If you’re like me, you’ll be sneaking off to have a look and see if anything is happening around the blogosphere today in the quieter moments! So I’ve prepared a big linky post for you …
I looked at the 2015 Folio Prize reading list of 80 nominated titles which was published in mid-December with initial dismay – I’ve only read two and a half titles on it, (the half being the Joshua Ferris, which I didn’t finish).
I do however, have quite a few of the titles listed on my shelves – but which to read?
Well, we’ve reviewed quite a few of them at Shiny New Books and many others have been covered by other bloggers. So below is the list with links to a selection of reviews to help you think about the shortlist which will be announced on February 9th – you haven’t long!
By the way, the Folio judges this year are: Deborah Levy, AM Homes, Mohsin Hamid, William Fiennes and Rachel Cooke.
The reviews list below is far from exhaustive so do add your links in the comments and I’ll update the list. (An asterisk after the titles means I have it on my shelves or plan to get it.)
–
The Folio 80
10:04 by Ben Lerner
A God In Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie – (review at SNBks)
Academy Street by Mary Costello – (review at A Life in Books)
After Me Comes The Flood* by Sarah Perry – (review at SNBks)
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews – (review at SNBks)
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengistu
All The Days And Nights by Niven Govinden – (review at Lonesome Reader)
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
All The Rage by A L Kennedy
Amnesia by Peter Carey – (review at Tales From the Reading Room)
Annihilation* by Jeff Vandermeer
Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut – (review at Lonesome Reader)
Bald New World by Peter Tieryas Liu
Bark by Lorrie Moore
Be Safe I Love You by Cara Hoffman
Boy Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi – (review at SNBks)
Can’t & Won’t by Lydia Davis
Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey – (review at SNBks)
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill – (review at A Life in Books)
Dissident Gardens* by Jonathan Lethem
Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
Em And The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
England And Other Stories by Graham Swift
Euphoria by Lily King
Everland by Rebecca Hunt
Eyrie* by Tim Winton – (review at SNBks)
Family Life by Akhil Sharma
Fourth Of July Creek by Smith Henderson
How To Be Both by Ali Smith – (review at SNBks)
In Search Of Solace by Emily Mackie
In The Approaches* by Nicola Barker
In The Light Of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman – (review at SNBks)
J by Howard Jacobson – (review at SNBks)
Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li
Lila by Marilynne Robinson – (review at SNBks)
Life Drawing by Robin Black
Lost For Words by Edward St Aubyn
Love And Treasure by Ayelet Waldman – (review at A Life in Books)
Nora Webster by Colm Toibin – (review at Lonesome Reader)
On Such A Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee
Orfeo* by Richard Powers – (review at SNBks)
Outline by Rachel Cusk
Perfidia by James Ellroy
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Shark by Will Self
Some Luck by Jane Smiley – (review at Tales from the Reading Room)
Stay Up With Me by Tom Barbash – (review at SNBks)
Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood – (review at SNBks)
The Ballad Of A Small Player* by Lawrence Osborne – (reviews at Tales from the Reading Room)
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell – (review at SNBks)
The Book Of Gold Leaves by Mirza Waheed
The Book Of Strange New Things* by Michel Faber – (review at A Life in Books and A Little Blog of Books)
The Country Of Ice cream Star by Sandra Newman
The Dog by Joseph O’Neill
The Emerald Light In The Air by Donald Antrim
The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher – (review at SNBks)
The Fever* by Megan Abbott – (review on My Blog!)
The Heroes’ Welcome by Louisa Young
The Incarnations by Susan Barker
The Lie* by Helen Dunmore – (review at SNBks)
The Lives Of Others by Neel Mukherjee – (review at A Little Blog of Books)
The Narrow Road To The Deep North by Richard Flanagan – (review at Savidge Reads)
The Night Guest* by Fiona McFarlane – (review at A Life in Books)
The Paying Guests* by Sarah Waters – (review at SNBks)
The Tell-Tale Heart* by Jill Dawson – (review at SNBks)
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry – (review at SNBks)
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth – (review at Asylum)
The Zone Of Interest* by Martin Amis – (review at Asylum)
Their Lips Talk Of Mischief by Alan Warner
Thunderstruck by Elizabeth McCracken
To Rise Again At A Decent Hour* by Joshua Ferris – (reviews at My Blog! (DNF))
Travelling Sprinkler by Nicholson Baker
Upstairs At The Party* by Linda Grant – (review at SNBks)
Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
Virginia Woolf In Manhattan by Maggie Gee – (review at SNBks and Lizzy’s Literary Life)
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas – (review at A Life in Books)
What You Want by Constantine Phipps
Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyer
Young Skins by Colin Barrett
Your Fathers Where Are They?… by Dave Eggers
* * * * *
As you’ve got to the bottom of this post, it’s probably time to go back now and
a) talk to your family,
b) watch the telly, or
c) have another turkey sandwich.
Hope Santa brought you what you hoped for yesterday.
Back tomorrow with half of my best books of 2014.
It’s not Boxing Day here yet and it’s not celebrated anyway (sadly). A lot of good books on the list there.
Oh dear – new books! I’m not so good at those, but I do like Will Self! Have a peaceful Boxing Day -we have the in-laws today……😱
I’ve read 5 (Sharma, Faber, Waters, Mukherjee and McFarlane) and will be reading Academy Street by Mary Costello this week – many more are on by TBR list!
Read 3 with a few more to follow in January.
I highly recommend Atwood’s Stone Mattress which will apear on my Best of 2014 list. As will Maggie Gee’s Virginia Woolf in Manhattan. For all that I love seeing her live, Imshould have left A L Kennedy’s All THe Rage on the shelf.
I felt extremely modern, having read four of them! Usually I’d look at these lists in dismay, but SNB has brought me a little up to date. And the four I’ve read (Oyeyemi, Waters, Gee, and Robinson) have, indeed, all been extremely good. It’s great finally to see Oyeyemi on a list, as that book was astonishing.
And, thinking about it, I’ve probably only read 5 or 6 books published this year, so I have a good hit rate for this prize longlist!
I’ve read two also, Ali Smith and Neel Mukherjee. I also gave up on Joshua Ferris; it wasn’t bad but just didn’t excite me enough to read on. I’m much more engaged with the third title from this longlist that I’m currently reading. It’s All Our Names which is a Beautifully constricted novel. Here are the links to my reviews http://bookertalk.com/2014/10/14/how-to-be-both-by-ali-smith/
http://bookertalk.com/2014/07/15/the-lives-of-others-by-neel-mukherjee/
Well I have only read one A God in every stone. I have The Narrow Road to the deep north on my kindle.
Wow, that is quite a list! I’ve read disgracefully few of them. Five, I think! Eek!
I’ve read seven and enjoyed them all:
Eyrie, Family Life, Temporary Gentleman, Night Guest, Narrow Road, Nora Webster and Academy Street.