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Who do you think will win the Booker prize this year?
The competition is open Internationally!
The closing date is: Saturday 27th March at midnight GMT.
Winners will be picked at random and notified by email.
Good luck!
The Orange Prize long list was revealed this morning. I tried to predict who would make the list last week and did a terrible job! I successfully predicted only five of the twenty books:
The rest of the long list:
I have only read two books from the list:
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters 
….although I did fail to complete Wolf Hall too!
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel 
(DNF)
This is How – MJ Hyland (I remember that a lot of people were surprised this wasn’t on the Booker list last year and I nearly read it in 2009 – I then forgot all about it!)
The Long Song – Andrea Levy
I need to investigate the rest of the list a bit further. I’m planning to read the entire short list when it is announced, but am not going to rush out to read all these books.
Which ones grab your attention?
Are there any you recommend?
It is Mother’s Day here in the UK so I’d like to wish every one a
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!
I have been having a lovely day with my family. I had a long lie-in and was then woken up with pancakes in bed. After enjoying breakfast I had the opportunity to read a few chapters of Small Island and then we headed out for the day. We had a picnic and then went for a walk in the wood.
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We played hide and seek….
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….walked on logs….
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….and discovered a lovely old windmill.
I’m off to spend some more time with my family.
I hope you have had a good weekend too!
I thought it would be interesting to try to predict which books would make it on to the list. I found it very hard to come up with 20 titles – the first 12 came to me very quickly, but it took a long time for me to complete the list. I have no idea if they are all eligible and haven’t read them all (so don’t know if they deserve to be there) but here is my prediction for books that might make the cut next week:
Have I missed any books that you think deserve to be on the list?
Which book would you like to see win the Orange Prize this year?
My favourite author is David Mitchell – he is the only author where I have read and loved every single one of his books. Jose Saramago and Rohinton Mistry have the potential to knock him off the top spot, but as I haven’t read their entire back-catalogue yet I’m afraid they’ll have to languish in second and third place!
My love for David Mitchell’s books began when I read Cloud Atlas as part of the Richard and Judy book club. I fell in love with his amazing ability to create several unique writing styles within the same book. By the time I read the section where the man becomes trapped in an old people’s home I was hooked by his ingenuity too.
His writing is beautiful, but never complicated and packed with wonderful quotes:
A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
I went on to read Ghostwritten and Number9Dream; they weren’t quite as good as Cloud Atlas, although Ghostwritten got close, but as these were his first books I’ll forgive him. Both of these contain elements of Japanese literature that I love. David Mitchell lived in Japan for a number of years and the influence of their culture is especially strong in these two novels. I love the way he has incorporated their folklore and unpredictability into his novels.
Black Swan Green was a big departure in style and theme. It is set in a small English village and describes the life of a young boy growing up in the 1980s. I think the fact that I was a child of the 80s gave this book a special appeal to me. I loved reminiscing about the sweets, music and clothes described in the book and the fact that I was gripped throughout, despite the gentle plot, shows the author’s talent.
After waiting for 4 years I was very excited to hear that David Mitchell had a new book out later in the year. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet
Have you read any books by David Mitchell?
Which is your favourite?
When I was researching titles to add to my recent 101 Book Group Choices post I was forced to think hard about which books created good discussions. I found this article about writing for book groups by Amanda Ross (famous for choosing books for Richard and Judy and now The TV Book Club) but am not sure that this advice is different from that given to any author. It sounds as though she is just describing a good book; one which is original and has a great plot.
Is there any difference between a good book and a good book club choice?
Are there any fantastic books which make terrible book club choices?
When I was compiling my list of books I was trying to include books which contained moral issues which are often thought provoking and in theory promote discussion, but in my book group discussion of the moral issues hasn’t occurred and I have a feeling that it could create argument rather than discussion in a lot of groups. I find talking about the characters more interesting than discussing the pros/cons of abortion, euthanasia or other hotly debated topics.
Should book group choices contain moral issues?
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Every single one of my book group’s discussions has been enjoyable. Some have been slightly more successful than others, but I sometimes wonder if it really matters what book is chosen – I think we could talk about any book. That may be because half of us are book bloggers with an extreme passion for books, or perhaps we just haven’t come across a bad book group choice yet.
Is it possible to chose a bad book, or can people who are passionate about books create a good discussion whatever is chosen?
Which books didn’t work for your book club? Why?
