When I got home this morning I found the official 2024 Booker Prize longlist email waiting in my inbox. I was pleased to see that James by Percivel Everett, one so many of us have read, is on the list along with another I've just started reading, Claire Messud's This Strange Eventful History. I'm also a little disappointed to find that one of the nominees, Richard Powers's Playground won't even be published until after the shortlist is announced in a few weeks. Deja vu from last year, that.
So, in the order they are listed in the official email, here are the thirteen novels on the 2024 Booker Prize longlist:
From what I gather, these novels are kind of all over the map, some of them requiring a lot more commitment than others, with even some sci-fi in the mix. If I do manage to get through the twelve I haven't yet read, I suspect that the experience will be much like last year's with some really great books mixed in with a few that I just don't get at all.
Thanks for posting this list Sam and I went online earlier this morning and read each of the plots for the Booker nominees. I have decided to go with 3 books that I hope to read this year: My Friends by Hisham Matar, Enlightenment by Sarah Perry and The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wooden. I am hoping that if I really enjoy these 3 books that at least one of them will make the short lust.
ReplyDeleteAfter last year's experience I'm not even going to try to guess which of the books will be on the short list, much less win the prize. I think the closest thing to a sure-thing when it comes to the shortlist is probably James, but it would not surprise me if that doesn't happen. I'm just going to start reading and see what happens.
DeleteI love the idea that several of you guys are planning to read some of the books on the list, too. Can't wait to hear what y'all think of them.
Thanks for posting this, Sam. It's an interesting list and I haven't heard of most of them. But I loved James, purchased the ebook version of Claire Messud, and have The Safekeep on my library list. I'll spend some time reading plot summaries of the others and may find a couple more for my list.
ReplyDeleteA couple more would get you to reading nearly half the books on the list, JoAnn. Half the fun for me is hearing what others will think about some of these, so I hope you manage to do that. I like the sound of The Safekeep, too, and it is, I think, the only one by a Dutch author on the list, so there's that going for it, too.
DeleteInteresting list of books. I was surprised to see a YA novel in the mix. And I noticed on Goodreads that they have a giveaway for Playground. Who knows...maybe you could win that one. Of all of these, James is the one that I'm most interested in reading. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the rest.
ReplyDeleteThe judges seem to get something on the list for just about any kind of reader. Books you are almost bound to enjoy right alongside books that are going to mystify you with their dullness or style. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. lol
DeleteI am glad you did this post, it gave me the opportunity to look through the list and see what I think. I think that most of the books would be worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely try Orbital, Creation Lake, and maybe This Strange Eventful History and Held (because Anne Michaels is a Canadian author) and Wandering Stars. But probably not anytime soon.
My progress through the list will be helped/hindered by my public library systems and what they make readily available from the list. I'm kind of lucky that I have two library cards, one to the Houston Public Library and another to the Harris County system, so it should work out well for me in the end.
DeleteI like your choices, particularly, at this point, Wandering Stars. I read the Tommy Orange book that preceded this one. Wandering Stars is said to be both a prequel and a sequel to that one.
I talked about the Booker list as well in a post yesterday. Now I'm a bit curious about Playground. It's sort of weird that it's not even out yet. I think James is likely the favorite .... perhaps as the others don't seem to have received as much praise as James. But there's always the underdog book that comes out of nowhere to win. I'm mostly looking forward to: James, My Friends, and The Safekeep from the list.
ReplyDeleteI agree about James; it does seem to be the early frontrunner. But I do expect the hype to begin on some of the others in a couple of weeks, so James might not be able to hold on to that status much longer. I don't even know which one to try after This Strange Eventful History yet because the choices are so all over the map. (Saw your blog spot, and I like your choices).
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