Quite and interesting mix, I hope that some of your predictions make it onto the longlist tomorrow. Even if they don’t you've given me new finds to add to my TBR. 👏🙌
Yay for book Christmas! 📚 What interesting choices and I've not heard of The Bastard Factory but it sounds so good (though quite an epic!) Many of your other picks really appeal as well. Especially Retrospective as I love a family saga. Looking forward to see how your choices compare to the actual list.
Hey Eric! Thank you for watching! Yes, although reviews for the Bastard Factory are very mixed, so I'm now suspicious of its chances! I also love a family saga! 😁
Nice list, there are some books here I've nevernheard of Agree on short stories, they only work for me when they're interconnected or speak to each other.
Thank you! I must admit when I saw your list I also had the same thought! I hadn't heard of many of them and I noted how different your choices were to mine because I'd already planned my video at that point! Yes, I think in the last 3 years I've only rated 1 short story collection 5* and that was Interpreter of Maladies. If you've got a couple of all time favourites please drop them here for me! If I'm going to get along with anyone's recommendations it's probably yours. Plus, I didn't mention in the video cause otherwise id be talking about her in every video, but Body Kintsugi reads a lot like Jessica Andrews in its writing style so if I was going to put any book on this list into your hands, it'd be that one! 😁
Great! I really enjoy Mariana Enriquez and still need to read this one. Some potentially big books. Looking forward to seeing how you do with your prescriptions. 😊💙
Me too! In recent years, guessing has often been just as fun as actually seeing what made it, kind of like the build up to Christmas being just as good as the day itself! It's also good news on the Mariana Enriquez front- I'm 10% of the way into Our Share of Night and loving it so far! How can she not be longlisted?! 😁
Thanks for sharing your predictions! Like you I really value this prize for discovering less well publicized books and your longlist can do the same job. I loved the Diop and Labatut books you mentioned at the start, and I would also add Elena Knows and The Employees. I have avoided the Mariana Enriquez tome as I didn’t really get on with her Dangers of Smoking in Bed (I think Julia Armfield’s salt slow was a similar kind of book but infinitely better). The one eligible book on my shelf that you didn’t mention is the Opposite of a Person by Lieke Marsman which I have heard good things about.
Yes, I equally had mixed feelings on Dangers of Smoking in Bed but I wondered if it was just because it was a short story collection which I tend to not like as much. So I'm currently a quarter of the way through Our Share of Night and so far, I'm enjoying it more than Dangers of Smoking in Bed. My full thoughts on Our Share of Night should be in my February reading wrap up next week! Thank you for mentioning Opposite of a Person, this wasn't on my radar but I've now read the blurb and I do like books that use the topic of environmentalism. I read Venomous Lumpsucker last year which speaks to this theme and I had a great time reading it.
@@charlottemolloy Strangely I usually avoid novels with environmentalism. My reason is I am an ecologist and they start to feel like they are telling me about my day job! That said, I have Venomous Lumpsucker on the shelves because I realy enjoyed all of his previous books.
Thank you, Charlotte. I don't read a lot of translated fiction, so I rely on prizes like the Booker International to help guide me. I always root for books from the Nordic countries. Thank you for sharing, and happy reading.
Hey! Yes, I'd say I often find some of my best translated reads of the year through the Booker International I'm guessing you are from Scandinavia? Or is it just an enthusiam of yours? I must admit, I also enjoy Nordic fiction, but it has been a long time since I've headed to any. Have you got a favourite in mind that you could point me in the direction of? 😁
@@charlottemolloy I am in America, but my great-grandparents immigrated from Norway and I feel a draw to that part of the world. Other ancestors came from Scotland, England, Ireland, and Germany so I have a good mix of northern European roots. I love Nordic crime fiction, especially Jo Nesbø, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, Karin Fossum, and Salla Simukka. For classics, I absolutely love Knut Hamsun. "Growth of the Soil" is an all-time favorite of mine, and "Hunger" is close behind. All of these are fairly easy to find in English, maybe not their full catalog, but more than enough to try. There are too many books! Happy reading!
