THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY: Kiran DesaiRandom House : 23 September 2025 (US)Hamish Hamilton (Penguin): 25 September 2025 (UK)Page Count: 670 First line: The sun was still submerged in the wintry murk of dawn when Ba, Dadaji, and their daughter, Mina Foi, wrapping shawls closely about themselves, emerged upon the veranda to sip theirContinue reading “THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY – Kiran Desai”
Tag Archives: The Booker Prizes
THE REST OF OUR LIVES – Ben Markovits
THE REST OF OUR LIVES: Ben MarkovitsSummit Books : 13 January 2026 (US)Faber & Faber : 27 March 2025 (UK) (I’m using the UK edition)Page Count: 239 First line: When our son was twelve years old, my wife had an affair with a guy called Zach Zirsky, whom she knew from synagogue. Blurbed by: Lucy CaldwellContinue reading “THE REST OF OUR LIVES – Ben Markovits”
ONE BOAT – Jonathan Buckley
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! ONE BOAT : Jonathan BuckleyW.W. Norton: 4 November 2025 (US)Fitzcarrldo Editions: 13 March 2025 (UK) (I’m using the UK Kindle version)Page Count: 168 First line: “The first time the intention was simply to find a place that was quiet, but not somnolent” Blurbed by: I could find no blurbs forContinue reading “ONE BOAT – Jonathan Buckley”
SEASCRAPER – Benjamin Wood
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! SEASCRAPER : Benjamin WoodScribner: 4 November 2025 (US)Penguin Books Ltd.: 17 July 2025 (UK) (I’m using the UK version)Page Count: 163 First line: Thomas Flett relies upon the ebb tide for a living, but he knows the end is near. Blurbed by: Hilary Mantel – (Nominated for the BookerContinue reading “SEASCRAPER – Benjamin Wood”
UNIVERSALITY – Natasha Brown
UNIVERSALITY: Natasha BrownRandom House: 4 March 2025 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)Faber & Faber: 13 March 2025 (UK)Page Count: 152 First line: A gold bar is deceptively heavy. Blurbed by: Tess Gunty – (Numerous awards. No Booker nominations.) Raven Leilani – (Numerous awards. No Booker nominations.) Andrew O’Hagan – (Nominated forContinue reading “UNIVERSALITY – Natasha Brown”
THE SOUTH – Tash Aw
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! THE SOUTH: Tash AwFarrar, Straus and Giroux : 27 May 2025 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)4th Estate (Harper Imprint): 13 February 2025 (UK)Page Count: 280 First line: Two boys walk through the scant shade of an orchard, far from the house where they are staying.Continue reading “THE SOUTH – Tash Aw”
MISINTERPRETATION – Ledia Xhoga
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! MISINTERPRETATION: Ledia XhogaTin House : 3 September 2024 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)Daunt Books: 6 May 2025 (UK)Page Count: 287 First line: I was fifteen minutes late and his phone number was out of service. Blurbed by: Jennifer Croft – (With the author Olga Tokarczuk,Continue reading “MISINTERPRETATION – Ledia Xhoga”
LOVE FORMS – Claire Adam
“I’m recalling this as best I can, you understand. The truth is that I only remember impressions – images, sounds, feelings.” (9) Claire Adam’s Love Forms started out strong – a first-person narrative with a lyricism to the storytelling that I enjoyed. It didn’t last. On page 11, she writes: “In the darkness, the fallenContinue reading “LOVE FORMS – Claire Adam”
FLASHLIGHT – Susan Choi
“In one hand he holds a flashlight which is not necessary, in the other hand he holds Louisa’s hand which is also not necessary.” (3) “Up and down with their flashlights: one carries the flashlight, the other carries the gun.” (378) Susan Choi’s Flashlight (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2025) is next up in the BookerContinue reading “FLASHLIGHT – Susan Choi”
AUDITION – Katie Kitamura
“There are always two stories taking place at once, the narrative inside the play and the narrative around it, and the boundary between the two is more porous that you might think, that is both the danger and the excitement of the performance.” (38) First up in the 2025 Booker 101 is a slim sliceContinue reading “AUDITION – Katie Kitamura”
A Girl Named Tommi 