CHOO! CHOO! The 2023 Booker Train journey is officially over! (With a little less than a week to spare!) Siân Hughes’s Pearl ( W. F. Howes Ltd 2023) is a slim little volume. I decided to read the audiobook as the print copies won’t be available until the end of the month, and I am gladContinue reading “PEARL – Siân Hughes”
Tag Archives: 2023 Booker Prize Longlist
IN ASCENSION – Martin MacInnes
The Booker train is heading into the station to pick up the 2024 longlist, while will be announced next week, and to be honest, I’m ready to be done with the 2023 list. I’ve found it overwhelming “meh.” I still have one more to read, a book which hasn’t been published in the US yet,Continue reading “IN ASCENSION – Martin MacInnes”
PROPHET SONG – Paul Lynch
“Something solid has begun to come loose, it is her heart sliding like gravel.” In what has been a rather lackluster Booker longlist, I find myself a bit surprised at Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song (Atlantic Monthly Press 2023). It’s a novel that tastes like something you’ve read before, only a little more pretentious, and oneContinue reading “PROPHET SONG – Paul Lynch”
ALL THE LITTLE BIRD-HEARTS – Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
“I would not have knowingly allowed even the image of a bird into my home, however beautiful. But I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.” Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow’s All the Little Bird-Hearts (Algonquin Books 2023), my tenth read of the 2023 Booker longlist, is a peculiar and unsettling read. Continue reading “ALL THE LITTLE BIRD-HEARTS – Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow”
HOW TO BUILD A BOAT – Elaine Feeney
“Cross imaginary boundaries, let go throw paint, sing cut a tree and empty it out, plant again find something hard but delicate, watch spaces for tension, be near it, but not in it, think. Design, redesign, build from what you have, you have so much already.” My thoughts on this year’s Booker longlist aren’t reallyContinue reading “HOW TO BUILD A BOAT – Elaine Feeney”
STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE – Sarah Bernstein
“November brought the trouble.” In continuing with the rather lackluster 2023 Booker Prize longlist, I read Sarah Bernstein’s Study for Obedience (Knopf 2023). The novel was shortlisted for the prize, and the winner will be announced in a few weeks. (I’m still rooting for Western Lane.) While Berstein’s slim offering is well-written and interesting, itContinue reading “STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE – Sarah Bernstein”
THE HOUSE OF DOORS – Tan Twan Eng
“Where does a story begin, Willie?” I asked. For a while he did not say anything. Then he shifted in his chair. “Where does a wave on the ocean begin?” he said. “Where does it form a welt on the skin of the sea, to swell and expand and rush towards shore?” “I want to tell youContinue reading “THE HOUSE OF DOORS – Tan Twan Eng”
THE BEE STING – Paul Murray
Booker season continues with Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting Western Lane (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2023 – thanks for the advanced copy!) – a chunky tragicomic family saga set in post-crash Ireland that boosts a unique approach to storytelling. The first section of the novel is divided into four parts – one for each family memberContinue reading “THE BEE STING – Paul Murray”
WESTERN LANE – Chetna Maroo
Booker season continues with Chetna Maroo’s Western Lane (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2023). This slim novella packs both a powerful punch and a tender hug – all with a backdrop of squash. Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash for as long as she can remember, but when her mother dies, her father’s grief leads toContinue reading “WESTERN LANE – Chetna Maroo”
OLD GOD’S TIME – Sebastian Barry
Booker season continues with Sebastian Barry’s Old God’s Time (Viking 2023). Barry is no stranger to the longlist – out of 9 novels, he’s been longlisted for 5 (2 of which made it to the shortlist – we’ll see what the fates hold for this one). It’s a very prettily told story with – aContinue reading “OLD GOD’S TIME – Sebastian Barry”
A Girl Named Tommi 