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Other Richard and Judy Book Club

Richard and Judy Book Club Winners Announced.

The winner of the Richard and Judy Book Club 2009  is:

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

The result was announced at the Galaxy British Book Awards last week. The Gargoyle came in second, with December taking the prize for third place.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

December by Elizabeth H Winthrop

I have to admit that I don’t agree with the result at all, only The Gargoyle would have made my top three, along with The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. I’m not surprised to see When Will There Be Good News at the top of the list, as Kate Atkinson has a large following, and her book was an enjoyable read, but I didn’t expect to see December in the top three. All the reviews I’ve seen of it have been mixed at best, and I haven’t seen anyone raving about it.

I think that the main problem with this prize is that anyone can vote, whether they have read all the books or not. This means that it often goes down to how good people imagine the book will be, or how impressive the cover is. This means that amazing books like The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite get over looked, as the cover doesn’t reveal how great the content is.

Do you agree with this result?

Do you think members of the public should be allowed to vote for book prizes if they haven’t read all the books?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Remember the Comment of the Week Competition! I’m looking forward to reading your comments!

8 replies on “Richard and Judy Book Club Winners Announced.”

Oh this is interesting, its nothing like mine would be, well I would have the Atkinson in there but I am a big fan. I would have said Beatrice Colin, then Kate Atkinson and then Steven Galloway. Hmmm interesting voting!

Simon – You wouldn’t put Mr. Whicher in your top 3? I would put Steven Galloway as number 4, and Kate Atkinson as number 5. It is so interesting to compare lists!

I discovered Kate Atkinson for the first time last year and set about devouring her books so I would agree completely with this result. Having said this though I haven’t read a lot of the other books that were in the competition so maybe I’ve missed out on a complete stunner! In that way I agree with your point – it’s a little hard to objectively put in a vote if you haven’t read all the contenders.

Karen – I recommend you try the Lilly of Aphrodite – it’s the stunner you’re missing out on! If you enjoy books by Sarah Waters, then you’ll love it.

I found there to be too many coincidences in When will there be good news? It was OK, but didn’t stand out at all. Are her other books better?

Jackie I am a fool, how could I forget Mr Whicher, yes that would be number two in my list. So Beatrice Colin, Kate Summerscale (in fact can I have them as a tie) and then Steven Galloway actually then Kate or maybe they could tie too? Lol!

Simon – No – no ties allowed!! Our lists are actually quite similar in the end, although I don’t see you mentioning the Gargoyle anywhere. The one thing we both agree on is that December shouldn’t have made the top three! I’ll have to read another list with you at some point – fancy reading all the Bookers?!

I might just be up for that one as I have started The Blind Assassin today and have White Tiger on the top of the TBR pile. How long would we have? Drop me an email about it! I have read a few already, I wanna do the Pulitzer Prize winners too. Plus this year I think I will be doing the whole Man Booker longlist… but thats all I shall say on that one for now lol. Hope your Easter is still lovely!

Simon – I am reading all the Bookers + Pulitzers already, although they are long term projects. I’m hoping to have read all the Booker shortlist before the 50th anniversary of the Bookers (2018) I should have completed all the winners in the next couple of years. I think I’ve read almost half of the Booker winners now, so you’ve probably got a few to go catch up with me.

The Pulitzers will take me a bit longer, as I haven’t read that many yet. It might be nice to arrange a joint reading of a few though – I’ll have a think and get back to you.

My Easter is still great – we’ve just done an egg hunt for the boys – they had a great time!

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