Breathing Just a Little

Now it's time for a couple of stars of the longlist, and also for my first DNF of the year! I don't review books I give up on - I think it's very unfair - but the very fact of my not completing can be read as a comment (not a positive one) on what I thought of the book. I'm about to start the audiobook of The Renovation, and will try to read Switzy once it's available (release date is 8 Sept). I've decided not to attempt Helen of Nowhere, which is getting dire reviews (you don't often see a rating dipping below 3 on Goodreads!) or the James book because ... I don't want to. I'll roll into shortlist announcement at 11/13 attempted, 10 read, which is not too bad.  With nine down, I am prepared to rank the ones I have read, and call whether I think they a) should be and b) will be on the shortlist. I have a feeling that both Switzy and the James book might shortlist, so I am only picking four from my current nine for that reason. Stars are next to the o...

Next three are done, and this time, I wasn't as impressed (although I am sure views will differ!) My next two, as I approach the halfway mark, is Douglas Stuart's John of John, one of the heavy hitters (and favourites to win), and the highly praised All Them Dogs, so I am preparing for bedazzlement :-) The rolling list is below. 1. The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis 2. Switzy by Emma Cline 3. Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman ✅4. The End of Everything by M. John Harrison: 5/10 5. The Disappearers by Marlon James ✅6. Black Bag by Luke Kennard: 7/10 7. The Renovation by Kenan Orhan ✅8. May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry: 8.5/10 ✅9. The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley: 6/10 ✅10. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout: 9.5/10 11. John of John by Douglas Stuart 12. All Them Dogs by Djamel White ✅13. The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams: 5/10 The End of Everything by M. John Harrison: 5/10 Have we got up to one of the Booker Stinkers already? Well ... maybe. Sort of. ...

Well, the time has rolled around for the Booker Prize longlist again! The thirteen titles in contention are: 1. The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis 2. Switzy by Emma Cline 3. Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman 4. The End of Everything by M. John Harrison 5. The Disappearers by Marlon James 6. Black Bag by Luke Kennard 7. The Renovation by Kenan Orhan ✅8. May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry: 8.5/10 ✅9. The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley: 6/10 ✅10. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout: 9.5/10 11. John of John by Douglas Stuart 12. All Them Dogs by Djamel White 13. The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams I had already read the Strout book prior to the list (review is here ), but have decided to take a tilt at banging through the rest of the longlist in advance of shortlist announcement in late September. We'll see how we go! I'll tick each title on the list as I cover it. Kicking off, here are two of the shorties (under 250pp) that I started with. I listened to the au...