don't understand. Discussed too many spoilers, but
25:32
I was like how? How do you do that?
25:35
I have no idea how you make this a film.
25:37
Well this sounds good news for me because I can just watch the
25:40
the movie instead of reading. Different you'll be mentioning
25:43
characters that no one else has has heard of and they'll be like
25:47
Aaron. You could read this book in no
25:49
time. I think it's available an
25:51
audible so I think. Oh, is it?
25:52
OK? That's good news.
25:55
Something that I, I was kind of thinking cynically going into
25:58
this long list is something that I would note is that there are
26:00
two books, one German and one Iranian that deal with the topic
26:05
of Iran. And as that is so topical
26:08
currently, something that I was, and I said cynically, and it was
26:13
possibly cynical, was the fact that I was kind of a wee bit
26:16
like, all right, OK, I've got two books.
26:19
I can't remember the last time in the international shortlist
26:21
or long list there, there there'd been Iranian novels and
26:25
there there's definitely been, I definitely have read Iranian
26:27
novels previously. I can't think of any on the top
26:29
of my head. I mean, there possibly have been
26:31
linked to the international, but I was like, that seems strange,
26:33
but this deserves to be on this list 100%.
26:37
Once I read it, read this book, I was kind of like, OK, you need
26:40
to stop being like this as a person and accept the fact this
26:44
isn't excellent. Yeah, you know what you've sold
26:47
me again? A book that I have no knowledge
26:50
about, but I I like your enthusiasm for it.
26:53
So I I'm all on board. I'm really excited for this next
26:57
one. We Are Green and Trembling by
27:01
Gabriella Kibasin Kamara, translated from Spanish by Robin
27:05
Myers. This was originally published in
27:08
Spanish in 2023, published by Penguin Random House in 2025.
27:14
This is another one kind of like Olga run run, where she was
27:19
published by a small press and is now kind of got on in
27:24
Penguin. And, and the same for Gabriella,
27:27
because I believe her previous ones that were in English have
27:29
been, well, definitely one of them at least is Charco.
27:33
And, and so it's, I think it's really nice when you hear about
27:37
these kind of organic grassroots, they've come from
27:40
small publishers. And it's nice that then these
27:44
small publishers don't have to necessarily rely like, I mean, I
27:47
know that probably a lot of money would come in if they were
27:49
still with the original public. I know Lolly doesn't publish
27:52
necessarily anymore, but it's kind of nice that it frees it up
27:56
for for other people and new people to come in.
27:58
I'm currently in Page 50 of this one.
28:00
I've had this long before the long list was released.
28:03
Have such a strange view of this one.
28:04
I'm going to have to start it again.
28:06
I like it but I really am struggling to get into it.
28:08
Like really struggling. So I have this book and I've
28:13
also had it for a long time. In fact, I visited Colin in
28:18
Edinburgh in August and in Toppings, the bookshop over
28:25
there, I took a picture of two different books that I, I, I was
28:32
staying for the Fringe, so I only had a backpack filled with
28:36
like clothes for like 2 weeks or something.
28:40
So I didn't have any room to like buy any books.
28:42
But I took pictures of two books, one book that I liked the
28:46
sound of and one book that I thought would be a good book for
28:49
Colin. And this book was the book that
28:52
I had taken a picture of that I was like, I don't want to forget
28:54
about this book. And then I visited column again
28:59
in December and I purchased it. No, I could have purchased it
29:05
here. There's no reason why I had to
29:06
wait until I went back to, to Edinburgh to purchase it.
29:09
But I, I got it and I started to read it and maybe around New
29:15
Year's and I got maybe 3 pages in and I stopped reading.
29:19
And, but no, that's not a criticism of the book because I
29:22
am so excited. I think this book and whenever I
29:25
first got it, I think whenever I first spotted it in Edinburgh,
29:31
we had just read Eden Shore for the first time.
29:34
Oh. Yeah.
29:35
There's a lot of yes, I was like this feels like a lot of similar
29:41
themes to Eden Shore and and that's kind of why it's been in
29:47
my mind this entire time. And it's also based on an actual
29:51
real life person, isn't it? I had no clue if that.
29:55
I think I think it is. Right.
29:56
Yeah, I believe you. I could be if this makes it to
30:00
the shortlist, which hopefully it does because I already have
30:02
it and I've already started it. So 3 pages in and hopefully it
30:07
does make it to the shortlist from from my perspective.
30:10
And then we will clarify if it is based on a real person or
30:14
not. And do you think it will or do
30:16
you hope it makes it to the shortlist?
30:18
Do you know what? So I have really every so often
30:20
read a bit more, read a bit more.
30:21
I think I definitely need to start it from the start because
30:23
I there's a bit that's really sticking with me.
30:26
And it was a chapter that I read and I was like, I loved it, but
30:31
it's just piercing it together with the rest of it.
30:32
And I kind of, I'm like, I've left it too long to be able to
30:36
piece it together. So I think I'm going to have to
30:37
start again from the start. I am maybe finding bits of it
30:40
drier than others. So I'm kind of struggling with
30:43
certain parts. And I think I know there's
30:45
something there that I will love.
30:46
So I'm kind of like, this is like those kind of books where
30:49
you have to put effort in. And I maybe at the time or the
30:52
times I've been looking at it, have not been able to put that
30:54
effort in. And I think this book deserves
30:56
effort. The next book is The Nights Are
30:59
Quiet in Tehran by Sheila Bajar, translated from German by Ruth
31:04
Martin, originally published in German in 2016 and published by
31:09
Scribe in 2025. I've started this book as well
31:12
because I couldn't bring Remembered Soldier about with me
31:15
because Remembered Soldier, which is another book on this
31:16
list is massive. Can't fit in my bag.
31:19
I also couldn't bring Daryl, which was Queen Mary shortlisted
31:24
book about with me because it was it's too controversial for
31:27
me to have awkward scenario where someone was to ask or to
31:32
read the blurb As I sat and read.
31:35
I kind of then brought this. It was mainly in worksite.
31:39
I had a lunch break and I read my lunch break.
31:41
So I was like, I brought this one and with me instead.
31:44
And I have kind of I'm 20 ish pages in into the first part.
31:50
So basically the story is again, it's Iranian and this time it's
31:55
set in the future in the 1979 revolution that happens.
32:01
In the future. In the in the future, from women
32:07
in the future, the future landscape of 1979 and then it
32:12
kind of jumps. I believe it jumps forward.
32:14
The only part I've only read a bit of the the 1979 part, but
32:17
then jumps forward at 10 years consecutively and and I'm really
32:23
enjoying the start of this one. It's a really interesting
32:26
insight. It's funny because obviously
32:28
you're reading it knowing what happens in the 1979 revolution.
32:31
So you kind of like this character, the revolution has
32:35
just happened and he's kind of very happy about it.
32:37
And you're like, well, you're not going to be happy for very
32:39
long here. But I'm, there's a real like,
32:43
I'm quite excited about how this is going to unfold because this
32:47
character, I know he's very like communist, communist, that's,
32:52
that's his like, he's coming from a, from a Marxist
32:54
perspective and he's kind of seeing the more religious aspect
32:57
of the revolution. And I think he doesn't believe
33:00
anywhere in him that the religious aspect is going to win
33:05
out over the communist aspect. Just from what I know of
33:09
history. I have a feeling he's going to
33:11
have a feeling he's going to be upset.
33:12
But I'm enjoying it. I am enjoying it.
33:15
So I'm excited to see where it goes.
33:16
What about you? Sounds good, yeah.
33:18
Yeah. I mean, again, a book that I
33:20
have like no knowledge of, but it it sounds good.
33:24
And so I'm excited if that one also shows up.
33:28
I feel like I'm a broken record here.
33:30
Just. Yeah, sounds good.
33:31
Like I'm excited like. You weren't.
33:32
There's definitely one book you weren't excited about.
33:35
One out of 13 in bad. Yeah.
33:40
How about the next one? The Remembered Soldier by Anya
33:44
Danya, translated from Dutch by David McKay, so it was
33:48
originally published in the Netherlands in 2019 and then
33:52
published by Scribe in 2025. It's our second book by Scribe.
33:56
Hang on a second, surely publishers can't submit.
34:00
They can submit multiples. Can they?
34:02
Yep. I can't remember exactly what
34:04
the rule is now because it went down because they could, they
34:06
could, they could do more. And now I think it's down to a
34:10
certain number. I really in my head it's 4.
34:13
Four, wow. And I mean, this is maybe not
34:17
the place to do this because you probably don't know the answers,
34:20
but do you know, can a translator be submitted multiple
34:23
times in a year? Can an author be submitted
34:26
multiple times in a year? To be determined?
34:30
No. No, no, because I mean I suppose
34:32
you actually have an scenario there with them on the
34:36
calculation of volume one and two, both were eligible.
34:39
So I imagine both could have I could have been.
34:42
I don't know that there's like a specific thing where they were
34:44
like we have to choose between the two of them.
34:45
I think there was the option of having none, There was an option
34:48
of having one and there was an option of having two, but I
34:51
really don't know. I imagine they maybe would go
34:53
against that kind of thing. Yeah, so remembered Soldier.
34:56
I am 50 something pages into this one.
35:00
I am maybe struggling a little bit with.
35:01
I was really excited about it. I have been really excited about
35:03
it. I'm I'm finding it daunting.
35:07
I find the jerk, which is 460 pages like an absolute breeze.
35:13
Reading through this one. I'm no the awareness that it's
35:17
going to be 562 pages and I'm not massively engrossed in it as
35:23
of yet. I'm hoping that at a point I'm
35:25
going to be like, oh, I'm actually really enjoying this
35:27
because I think they're mentally, it's tough to read a
35:30
longer book when you're not immediately connected to the
35:33
plot. So it is a very interesting
35:36
plot. It's about a Belgian soldier in
35:38
1922 who has been living in a asylum for the last four years.
35:43
He has memory loss, doesn't remember anything but the war,
35:44
doesn't remember anything about his previous life at all.
35:48
And a woman comes to the asylum to see if this man is her
35:52
husband. And he is.
35:54
And she takes him home and he's got he's now living, He's a he
35:58
was a photographer. He's now living in this house
36:01
with these two children he doesn't know and this wife that
36:04
he doesn't know. And he, he's just kind of like a
36:06
bit of a bank canvas. He doesn't really, I think he,
36:09
he's kind of almost going on the emotions of how other people are
36:12
looking at him and how they're treating him.
36:13
And it's, it is very interesting, but it's, it seems
36:17
quite long winded the way things are happening.
36:19
But I, I'm very, I'm very interested in the plot and I'm
36:22
very excited for maybe when it does maybe turn a corner for me
36:25
and I am really excited about it.
36:27
I imagine this is death Com one for you for if this book gets
36:33
through because there's so many short books on this list and
36:36
this is absolutely massive. So actually this book I am
36:39
excited for. It's one that I have been aware
36:42
of for a good while. I I actually would really like
36:46
to read this one. It has recently won the Republic
36:50
of Consciousness US and Canada, which is obviously the North
36:54
American version of the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize.
36:59
So it was one that was on my radar and one that I would be
37:02
interested in reading. So I honestly wouldn't hear it
37:07
if it if it showed up. Then on to the penultimate book
37:12
from the long list, which is The Witch by Marie and Jay,
37:15
translated from French by Jordan Stump, originally published in
37:19
French in 1996. That's that's a good long while
37:22
that's, I mean, it's going to say older than us, but it's
37:26
definitely not. It's younger than both of us.
37:29
Or is it OK, OK. Because I was worried that that
37:31
was I was going to be older than that and you were going to be
37:33
younger than that. No actually just a Gen.
37:37
Z. It is just a Gen.
37:40
ZI mean basically me published by Quackris.
37:48
Quackris. Your guess is a good deny.
37:50
I was going to say Quercus, but I think Quercus.
37:52
No, Quercus sounds much more like what that word is
37:56
pronounced. Quercus Publishing in 2026.
38:00
Have you read this one at all? No, I am expecting to get it in
38:03
the post in the next couple of days.
38:05
I'm excited for this one. Yeah, I'm really excited.
38:08
And also, I don't know if you remember, but we were
38:10
interviewing Nell Osborne, who recently won the Queen Mary
38:15
Small Press Fiction Prize jointly with Rebecca Grandson
38:18
and she was discussing this author.
38:20
She really loves her. So I was like, I've never read
38:22
any, but I know I'm getting 1 immediately, so I am.
38:25
And she was really talking about how amazing she is and how much
38:28
she loves her so and how much she hadn't read all of her work
38:31
to really wanted to. And I was she really sold me on
38:33
it. And I'm very, very excited about
38:37
this. And her particular interests,
38:39
Nell's particular interests is in experimental fiction.
38:45
So that might give us a little glimpse as to what the witch is.
38:49
Also another story about a witch which is interesting that
38:53
there's which, which was there which that will show up on that.
38:58
I kind of almost think that they're going to be maybe quite
39:01
different. The wax child is so strange and
39:03
it's, it's a historically it's, it's based on I, I really don't
39:07
want to say based on a true story because I don't think this
39:09
wax child existed, but it's it the, the account of this which
39:14
is true. I don't know if I said that back
39:16
then, but it's, it's about an actual witch trial.
39:18
Whereas I think that this is much more like not historical
39:22
and from the point of view of a witch in a way that, you know,
39:25
this person's a witch, not that you're speculating as to whether
39:29
or not this is a witch trial or so I think that element of it is
39:33
kind of exciting and it's not the kind of book that I would
39:35
usually read. So I am like, I know I said that
39:39
I really like a witch trials, but I like the the social aspect
39:41
of a witch trial and I like all that stuff.
39:43
And that makes very excited about this book.
39:45
I think it'll be a bit out there for me and.
39:47
Yeah, sounds good. How about the last one?
39:50
The last one, our final one, and I'd say probably the most likely
39:54
to be in the short list is the Director by Daniel Kalman and
39:59
it's translated from German by Ross Benjamin, is originally
40:03
published in German in 2023 and is also published by Quercus
40:10
Publishing in 2025 S our second one with the same publisher.
40:17
But anyway. I am I this is the only one I
40:20
actually haven't bought because it has been available since 2025
40:23
and it's still in hardback and it's quite expensive.
40:26
So I was like, I'm just going to avoid this one because and a lot
40:29
of people have reviewed it and Daniel Kelman is, is a very
40:34
popular author. He's he's been shortlisted
40:36
before or long at least long listed for till I think.
40:40
And I think that Colin might have read that one, but I'm not
40:42
100% sure. But it's basically, I'm pretty
40:44
sure the plot of this. I'm guessing, I haven't read it
40:46
in a while, but read the plot in a while is it's about a director
40:53
for Nazis and basically his relationship of like how much
41:00
are you involved when you are an artist and and that kind of
41:04
thing. I think that's such an
41:05
interesting topic and I am I would be very interested in
41:08
reading this and it will make me buy it if it comes out.
41:12
Otherwise, I am waiting for the the paperback before I read it.
41:18
Well, I yeah, I would be on board for this and Nazis and
41:24
stuff. Not really my vibe.
41:28
We were having such a deep conversation about how you
41:29
relate to books and stuff. Well, you know, like World War,
41:36
like all those kinds of stories. Not interesting.
41:39
Which is funny then, like war, it's just not my my thing.
41:43
And which the remembered soldier is already one that I said that
41:48
I am interested in what? Kind of post war.
41:51
Yes, exactly like. We will maybe dive into current,
41:54
dive into war, I think maybe like what actually happened.
41:58
Well, just particularly like Nazis and like all like World
42:03
War Two man and like I couldn't pass it like it's just not my
42:08
thing. But it this does sound like it
42:10
could be interesting. Almost like similar take is JoJo
42:14
Rabbit is on like JoJo Rabbit to me was actually I think that was
42:20
a book, but I'm talking about the film and it was like a nice
42:26
film to watch about World War 2. Not nice film.
42:28
You know what I mean? I.
42:30
Think more more modern interpretations of World War 2
42:33
because I think it's so it's so not I don't I hate to say the
42:36
word dumb, but because I think that every story is done, but I
42:41
think that modern stuff can be more experimental without being
42:48
necessarily hurtful or. Yeah, it doesn't have to be like
42:55
documentary level, like. I think as well it's like with
43:00
subjects like that, it is like from especially if you're
43:04
European or probably most, most countries in the world that were
43:08
affected. It's, it's almost, it's almost
43:12
seen as kind of like this thing that you at no point in your
43:15
life do you remember the first time someone told you about
43:18
World War One or World War 2? Like I think these things are
43:20
almost just ingrained, especially maybe in our
43:23
generation and the generations before.
43:25
But it's almost this thing that we, we know so much about that
43:29
it's almost like not that interesting a topic.
43:31
And I think that's something that I think that you have to do
43:34
when you write a novel about these kind of things now is you
43:37
have to to to find a different way and a different voice or
43:42
different aspect to bring across the horrors of the things that
43:50
happened in those wars. I think that because almost
43:53
hitting you over the head because they are the most
43:56
horrific things that have like you can't, I can't even with
44:00
them. Whereas you have to find
44:04
Grassman for the word smart, but like a different way to.
44:08
Unique. Yeah, a unique way to drill
44:11
those things in because the normal standard way that you
44:15
would tell a story about those things has been done.
44:17
This book actually reminds me. I've never seen this movie or
44:21
this musical, but it just reminds me of it and the
44:25
producers. Yeah, yeah, I was thinking the
44:27
same thing. Yeah.
44:28
I've not seen it either. Yeah, it's kind of what I
44:32
thought of, and I kind of do. You know what is it?
44:35
The Dictator by Charlie Chaplin. Again, not seen it idea of an
44:41
artistic I think it is it's a very interesting aspect of
44:45
Nazism was their their kind of. Propaganda.
44:50
Yeah, And I think as well, sometimes we over egg certain
44:52
elements of the propaganda where like other geniuses with the
44:55
symbol. And like, I think as well that
44:58
there's such a temptation for people to have to be like, Nazis
45:01
were so smart and it's like, I guess they were.
45:04
But I would like a more honest portrayal of like, I get that
45:09
obviously they did have very smart people that were doing
45:13
things that hadn't necessarily been done in such a way before,
45:16
in a modern kind of way. But I think that can't be like
45:21
authors, these evil geniuses. A lot of the things that they
45:24
did were really stupid. And I kind of hope that someone
45:28
like really brings that across in some kind of art form for me.
45:32
I would appreciate that. Not that that happens in this.
45:34
Well, let's see if the director blitzkriegs its way onto the Is
45:41
that offensive? Sorry if that's offensive.
45:44
Please God. So do you want to give me even
45:50
your top three for what you hope makes it to the shortlist?
45:53
OK, I really want the jerk to be on.
45:55
I just loved it. I really.
45:57
Yeah, I'm really hoping for it to be on the the list.
45:59
OK, and my choice is going to be we are green and trembling.
46:03
I think my next one is going to be controversial, but I think
46:07
it's going to be on earth as it is beneath.
46:09
OK, that I would be happy with that one as well, but my next
46:12
choice is going to be the wax child.
46:14
Very good. I'm very happy with that as well
46:16
and I'm going to go with my final one with women without
46:20
men. My final one is going to be the
46:23
director and we've already won me around with that even though
46:30
no, but just our little shadow about it has one me round is.
46:34
That our shortlist I love. That that's, that's our
46:36
shortlist, yes. OK, OK.
46:38
I'm happy but but the remember children soldiers definitely
46:41
going to be on there so I don't know how though.
46:44
I'm so excited now. I love that that's that's a
46:47
really authentic shortlist from us.
46:49
I think that'll be really interesting.
46:51
Definitely join us along this journey for the International
46:56
Booker Prize Shortlist 2026. We will be coming to you later
47:02
this week with a reaction to what is actually on the
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shortlist. And next week we will probably
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be coming to you with our first discussion about the first book.
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And so please read along and share what your thoughts are
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with us. You can find us on Instagram.
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We are at bookies favorite book club and you can also e-mail us.
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Everything's going to be in the description down below.
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You can find me on Instagram. I am Aaron Rice Media Lucy is.
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I'm at books 2026, books for the Z.
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We have covered multiple other literary awards.
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Last year we covered this award in 2025.
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We've also covered the Booker Prize 2025, and we have just
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wrapped up our coverage of the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction
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Prize for independent publishers as well.
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Bookies, Art. Lucy Bookies Art.
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And that's a goodbye from me. Bye.