Thursday, 8 September 2011

Booker Shortlist

The 2011 Booker shortlist has been announced and already it’s the cause of much debate – should this one have been included? Why was that one missed out? In case you haven’t seen it here’s the list….

• Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending (Random House/Cape)
• Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie (Canongate);
• Patrick deWitt - The Sisters Brothers (Granta);
• Esi Edugyan - Half Blood Blues (Serpent’s Tail);
• Stephen Kelman - Pigeon English (Bloomsbury).
• AD Miller – Snowdrops (Atlantic);

Next month the YCAA will be holding the annual Booker Debate at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil, and this year I have been invited onto the panel. So sometime in the next few days one of these books will be winging its way towards me so that I can read it and put together my review.

But which one will I get? And more importantly will I enjoy it?

I’ve taken a look around the net to see what I can find out about the books and the one that sounds most interesting is The Sister’s Brothers. I quite like the idea of a Western being on the shortlist. Jamrach’s Menagerie also sounds like my kind of book – I always like stories set at sea. (Well I am a SeaSerpent).

I’ll let you know as soon as it arrives. And in the meantime, has anyone read any of them?

What did you think?

4 comments:

  1. No, have not read any of them - still waiting to get to last year's book! I often find they are too "literary" for me. Cat (from Downunder)

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  2. I've not even heard of them, let alone read them. I easily fall asleep during my evening book hour. Even with the brilliant Wolf Hall this happened, but I made it to the end, after three months of determination and effort.

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  3. I haven't read any of them. And, until I saw the shortlist, I hadn't heard of any of them. I hope you enjoy the book you get!

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  4. I haven't read any of these I'm afraid. Awards like this always stir up some controversy don't they!

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