Love when people get excited by book lists. I really want to read James and I’m happy that at least one Canadian made the list. Blah blah blah blah …. Best reading of blurbs so far. 😊💙
I'm quite disappointed tbh. I'm always hoping to discover new authors through prize lists and there were none this time for me unfortunately. Good authors on the list for sure, but I'm not as excited as I was last year about the longlist.
Love seeing you in your car woth your real reactions. The book set in Essex, Enlightenment, has been getting rave reviews. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that one.
Fun reaction! I’m a bit so-so about the list. So far, I’ve read Orbital which was okay and James which I loved. I’ve read There, There and own a copy of Wandering Stars, so that’s convenient. Also, quite happy to see a Native American author on the list. Of the remaining 10 books, I have access to 8. I’ve had to order in Playground and Stone Yard Devotional from the UK as neither are available here stateside. I really wish they would make nominated books available before the shortlist gets announced. Glad you’re excited for the reads. I’m excited about some and skeptical of others. I’m not super into the slow, plodding, reflective books about nothing much. 😅
Haha love to see a real time live reaction!! You are very optimistic about this list… I am SHOCKED!! 😱😱😝 Looking forward to chatting about it tomorrow ❤️
Hi Gemma. So glad to see you. I just finished Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth. 5 star for me but I know it’s only 3ish for some people. I LOVE Japanese books that are translated though I haven’t read a lot so thank you for the names of several. I’m pleased you will continue the FOMO book club but I’m going you watch you no matter. I know it’s so difficult to carry on. ❤
I like Christa Wolf's writing, so I hope Cassandra turns out to be great. I'm reading quite a bit of women in translation all year anyway, but high on my list for August is My Work by Olga Ravn.
Now that is a tbr!!! Especially when you're in Booker season! I'm going to read the travelling cat chronicles for WIT, and Persepolis. Also trying to read the spines on your unhaul pile!!
Love Matchbis a good read and it's a Gemma book. The kind of book that gets better the more you read. I started Death Note this year. It's addictive and not my usual. Look forward to finding out if that's your thing. But Japanese fantasy that isn't too serious seems like you'll enjoy it.
Cassandra sounds great, I do love Greek myths & their retellings. Thank you for highlighting the WIT readathon Gem! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Unsheltered 💕 Booker on Tuesday!! 🎉
Swerving the Read Good Challenge but I got you in the end 😂 Although to be fair the August prompt is ‘Read a Booker nominated book’ because I knew that’s all I’d be doing! I am not ready for you to roast Dolly 😭 If you want an alternative suggestion: GLORIOUS EXPLOITS. Sooooo good. So good. Looking forward to the newly arranged bookshelf tour!
I should have checked the prompts! I’ll defo read a Booker book! I was speaking to Charlie yesterday and she said the July prompt was to read a translated book, which I have done in July, so it seems I am inadvertently smashing the BRG challenge 😆 I actually bought Glorious Exploits the other day, so I could change…
Hey Gemma! One thing I've noticed after several WITS months is that people's go-tos seem to be Japanese and some French and German...I wonder if there's something in the publishing industry that facilitates those translations going wider? Or whether it's just the strongest publishing industries trading with each other? Like, where's India? Where's China? Brazil? South Africa? All those emerging BRIC countries that I would expect to be writing fiction. What I'm thinking about... 🙄
I agree that Japanese (and Korean) translations seem to dominate, though there are also a lot of translations coming out of South America at the moment, and Sweden seems to put out a lot of crime. I think translated African literature is really under represented. Could it be to do with the number of skilled translators in certain languages I wonder? Or maybe because so many African (and Indian) writers write in English? A good question for sure.
For WIT I'm planning to read "Iza's Ballad" by Magda Szabo translated by George Szirtes. This is the August selection for Charlotte's book club. I've also started on the Wainwright Prize longlist and I'll be reading from the Booker longlist as well,. My August TBR remains TBD..
The Wainwright is progressing nicely. I've read "Uprooting" and "The Garden Against Time," both of which are wonderful. I'd have a tough time today choosing one over the other. I'm working now on "Hedgelands" which is very good but quite as good as the other two. So many great books to discover.
Several books I haven’t heard of so thanks for putting them on my radar. Whatever you and Jack decide about FOMO will be good and we are all here supporting you. 💙💙
The Kite Runner is one of my faves. Sailor Soldier has been mentioned by several people. I need to read it. The White Girl sounds like a book I would enjoy. 😊💙
Matrix by Lauren Groff was the last book I finished! I enjoyed it 4.25☆ but it wasn't at all what I was expecting, there are lesbian elements but they don't factor in much, it's about the head nun and the Abby she runs. Some of the things are off the rails so it was very surprising at points. And I really appreciated that it had older women finding love with eachother. Currently about 30% into Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck and really liking it! Several months ago we talked about reading The Aenid in August but if plans have changed I'm ok with that too. Otherwise my August TBR is madnessso far -Jamaca Inn by Daphne du Maurier -The Journey of the Pink Dolphins by Sy Montgummery 🐬 -The Beauty by Aliya Whitley -Piglet by Lottie Hazell -The Last Tale of The Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi -Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus -Dawn and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler -Agrippina by Emma Southon -Raptor Red by Robert T Bakker
Matrix sounds great! I really need to get to it! I think I’m going to park The Aeniad. Alice and I were going to run it together and it just hurts too much. Glad you’re enjoying Wolf Winter 🥰 Your TBR looks fab!
I tried some Samantha Irby on Everand a couple of months back and couldn’t get on with it. Can’t remember which one. Oooo Death Note! That’s exciting! Ha - can’t wait for your Restless Dolly Maunder review! 😂 Literally almost bought What You Are looking for… yesterday! Looks fab. Cassandra is one of my favourite characters from mythology. Which is why you should get around to reading The Firebrand one day matey! 🤍
Oh I’m glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t get on with Samantha Irby, she seems so popular! I really do need to get to Firebrand! I want to reread Mists too, as I must have only been about 12/13 when I read it.
I don’t read as much in August anyway and have a week’s holiday so I’m also trying to keep my TBR manageable 😬…yeah 😉 One of the good things about Charlotte’s prompts is that one book can meet 3 or 4 of them. I have 4-5 books planned and I think I hit nearly all of them 👍 Of course I’m going into august with some chunkers left over from July but who’s counting 😉
Do we even know what a manageable TBR is at this point?! 😂 Charlottes prompts are definitely easy to double up on, so I could do quite well (if I don’t get completely derailed by the Booker 🫣)
I’m reading the next before the coffee gets cold book so one translated fiction and some pink books. Haven’t decided when I will tackle unsheltered yet. Oh and good luck with restless dolly maunder or yawnder 😂😂
Keeping your TBR reasonable... uh huh... 🤔🙂 I've recently inhaled most of the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series by Ilona Andrews. Fun, escapist reads filled with all sorts of creatures and awful monsters and magic! I also read the translated I Who Have Never Known Men by Harpman. It is very good if you've not read it - very introspective and thought-provoking. For August, I hope to find another fun urban fantasy series and, of course, more mysteries. I'm also in a long queue for The Will of the Many from the library. Looking forward to your Booker discussions!
😂😜 I read We Who Have Never Known Men last year - I enjoyed it quite a bit. Definitely got the cogs turning! Love a bit of urban fantasy, so I’ll have to look that series up. I really fancy Will of the Many, you will probably get to it before me though, so you’ll have to let me know what it’s like.
Helloo! 🤗 I keep waiting for my library to get Honeybees and distant thunder (over a year now) still hasn’t happened 😔 I am hoping to take part in WIT month- the only thing stopping me is mood. I need to find some I am really interested in!
Yes go Gemma! YA, children’s and graphic novels - must re-read Noughts and Crosses 🙌 I always just assumed Elena Ferrante was translated fiction. Yay Becky Chambers! The Fifth Season would be on my personal best books of the 21st century list. I’d only read 11 on that NYT list, unsurprisingly 😂
Elena Ferrante is translated, I was just having a mind fart. There were actually quite a few translated books on the list, I just can’t pass up an opportunity to shove Tender is the Flesh back down peoples throats 😂 I really need to continue with the Naughts and Crosses series!
I checked that list out yesterday, and I think it’s much better. There’s clearly a difference between what readers think is excellent and what writers do 🤨
I love Kristen Hannah's books, but this was my least favorite. Perhaps she wrote The Women in the way she did so that the writing didn't distract from the serious story, but her writing was very far from good literature, to the point of being written for children - not the graphic content, but the style. A very serious topic written too simply. Also very predictable romance that got somewhat in the way.
Hard agree authors should only get 1 spot. I was flabbergasted that none of Sarah Waters books made the list. I'm fine with them focusing only on adult books, otherwise there are too many.
The list wasn't written. It was compiled from over 500 top tens submitted after over 1000 requests were sent out. It reflects the chosen books of 500 different people. If there were no children's books or YA books or enough genre fiction, then it's because the people submitting their top 10s did not choose those kinds of books. The reason Jesmyn Ward shows up three times is because each of those three books received enough votes to appear in the top 100.
