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Booker Prize 2025 | Shortlist Predictions · Bookies' Favourite

• 0:10
  Hi, we're back. Hi everyone, welcome to the
• 0:15
  club. At Bookie's favorite book club,
• 0:17
  we discussed literary shortness and award-winning novels.
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  This episode, we'll make our predictions for tomorrow's
• 0:24
  Booker Prize Shortlist announced we'll be.
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  Reading and discussing all six books each week before the
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  winner is announced. Join us, share your thoughts,
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  and read along. Some of us have already read
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  some of the books on the long list, while some of us haven't
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  read any. And you?
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  Colin, Aaron. Ooh, doing.
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  Yourself I am doing myself. We have each picked out the 6:00
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  we'd like to see on the short list, and you can probably
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  immediately disregard Colin and Aaron's picks.
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  No, it's vibes. We're going on vibes.
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  Vibes are. Important.
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  Listen closely to mine and Hannahs.
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  We're going to run through the current figures dozen long list,
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  giving you a quick summary of each plot, and we'll reveal to
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  each other if it's on our list. But first, let's introduce
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  ourselves. Hi everyone, I'm Colin, We meet
• 1:10
  again. I've read none of these books,
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  although like I just said, the vibes are Immaculate and I'm
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  letting the vibes guide me. I'm dowsing for vibes right now.
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  I'm Aaron and I also have not read any of these books, but I'm
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  excited to get into the shortlist and read a book a week
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  again. Hi, I'm Lucy and I have read
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  completely 10 and I've started another two and I don't have a
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  copy of the final one by Karen Desai Panorama just seen with
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  them. Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel
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  this year. Maybe a second read will make me
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  happier with the list, but I definitely I'm not feeling that
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  confident in them. Hi everyone, I'm Hannah and I've
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  read 7 out of the 13 so far and this is my first year reading a
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  lot of the paper prize ones. It's been tough at times, but
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  umm, I'm excited to see what everyone thinks.
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  I'm not sure I'm really would be happy if some of these were on
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  the list and I have to do a second read, but yeah, I'm
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  excited. 1st on the long list is Misinterpretation by Lydia Zogo.
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  This one. Second, I'm sorry, did you read
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  my pronunciation guide? No, I didn't.
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  The first on the long list is Misinterpretation by Lydia Yoga,
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  published by Daunt Books Originals.
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  This book follows an Albanian translator in New York City who
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  finds herself wound up in some trouble.
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  So have you guys read this one? I have completely finished this
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  one. I don't know how much to say,
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  but you know, I thought it was quite promising.
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  And then the ending, I literally was like what?
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  Like I just was so annoyed how it ended.
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  But I would be excited to see who else reads it and then we
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  can kind of chat about it and if you felt the same way.
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  But Lucy, have you been reading it?
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  So this one I am close to halfway through and kind of just
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  started the last few days reading it and probably haven't
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  finished pretty soon, so probably by the time the
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  shortlist is announced. Yeah, I'm kind of enjoying it so
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  far. I think it's kind of weird.
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  Definitely. It's a, it's a stronger start
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  than a lot of the other ones in, but I, it's one of those ones
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  that I've not read any reviews that have been favorable to it.
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  And I've read a lot of reviews of the various ones.
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  And it seems to me to be one of the ones that people have just
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  been like, this doesn't work, not even divisive.
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  So I'm kind of like, I don't, I feel bad kind of going into it
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  with that view of like, there's going to be a point where this
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  is going to start to disappoint me because I am doing it.
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  I'm, I'm genuinely excited though for the rest of it.
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  I think I probably will read the rest of it quite quickly,
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  because I am. Is is it on anyone's list?
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  I'm going to say it's on mine just because it's one.
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  I've read it was fine, but I would want to know what everyone
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  else's opinion is of it, I think.
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  What do you think, Lucy? I definitely think you're kind
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  of, I know you don't want to give any spoilers to me, but I
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  think that you're kind of review ish that you've said has kind of
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  gelled with me as the things that other people have said.
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  So I definitely don't think you're on your own.
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  Even if I completely disagree with you, I think you've
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  definitely got people on your side.
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  This is one that is giving me some good vibes, but again, like
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  I like I have looked at the the reviews of it and I I don't
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  know, I'm apprehensive with this one.
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  So no, it's not going to make the list, but it was very, very
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  close for me. Next up we have Sea Scraper by
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  Benjamin Wood and that is published by Viking.
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  This is a story of a young farmer's life, and it's upended
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  with the prospect of the American Dream.
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  Have either of you read this one?
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  Yes, I've read it and I think Hannah has as well.
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  And this is vying for one of my top spots as my favorites.
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  It's kind of, I think it's set in the 60s and it's got that
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  kind of old world vibe and like the descriptions of him working
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  because he like his kind of work on the beach are really
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  brilliant. I think maybe one thing that I
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  would say about it is that it's not like as out there with
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  anything. I don't think it's like it's
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  quite straightforward story to a lot of extent.
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  I really, really enjoyed it. I think it's like top class and
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  it's definitely one of the best from the selection of books like
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  100%. So if it's not on the long list,
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  I will be disappointed because I would like to read it again.
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  I think it'd be good for the second read.
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  OK. So when I first decided I was
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  going to read it I had messaged Lucy and she said oh I loved it.
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  So I automatically said I'm going to hate it because we
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  always have such a post and views.
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  But I've loved this book so much that I had it on my Kindle and
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  then I went to Toppings and Bath and immediately bought the 1st
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  edition, find a copy of it because I loved it so much.
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  I think it has like, almost like this classic kind of
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  storytelling element. Like Lucy said, it's not really
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  reaching out there like going for anything too big, but almost
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  that simplicity in a way makes it so beautiful.
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  I will be devastated if it's not on the shortlist.
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  This is 1 I would be excited to read again because I think
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  there's even more to interpret or, you know, feelings to have.
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  Umm, by reading it a second time.
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  So book if you're listening, it better be on the list.
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  So Hannah, it's, it's on your list.
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  I think it's on my list as well. This is definitely one that I'm
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  I'm hoping for. Lucy, it sounds like it's on
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  your list too, am I right? I I'm with Hannah there, I'm I'd
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  be devastated if it wasn't on it.
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  I think it as you were saying, Hannah, it's like what it does,
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  it does so well. It's so it is that old fashioned
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  storytelling style. And and I agree with you,
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  Hannah, I think there's like the dream element of it that won't
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  make any sense with anybody else.
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  But it's like, I would love to read that again and be like,
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  what do I make of it? And it's it's just a brilliant,
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  it is a brilliant book. It's a brilliantly written book
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  and it's just so well. Done.
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  Yeah, like compared to some of the others in the list, this is
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  just one that I was like, this is top.
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  This is like, people. What about you, Colin?
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  Is it on your list? Yeah, I mean, even before you
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  guys like have like talked about it here, it wasn't my list.
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  I mean, I also love to cover. It's one of the four that I was
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  like, do you know, just from reading the herbs and stuff
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  about it, I was like, yeah, that sounds good.
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  So another long listed book is Flesh by David Szaloy published
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  by Jonathan Kay and it follows the life of a man who was in a
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  relationship with a woman his mother's age when he was a
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  schoolboy. And then it goes through his his
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  life. I have read this one, I and I.
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  It kind of sits in the middle for me in regards to the books
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  I've read. It was very quick read.
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  It's a strange read. I think that there's more.
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  I think it could be an interesting one to to discuss.
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  The main character is very passive and it's very much his
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  relationship with women throughout his life seems to to
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  kind of cut into his life at times where he's in
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  relationships or how he's getting on with with with the
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  women in his life. Yeah.
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  It's like this overshadowing of this relationship that he had
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  when he was a child, even though he doesn't really think back on
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  it or anything. It's like you can you can sense
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  this throughout the book. But Hannah, you've read this one
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  as well, I believe. Yeah, so I really like this one.
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  Like you said, the character is kind of passive, and in the end,
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  you're kind of like, I don't know if I even know more about
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  him or understand him fully, but I actually really like that.
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  And times I was like, I hate this guy.
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  And then other times I was like, you know what, he's all right.
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  And it's so hard because you don't want to try and give too
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  much away. But I would like this to be on
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  the list. I think it could be like good
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  discussion and we can all talk about like how passive he kind
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  of is in his own life. But what do you guys think?
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  Is it on anyone else's list? I like how hearing you talk
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  about Anna because actually you're, you're like convincing
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  me more. But I the the whole overall
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  thing, I mean a passive, A passive protagonist.
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  I don't know. I don't know about that.
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  But I do think there's something to his passivity, if that's the
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  right word, because he's so passive.
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  Because I think that passive narration is such a big theme
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  where especially in like fantasy books and stuff like that, where
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  it's just like all these mad things are happening to this one
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  person. But I feel like there could be
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  something more to his passivity. And I think that it would be a
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  really interesting thing to talk about in saying that, it's
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  between this and another book to be on my list.
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  And I'm not sure at the moment I have it as like #6 on my list,
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  but I'm kind of between it and the South by Tash OR.
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  It was a really easy, quick read and I like that.
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  So I think that's why it's like on my list is because it didn't
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  feel like it was. It took a lot of effort to read
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  and for being a bigger book, I feel like I flew through it
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  really fast so. I feel like so many lines in
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  that book are just him going OK. Because like.
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  Every, every time someone speaks, it's a different line
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  and it's always like him just going OK and then everybody
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  asking him questions and him going like next line, OK.
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  On Instagram, MJS Peelman picked out this book as their choice.
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  For #4 In our list, we've got Endlings by Maria Riva,
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  published by Virago. The war in Ukraine begins as a
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  woman is obsessed with snails is a really random way to put this,
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  but I I'm going to serve myself. I love this book.
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  It's like I think that and sea scraper are battling and I for
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  number 1, I just really, really loved it because if you just
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  even read that, you know, the war in Ukraine and snails, you
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  just it's so different in a way to that as well.
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  At the start, I was so turned off by it because the idea of
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  thinking about snails really grossed me out.
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  I would be really, really happy if it was on the list.
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  So better be again. Lucy, have you read this one?
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  Yes, this is one of the ones that I read pre long being
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  announced because I was so excited about it because it
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  seemed like such an interesting book and I am in total agreement
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  with you, Hannah. I really enjoyed it.
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  I thought it was really it's so zany and it's so like, I don't
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  know if it's, it's so out there, like everything that happens in
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  it, but it's extremely well written.
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  And I think that it's very hard to write a book with that many
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  weird things going on and make it actually good.
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  Because I think at times I was kind of like, is this going to
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  be kind of a bit of a gimmick? But I don't I don't think it is.
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  And also she kind of messes with like, form and like, is the book
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  real or is the book like it's? So it, it is.
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  I think that this book is definitely one of the most just
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  entertaining books in it. Yeah.
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  It's like, I, it's in my list. I think it's #3 I'd say.
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  OK, Yeah. But like it's very the top, my
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  top three I think are very good. So I'm kind of like, I wasn't at
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  times. I was kind of expecting it to be
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  a bit like, this is too much. This is a bit zany.
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  This is a bit. But actually, I think she pulls
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  it off and that's an impressive thing to be able to do.
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  Yeah, I think it's hard not to spoil it, but I know what you're
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  talking about, Nick. Near in the middle, sort of the
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  middle. Section it's like, yeah, what
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  are what are you doing, Maria? Aaron, Colin.
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  Thoughts. Yeah, it's not on my list.
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  It's not one of my 6, but I'm not a hater.
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  I think I'll enjoy it. You think I'd like it?
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  That would be my top. If I had to recommend one that I
• 12:47
  think you would enjoy, I would go that one.
• 12:49
  OK, OK, well if it's there I'm sure I will, but it's not one of
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  my 6. What about?
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  Yeah, I mean it definitely is one of my 6.
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  I just love the cookie idea of it.
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  And also, I've been seeing like Maria Riva has been on American
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  talk shows talking about this book and like, that's not a
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  thing you normally see. Like she's such a character, the
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  way she talks about it and like how she talks, like, I, I want
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  to read something she's written. If, you know, I mean the, the
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  writer herself has like captivated me beyond, beyond
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  what she's written. I'm not surprised at that.
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  If someone told me one of the writers of any of these books
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  that I've read was like going to be on a late night talk show, it
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  would be her because you, you get the sense that she like
• 13:32
  you'd want to go for a drink with her.
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  Yeah, I feel like umm, also some of our umm listeners thought
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  that as well. So Sarah Sadie Smith told us on
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  Instagram that this is her choice.
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  She loved it so much she answered her question on
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  Instagram three times. And if you aren't following us
• 13:47
  on Instagram, guys, what are you doing?
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  And this book is also the choice of Ashley, also known as a few
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  of Chai favorite things on Instagram.
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  One of our bookies who shared her thoughts?
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  Umm, when we read through the International Booker Price
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  shortlist earlier this year. My pick for the shortlist is
• 14:03
  Inling by Maria Reva. This book talks about both the
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  preservation and annihilation of a species.
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  Maria's characters are so well developed and fleshed out and
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  endearing. The plot that is introduced at
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  the beginning of this book is soon interrupted by the Russians
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  invasion of Ukraine. What follows is a book about
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  proximity and distance to a tragedy.
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  Who has the right to tell these stories?
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  Reva does such a beautiful job at weaving her personal
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  connections to the story into the novel, is beautiful at
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  times. Humor is poignant.
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  Rubber tackles it all with a deft hand.
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  And For these reasons it is a pick for my shortlist.
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  Can I just say that, and we discussed this earlier, but I
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  love her. I follow her on Instagram.
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  This is going to be the creepiest thing if she's
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  listening because she'll be like, this woman is a weirdo.
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  But I feel like all of her interests are my interests.
• 15:01
  And I find that weird because she always posts like really
• 15:04
  good things about Real Housewives.
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  And I don't know, I love the Real Housewives franchise.
• 15:11
  It's one of my it's, I mean, it's the only TVI watch, but I
• 15:15
  feel like she's like obviously watches it as well.
• 15:17
  And I'm like, yeah, I hope that she's enjoying the Season 6 of
• 15:21
  Salt Lake City. Usual slag Real Housewives, but
• 15:25
  actually if you watched it, you would be on my side.
• 15:29
  It's. But like there's a thing, Lucy,
• 15:31
  like Maria Reva or Reba or however, however, saying her
• 15:34
  name sounds like one of those literary icons slash housewives
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  that you would mention. You'd be like, oh, I love Maria
• 15:39
  Reva. And it'd be like, is she a
• 15:41
  writer or is she a housewives? I think, yeah, Maria Reva, she
• 15:46
  kind of, she could be like a a Lisa Rinna figure, which means
• 15:50
  nothing to you guys but that you need to get into it.
• 15:54
  These need to. Next up is The Land in Winter by
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  Andrew Miller, published by Scepter 2.
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  English couples face a Blizzard in 1962 England.
• 16:05
  So has anyone read this? That's a very very to the point
• 16:09
  descriptor there. Has anyone read this?
• 16:11
  I've read it. Have you read it, Hannah?
• 16:13
  I have not. I put it on my Kindle and I
• 16:16
  looked at it again and I was like, I can't do this.
• 16:19
  I had to have a break. No, in all fairness, don't.
• 16:25
  So I don't want to be harsh because I've read so many good
• 16:27
  reviews of this and I was kind of going into it and I thought
• 16:30
  this actually was one of my like, I can't wait to read.
• 16:33
  I just did not gel with it. I think I'm, it's, I don't know,
• 16:36
  maybe a second read would make me appreciate it more or
• 16:39
  something. But the idea of reading it
• 16:40
  another time is stressing me out.
• 16:42
  And for me, it just didn't, didn't, just did not work for
• 16:47
  me. I, yeah, I feel like I'm
• 16:49
  probably the only person that thinks this, but it just, I find
• 16:51
  it really boring. At the end.
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  I just did not care what happened to any of these
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  couples. And I was.
• 16:56
  I was all ready for a Blizzard. Yeah, to.
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  Be honest, I didn't even like at times I was kind of like I
• 17:01
  thought it would be more claustrophobic because I think
• 17:03
  that that will create a real and I didn't feel that way, but I
• 17:07
  think other people maybe did but I didn't personally feel like I
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  was in a Blizzard and. That's what disappoints me
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  because I was, it's on my list because I just like the concept
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  of like, like you said, that claustrophobia of like, being
• 17:17
  trapped and like that explosive nature of like, whatever is
• 17:20
  going to go down, you know, which makes me sad.
• 17:23
  I mean, I'm going to keep it on my list.
• 17:25
  But like yeah I'm now regretting regretting the vibes.
• 17:29
  Loads of other people disagreed with me.
• 17:31
  It won the Walter Scott Prize. Like I might be like, I don't
• 17:36
  know if it was just the time I read it at or it just felt to me
• 17:39
  like it just was not for me. It was one of those books that
• 17:43
  just was not for me. I'm in the same boat as Colin.
• 17:47
  I am actually hopeful that this will end up on the shortlist.
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  It's it's on my list of 6. So if it if it ends up at least
• 17:56
  I think we will have interesting conversations because you seem
• 18:00
  like you have strong feelings about it and I'm hopeful I would
• 18:05
  like it. It's enough.
• 18:06
  Up next is The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovitz, published by
• 18:12
  Favour A father has a midlife crisis on a road trip.
• 18:16
  Have either of you read this one?
• 18:18
  I have. I have also.
• 18:20
  But I would like to thank my mother for buying me the book.
• 18:22
  Icon icon. On a trip to London, yeah.
• 18:26
  So thanks. Did you like this book?
• 18:29
  That was my very firm. Oh.
• 18:33
  I completely agree with you. This book, I struggled.
• 18:38
  I struggled to read it. Like I felt like I was reading
• 18:41
  like 20 pages and just having to put it down.
• 18:42
  Like I just did not like it. And I understand that it has
• 18:46
  like these things where if you go, you can talk about them and
• 18:49
  they would evoke somewhat of a conversation.
• 18:51
  But I think this is a really bad book.
• 18:55
  I'm so sorry. I don't want to be critical of
• 18:57
  authors like school badly, but like, it irritated me how bad I
• 19:00
  thought this was. I'm really annoyed that you feel
• 19:04
  the same because I was kind of like, it's kind of nice to have
• 19:07
  like someone say something really nice about it and then
• 19:09
  someone said to say something not so nice about something, you
• 19:11
  know, but for me. So sorry, we're on the same page
• 19:13
  this time, do you? See, Hannah, I was banking on
• 19:17
  you to say this is the best book I've ever read.
• 19:20
  I don't know that I'd say that the writing was particularly
• 19:22
  bad, but I I don't even know that.
• 19:24
  Like, I think sometimes it was almost like it was touching on
• 19:27
  themes that I was like, oh, this could be this is about to maybe
• 19:30
  be interesting. And then it wouldn't.
• 19:32
  It was so surface level. Yeah.
• 19:35
  And I think, and I don't even know that maybe maybe on a
• 19:37
  second rate, I'll read it and go, oh, maybe there was some
• 19:40
  hidden depth to this, but it's it's maybe a bit too hidden for
• 19:43
  me because I just was like, he is skirting around big issues
• 19:48
  and never engaging with them in a way that I think is meaningful
• 19:52
  at all. And at the end, it was kind of
• 19:54
  like almost like the stuff that happened.
• 19:56
  It was like, I don't know that I massively care about this
• 19:58
  character. Don't think that you've created
• 20:00
  a character that I care about. I know that we can all like, not
• 20:04
  like a character, but you can always like, respect the writing
• 20:07
  and everything that's went into it.
• 20:08
  But I felt nothing. I don't know, something about
• 20:12
  this just did not hit with me. I found it actually quite
• 20:16
  opposite. Do you how I did find it quite
• 20:17
  quick to read, but I think I was just like, right, get to
• 20:20
  something. What's happening here?
• 20:21
  You. Know more than anything because
• 20:23
  it's not that long a book. It's a big no for me.
• 20:26
  I do not want it on the shortlist.
• 20:28
  I would be irritated if I have to reread this book again.
• 20:30
  Like I would just throw it away like I don't want to.
• 20:34
  I'm going to assume that this book isn't on anyone's list.
• 20:37
  No, when a book good this comes along, I sit and think, what is
• 20:41
  it that all of them read and saw in it that they thought it was
• 20:45
  so good to put it on a list? Is it just like, oh, this might
• 20:48
  start a conversation like that's shove it on a list?
• 20:51
  I'm like, come on guys, there's way better right there.
• 20:53
  I don't know what conversation it would even start.
• 20:56
  Another long listed book is Audition by Kitty Kitamura,
• 21:00
  published by Fern Press. His Broadway All It's cracked up
• 21:03
  to be. I have read this and it is on my
• 21:06
  list. This is my up there with C
• 21:08
  scraper one. It's very contentious.
• 21:10
  So I'm imagining and I think I know Hannah's opinion on it, but
• 21:14
  I I think it was a gamble, the style that she's gone for.
• 21:19
  Yeah. It's a massive gamble for me.
• 21:22
  I find that there was like an emotional depth that I really
• 21:26
  liked, but I can understand why people didn't like this.
• 21:30
  The reason that it's kind of vying for my top spot is because
• 21:32
  I think that she's there may be something more like to it than
• 21:37
  sea scraper. Maybe in some ways.
• 21:38
  But even though like I think sea scraper is like a perfect book,
• 21:42
  but almost perfect book, but I'm kind of like audition is very
• 21:47
  out there. I understand people hitting it
• 21:48
  like a absolutely can't. Like I can't.
• 21:50
  I can't judge anyone for hitting it because it's very divisive.
• 21:54
  But I read it and was like, whoa.
• 21:57
  And I was like, I want to read this again.
• 21:59
  Like I actually see if it's not on the list.
• 22:01
  I'm really devastated. And I reckon Colin and Iron you
• 22:03
  would love it in the list because it is so short.
• 22:05
  Yeah, you know that this book is on my list, but I'm curious what
• 22:08
  you what your thoughts are, Hannah.
• 22:10
  So when I first read it, I was like, I just don't get this.
• 22:16
  Or I was just a bit like, what? Because the book is separated
• 22:20
  basically into two stories in a way.
• 22:23
  Umm, but still following through the same sort of narrative, if
• 22:27
  that makes any sense. I'm very bad at describing
• 22:30
  things. Great.
• 22:31
  The hard one to describe. Yeah.
• 22:34
  And so I've sat with it for a while and I was thinking, I
• 22:38
  think this is 1 I would need to reread to fully like grasp it
• 22:42
  and like what it was all about in a way.
• 22:44
  I think there is the themes in it to pull out and really
• 22:47
  discuss. And I did like that it was
• 22:49
  short, but when I read the blur, it just wasn't what I thought it
• 22:53
  would be. And I think it was one of the
• 22:54
  first ones I read in the list. So I think I have big
• 22:59
  expectations. And then it didn't turn out.
• 23:01
  So I was a big negative Nancy. But I, I'm, I can't decide if I
• 23:07
  wanted to be on the list or not. I'm, I'm, I'm a bit divided on
• 23:10
  that one. But yeah, I think it's one I
• 23:13
  need to read again. I love the sort of like concept,
• 23:17
  like I've written stuff, you know, about showbiz because it
• 23:20
  always interests me and I know that it's more than that.
• 23:23
  But yeah, it has been on the list and even before it got on
• 23:27
  the long list, it's been on my to buy this for a while before
• 23:30
  it got long listed. So I hope this is on the list.
• 23:34
  It seems interesting to me. Next up we have The Loneliness
• 23:38
  of Sonia and Sunny by Karen Desai and this is published by
• 23:43
  Humesh Hamilton. A young Indian man and women's
• 23:48
  lives intertwine. Are they destined to be soul
• 23:51
  mates? Has anyone read this one?
• 23:53
  I'm assuming no one has because it's, I know some people have
• 23:56
  got it from the publisher earlier, but it's not until like
• 24:00
  next week. So I haven't read it.
• 24:01
  I want it on the list. And I I'm putting a lot of eggs
• 24:05
  in the basket here that I'm like, this is the one I can't
• 24:08
  see and I can't read and I can't get a feel for it.
• 24:09
  But I'm really hoping that, yeah, I'm usually pretty, I
• 24:16
  usually like Indian literature and I've already got it ordered,
• 24:19
  so I will read it. And I know India is a big place,
• 24:22
  a lot of literature, but I they tend, I tend to enjoy them.
• 24:25
  She has previously won the Booker Prize a good while ago.
• 24:30
  I'm, I'm really hoping that this is good.
• 24:32
  I will read it regardless of whether or not it's in the short
• 24:35
  list. But I really hope it is.
• 24:37
  Aaron, I'm assuming you absolutely don't because it's
• 24:39
  the length. I know the the length I locked
• 24:43
  it up it's 660. Eight.
• 24:45
  Oh my God. No, yeah.
• 24:49
  But it's on my list. What?
• 24:52
  That's unheard of. Interesting.
• 24:54
  OK guys, he's never going to finish it.
• 24:57
  He's. Never.
• 24:57
  Yeah, we just never going to. Just like putting it out.
• 25:01
  No, he's going to listen to it at times 5 speed.
• 25:05
  I don't know if I would want this on the list or not like but
• 25:07
  next but not hearing how I yeah. Eradicated on the list.
• 25:11
  Eviscerated, blasted. It's destroyed.
• 25:13
  Sorry, Goodbye. Sounds interesting though I will
• 25:15
  say it does sound, it just doesn't mean it hasn't been my
• 25:18
  personal. Yeah.
• 25:20
  Yeah, if it was shorter, I probably would have read it if
• 25:22
  it's not on the shortlist, but that's over 600 pages, it's.
• 25:29
  Next we have Flashlight by Susan Choi, published by Jonathan
• 25:33
  Keep. We follow the impact on a family
• 25:36
  after the father disappears at the beach.
• 25:40
  I haven't read this one yet but I'm planning to start it like
• 25:45
  tomorrow. Even if it's not on the
• 25:46
  shortlist, I really want to to read it and especially because I
• 25:53
  got to buy it Tay on why as part of my birthday present.
• 25:56
  So I feel like I have to kind of read it anyway.
• 25:59
  But I really like it's one that when we and Aaron recover in the
• 26:04
  long list a few weeks ago, it was one that I was definitely
• 26:08
  like, I want to. I just I don't know, sounds
• 26:10
  really good to me. What about you, Lucy?
• 26:12
  So I'm like maybe 58 pages into it and I stopped reading it
• 26:16
  about 3 weeks ago because I was like, I think I was just burnt
• 26:19
  out with all the other ones. Not, not for any particular
• 26:23
  reason about the book itself, but I was like, this is too long
• 26:26
  and I'm like, I'm not in the headspace to read this.
• 26:29
  And I think you do need to, to give a book a fair chance.
• 26:32
  You need to be able to be like, I can't read you at the moment.
• 26:34
  Again, with you. How I think the plot sounds
• 26:36
  really good and the writing like so far has been absolutely fine.
• 26:39
  Like I'm only like 58 pages in and but yeah, I, I, it could be
• 26:43
  really good. I don't know.
• 26:44
  I don't know. But right now I'm just not
• 26:46
  feeling that kind of story because it's, it's skipping
• 26:49
  about in time and things like that.
• 26:50
  Different characters, but again, not very farther.
• 26:53
  Colin, is this of interest to you?
• 26:56
  No, I don't. I don't.
• 27:00
  There's much more step. Beyond that, me too.
• 27:03
  Me too. I don't think this is making my
• 27:05
  list. I think Hannah's the only one
• 27:07
  that has this one on our list. I'm so surprised you guys, I
• 27:10
  would have really put this down as a book.
• 27:11
  That I don't know. No, there's just but something I
• 27:14
  don't. Know.
• 27:15
  I think when I look at the others and obviously you can
• 27:17
  only have sex, this one, I don't know, I think it just gets
• 27:20
  nudged. I, I do like, like might
• 27:22
  surprise you, Lucy. I do like literature, you know,
• 27:25
  like sometimes I like thought provoking where things things
• 27:29
  don't have to happen, you know, And I think like, this is the
• 27:32
  kind of book where it feels like things happen and I'm like, I
• 27:34
  don't know, there's other books on this list that more
• 27:37
  appealing. One of the other books on the
• 27:40
  long list is 1 Boat by Jonathan Buckley, published by Fitz
• 27:45
  Crowd, Though editions. A woman deals with her grief by
• 27:49
  hunkering down on a Greek island.
• 27:51
  Have you read this one? I've read it and I'm not a huge
• 27:56
  fan of this book. I do really like Jonathan
• 27:59
  Buckley. He's the only one of these
• 28:00
  people that I've read another one of his books and he wrote
• 28:04
  one called Tell, which I think was quite an interesting kind of
• 28:07
  take on like a bit of a big kind of I don't know.
• 28:12
  It's it's it's it's a weird book.
• 28:13
  Tell is and one boat is also kind of strange.
• 28:18
  It's it's beautifully written, but I did find it really boring
• 28:22
  and there was elements of it at the end where I was like, oh, is
• 28:24
  this this is more depth to it than I originally thought.
• 28:28
  And but I was kind of like, I've already been bored at this
• 28:31
  point, but it's taken me a long time to read it as well.
• 28:34
  So maybe that's kind of impacted that, the fact that I've been
• 28:37
  like reading bits of it at different times and then kind of
• 28:41
  maybe forgetting about certain characters and stuff.
• 28:43
  I don't particularly want it on the shortlist, but I think it
• 28:48
  might be one of those things that maybe another read and I'll
• 28:51
  be like, oh, completely different opinion because it is
• 28:53
  really well written. I don't really have an interest
• 28:55
  in this one. I don't know.
• 28:57
  It doesn't really like speak to me in a way.
• 29:00
  Like, I haven't really even been bothered to buy it compared to
• 29:06
  the rest of them. But I don't know, I still have
• 29:08
  that fear because I got burned by that Fitzgeraldo one time and
• 29:13
  even though perfection wasn't bad or anything, you know?
• 29:16
  This spoke to me. This is on my list.
• 29:19
  Like this interests me because while it is like more thought,
• 29:23
  you know, provoking and seems more like nothing really
• 29:25
  happens. I, I kind of love the idea of
• 29:27
  like isolation and what that does to people and how they
• 29:30
  like, you know, that distance and stuff helps people to like
• 29:33
  think and I like, I love the minutiae and details of those
• 29:35
  things. So I'm interested in this book.
• 29:37
  It's definitely on my list. I'm with Colin on this one.
• 29:39
  This one is also on my list. What I don't know.
• 29:44
  I cannot picture you reading this book, Aaron, at all.
• 29:47
  I just, I can't. And this is going to be one of
• 29:50
  those things where you're going to be like, you'll read it and
• 29:53
  you'll be like, oh, I really love this because they discuss
• 29:55
  like a butterfly in this section.
• 29:57
  And then I think this means something else.
• 30:00
  So I don't know if you Aaron, I really don't, but I can't see
• 30:04
  you reading this book and enjoying this.
• 30:06
  Lucy, I'm a layered person and we'll see.
• 30:09
  I hope it's on the shortlist so we can actually discuss it and
• 30:13
  see if I'm right. But yeah, I'm, I'm kind of
• 30:18
  disappointed that that you didn't enjoy it.
• 30:22
  My enjoyment means nothing for your guys enjoyment.
• 30:25
  Another long listed book is Universality by Natasha Brown,
• 30:28
  published by Faber. A man gets beaten with a gold
• 30:32
  brick. Let the class wars begin.
• 30:35
  Have you read this one, Lucy? I have read this one.
• 30:37
  I read this a year ago. So she's ahead of the.
• 30:40
  Curve, Yeah, way ahead of the curve, way out of the curve.
• 30:43
  And I also, interestingly enough, Natasha Brown was picked
• 30:46
  as one of the grand 40 under 40. And the first part of this book
• 30:50
  was the selected text that they put in that edition of Granta.
• 30:57
  So I'd read it like actually a couple whenever that was first
• 31:00
  released. So I feel like I've read that
• 31:03
  bit twice, but this is on my list.
• 31:05
  I I would really like to read it again.
• 31:08
  I haven't read it since I've kind of kept it away from it
• 31:11
  because I'd like to read it again and kind of be like, well,
• 31:13
  I read this last year and what are my thoughts on it again?
• 31:17
  But it's very short. It's probably the shortest one,
• 31:20
  I think on the list. It's it's very well written and
• 31:23
  I think there's more meaning behind it than I got on my first
• 31:27
  one. So I'm, I'm really hoping it's
• 31:29
  on the list so I can read it again.
• 31:31
  But I also have very vague memories of it.
• 31:33
  So I'm maybe not the best person to talk about it.
• 31:35
  Hannah, you speak about it. I think was this maybe one of
• 31:40
  the first or second ones I read in the list.
• 31:45
  I liked it. And I feel like it talks about
• 31:49
  topics, you know, about race and class and that, you know, that
• 31:53
  are quite relevant in the last few months.
• 31:55
  You know, with everything that going on, I don't know, it's
• 31:59
  fine. I just think when I think about
• 32:02
  like C scraper and stuff that like, you know what a book just
• 32:06
  evokes like joy or like for me, it's the book that when you
• 32:09
  finish it and then you go away and you're still thinking about
• 32:13
  it or like it pops into your head like the ones that last and
• 32:17
  this one didn't. But it wasn't bad.
• 32:20
  It just wasn't like amazing to me in a way.
• 32:22
  But I agree with you. See, like it was written really
• 32:25
  well. I totally kind of agree with you
• 32:27
  in a way. I think that was my thoughts
• 32:29
  about it when I first read it. I was kind of like, OK, all
• 32:33
  right, yeah, yeah. But no way I'm thinking about
• 32:36
  it. I'm kind of like, it could be
• 32:38
  really interesting. Wondering again and to talk.
• 32:41
  I think if it was on the shortlist, like I wouldn't be
• 32:43
  mad about it, but I don't think I'm going to put it on mine.
• 32:48
  When I heard the concept, I was like, yes, this sounds like kind
• 32:50
  of book I would love and all the themes and stuff it seems to
• 32:53
  talk about really interests me. So I I really hope it's on the
• 32:56
  list. It's definitely if I had to
• 32:58
  predict, I would be like, oh, number two for my top do you
• 33:01
  know, but I have no idea. That's just me guessing.
• 33:03
  Oh. What about you, Aaron?
• 33:05
  This book is of no interest to me.
• 33:07
  What? Yeah, you being in the
• 33:10
  journalism world. Yeah, Aaron, the journalist of
• 33:14
  the Yeah, the group. I'm sorry, it's just the plenty
• 33:18
  of these other books are about journalists, so I wouldn't pin
• 33:22
  it down to just this, but this one?
• 33:25
  What other books are journalists?
• 33:27
  I know well. The the loneliness of Sonia and
• 33:29
  Sonny one of them is a journalist and.
• 33:31
  Something about that book, I just want it on the list.
• 33:34
  Yeah, I think there's another one maybe about a journalist,
• 33:37
  but it just, it doesn't capture my attention, sorry.
• 33:41
  Cold hearted. It's on your list, Lucy.
• 33:44
  Yeah, I I just want to read it again.
• 33:47
  Also, it's pretty short. Next up on our list we have the
• 33:51
  sci-fi Tash Aw, published by 4th Estate, the beginning of of a
• 33:56
  series of life on a farm. Has anyone read this one because
• 34:00
  I haven't. You have like.
• 34:02
  I've read it. It was one of the the first kind
• 34:04
  of ones I read after getting there, the long list, and it was
• 34:07
  the first one I was able to get that I hadn't already read.
• 34:10
  I'm so torn with this one like this one.
• 34:13
  So I really I really did enjoy it.
• 34:15
  I love the characters. It's going to be part of a
• 34:17
  quadrilogy and I would love to his.
• 34:20
  I imagine the other characters are going to be involved in the
• 34:22
  quadrilogy stuff. And yes, I did really enjoy it.
• 34:26
  Something that I would say was there was a book that I really,
• 34:32
  this might seem really harsh, but there was a book that I
• 34:34
  really wanted to be on the list that has very similar themes.
• 34:38
  They're very different books. But because it's what a teenage
• 34:41
  boy in a relationship with with like another boy slash possibly
• 34:48
  man, depending on how you see this kind of stuff.
• 34:51
  And because I think he's like 15, almost 16, and the guy he's
• 34:55
  in a relationship is 19 and which kind of doesn't seem like
• 34:59
  that much of an age difference, but he does kind of treat him
• 35:01
  like he's a child. So it is a bit like I found it a
• 35:05
  bit weird. This book for me is, I haven't
• 35:08
  read it yet, but I kind of would want it to be on the short list.
• 35:12
  I mean more for a reason to get push me to read it.
• 35:15
  I think I might like it. So I'm intrigued to see what
• 35:20
  happens with it. I don't know if I'll read it if
• 35:22
  it's not, but we'll see. What about you, Aaron?
• 35:25
  Yeah, I'm in the exact same boat as you.
• 35:28
  Uh, I'm interested in this one. I hope it's on the the
• 35:31
  shortlist, but I don't think I'll be pushed to read it if it
• 35:35
  wasn't. I don't like the idea of
• 35:37
  starting a series unless there's unless I plan on actually
• 35:42
  completing the entire. Series.
• 35:43
  I don't know. Well, yes, I think it's maybe in
• 35:46
  the middle of the pack. It just doesn't make my 6.
• 35:49
  It's just not enough. So on reflection, I think this
• 35:52
  this would just make my 6 and I think I would push flesh out low
• 35:58
  key. I know I preferred it.
• 36:02
  I preferred the writing. And though I do think I was a
• 36:04
  wee bit disappointed the way it ended, I don't feel like it was
• 36:07
  kind of complete. But I do really like it.
• 36:11
  And I think that I was kind of when I was reading it, I was
• 36:13
  kind of harsh on it because Open Heaven was a book with a similar
• 36:17
  scene that I wanted to be on the list.
• 36:19
  And I think it's one of the best books I've read this year.
• 36:22
  And and it's kind of a similar theme.
• 36:24
  So I was kind of like, how did this one get in?
• 36:26
  But the one I wanted not get in. But I don't think that really
• 36:30
  you can look at it like that. That seems like a bad way to
• 36:34
  look at it. And also probably to be like
• 36:36
  they can only have one gay book is probably a bit more
• 36:40
  excellent. I think the writing's really,
• 36:42
  really good and I did really enjoy reading it so I don't know
• 36:45
  if I'm not fussed on reading it again though so but I do think
• 36:49
  it's a good book. And to wrap up the list, we have
• 36:52
  Love Forms by Claire Adam, published by Faber, their third
• 36:56
  book on the long list. A woman is contacted by someone
• 36:59
  claiming to be the child she gave up for adoption years
• 37:02
  before. Has anyone read this?
• 37:04
  Yes, elements of it I like. Elements of it I really didn't
• 37:08
  like and which is why I have not put it on my list.
• 37:11
  It's there at the kind of my bottom of my pile with land and
• 37:16
  winter. The little elements that I did
• 37:18
  enjoy of it, I preferred maybe to the land and winter and to
• 37:22
  the. The rest of our lives.
• 37:24
  Rest of our lives, yeah, like I think there was redeeming stuff
• 37:27
  in love forms. But I honestly know.
• 37:31
  I hope I don't want to read it again.
• 37:33
  And there's parts of it like Venezuela and like Trinidad and
• 37:37
  like the journeys between those two places which I did not know
• 37:40
  were so close. Trinidad is pretty much the
• 37:43
  Raffen Island of Venezuela. I'm not even lying.
• 37:48
  And just for finding out new facts like that, I'm I'm on
• 37:52
  board with it. That's not a fact.
• 37:54
  I know that it's people don't refer to it as the Raffen Island
• 37:57
  of Venezuela, but yeah, I just was amazed at how close they
• 38:01
  were. I really put Trinidad and like
• 38:02
  the middle of the Caribbean. Not so.
• 38:05
  Really don't want to be on the shortlist.
• 38:07
  This one, I just know it's not for me.
• 38:11
  I kind of don't want it to be on the shortlist.
• 38:14
  I put it on my Kindle, but like, I just haven't brought myself to
• 38:17
  read it and I just don't think I will.
• 38:20
  I mean, unless it is on the shortlist, but I'm kind of
• 38:22
  hoping it's not. Yeah, just not for me.
• 38:25
  What about you, Aaron? Nope.
• 38:27
  Nope. I'm quite content if it doesn't
• 38:29
  make it. That's the the second book then
• 38:31
  that that doesn't get a vote from any of us.
• 38:34
  Oh, interesting. I could have like, I genuinely
• 38:37
  could have told you that I I cannot imagine any of you guys
• 38:41
  liking this book genuinely. I do have to say that I'm
• 38:45
  intrigued by the Latin America element of it.
• 38:49
  I'm particularly intrigued by those things, but.
• 38:52
  Those are the best bets. OK, 100%.
• 38:55
  Those are the see if those were the main bits of it.
• 38:57
  Brilliant book. I think genuinely, there's so
• 39:01
  much of it in London that I just could not have cared less about.
• 39:05
  There's something really interesting that she does.
• 39:06
  I don't think it's going to be on the shortlist, so she may as
• 39:08
  well discuss it. But she explains things in loads
• 39:11
  of detail and it's obviously as a Western reader, it's kind of
• 39:15
  useful for the parts that are in Venezuela and in Trinidad and
• 39:18
  Tobago. But she also overly explains
• 39:21
  like English and Irish concepts. It's quite funny.
• 39:25
  So she'll be like explaining what a semi detached house is in
• 39:29
  like, I can't remember if that's the exact thing, but I was kind
• 39:32
  of like, I actually quite like that element of it because it's
• 39:34
  like dumbing it down for everyone, you know, like kind of
• 39:38
  explaining to maybe someone who was reading from Trinidad and
• 39:41
  Tobago what buildings are like in London.
• 39:44
  And then there's some, there's an Irish name that she she like
• 39:50
  writes the pronunciation out of like, I don't know, I can't
• 39:54
  remember what it is. It's like actually, no, I think
• 39:56
  it's not Nile. And she's like pronounced like
• 39:59
  the river. And it's, it's so weird to read
• 40:02
  someone who like immediately obviously sees the word Nile and
• 40:05
  goes Nile. It's so weird to be like spelt
• 40:08
  pronounced like the river and. But it's kind of interesting
• 40:11
  because it's like, like, we don't expect that kind of stuff,
• 40:14
  but we do expect it for parts that are foreign to us.
• 40:18
  But the idea that she's gone, I don't care that you're a Western
• 40:21
  reader. I'm explaining everything to
• 40:23
  everyone. I like that.
• 40:25
  Yeah, it's like holding the mirror up.
• 40:27
  Yeah, yeah. But it was it was really funny
• 40:30
  when she she goes into detail about the houses and I was like,
• 40:32
  this is such an obvious concept. But then I'm also like, she went
• 40:35
  into detail about houses in all the the Trinidad stuff.
• 40:39
  And I found it interesting because I don't know anything
• 40:41
  about houses in Trinidad. And then I was like, this makes
• 40:43
  sense because readers don't know, you know, I like that.
• 40:47
  So if higher, if you're listening, appreciated that.
• 40:50
  So after a brief discussion between the four of us, I think
• 40:54
  we've come to a conclusion on what 6 we can agree on as being
• 41:00
  on our prediction list. For the shortlist, they are
• 41:07
  Cscriper, Endling, Audition, the South, The Loneliness of Sonia
• 41:16
  and Sunny and Universality. So Colin, some of these books
• 41:22
  were on your prediction list. What's your thoughts on the
• 41:27
  other books that weren't? I can be convinced of the
• 41:30
  others, yeah. How about you, Hannah?
• 41:32
  Yeah, I would 100% give it a go. Are you going to mean again,
• 41:36
  Hannah? Because there's a high chance
• 41:38
  that a lot of the ones you've read will be on it.
• 41:41
  I think I might like skim read through or like when I was going
• 41:46
  along I took notes so I might just go back over my notes and
• 41:49
  then anything I need refreshed I kind of will go back over.
• 41:53
  But I don't know, it depends how long it will take me if I need
• 41:56
  to reread it. Also the passion for it, Like if
• 42:00
  it's one I'm like, no, then I'll be like, there's no way of
• 42:03
  rereading audiobook. It is.
• 42:07
  What about you, Lucy? I know you're a dedicated
• 42:11
  rereader. I started like I last time, I
• 42:19
  like kind of had the view that I was going to skim read them the
• 42:22
  second time and then I just ended up reading the whole
• 42:24
  thing. I didn't read them and I was
• 42:27
  like, but I totally was like, I have this freedom that you guys
• 42:32
  didn't have where I wasn't born to the week, but I just, I ended
• 42:36
  up doing it anyway. And but it's kind of nice to
• 42:38
  have that freedom that Aaron and Colin will never feel.
• 42:42
  Yeah, but it's nice, I have to say.
• 42:46
  Yeah, like you'll probably enjoy the second reading more with
• 42:53
  like you'll know you've you're under no pressure.
• 42:55
  It'll be nicer than when you read the international ones I
• 42:58
  imagine. Here's hoping.
• 43:01
  Are you excited, Aaron? I'm excited.
• 43:03
  I, I actually, I was not excited based off the long list, but
• 43:09
  based off this discussion and these six books that we've
• 43:12
  agreed upon, I would be interested in reading all of
• 43:16
  these at least for the discussion.
• 43:18
  And for any of our listeners, if you could please comment below
• 43:22
  on your chosen platform or if you think Aaron will actually
• 43:24
  finish any of these books this season, that'll be great.
• 43:28
  Please. Your bet's not.
• 43:31
  Sorry, I just have to say Aaron is a different person on the
• 43:35
  Eden shore. Like he's like so ahead of the
• 43:38
  game. He knows everything.
• 43:40
  He knows it inside out like. Love it.
• 43:43
  We could do a course on that book.
• 43:46
  I think I think we could actually teach like a university
• 43:49
  course. On yeah, we literally, and I
• 43:52
  think we've probably spent like over 10 hours discussing that.
• 43:56
  God. Easily.
• 43:59
  Honestly though, everyone should really ensure.
• 44:01
  So good. We will have another episode
• 44:03
  later this week reacting to the official Booker Prize shortlist
• 44:07
  announcement, which comes out tomorrow.
• 44:10
  We'll be reading all six shortlisted books week by week
• 44:13
  until the winner is announced in November.
• 44:16
  Read along and share your thoughts on Instagram at Bookies
• 44:18
  favorite book club. You can also e-mail
• 44:20
  us.bookiesfavoritebookclub@gmail.com. Subscribe on whatever platform
• 44:26
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• 44:29
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• 44:32
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