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Love A Five Year Sentence. So original. It should be so much better known.

A shame that the Bri Lee fiction wasn't very good in the end. I'm so glad you liked death note! I have read six volumes of it so far, and really enjoy the game between L and Light, and while it does discuss good and bad to some extent, it's not the entirety of the plot as a whole. I really like how it focuses on the cat and mouse game, and how well it does that.

No Praiseworthy? No My Friends? Those two are on my possibles list. There's a few on your list that I can't wait to get to! Shafak's is one of them, James is another. A couple I hadn't heard of but boy is there a long waiting list at the library for them- The Coast Road and You are Here, are two that I've added my name to those very long lists.

Shakespeare is commonly studied in high schools, so that isn't a point for 1984 being simply written. I studied 1984 alongside Julius Caesar back in 1982/3. That said, I really enjoyed Julia, and am re-reading 1984 now too - it really does add to the original text. The only quibble I have is the ending, which while enjoyable, does somewhat detract from the point of 1984. I'm not certain it needed a hopeful ending tbh - it could have ended leaving things open, for the reader to decide, without being a lesser book.

I have no idea how it's possible to narrow down a list from all of the eligible books😆 I really want to read Jaded but I just can't see it being on that list given what I know of the booker ... definitely want to read The Coast Road now too!

The pixelated cover on the thumbnail was pure click bait. Which worked. And now I want to read it! Great video, as always.

Excellent! I can’t imagine that Everett won’t be a tremendous contender for the Pulitzer, and I hope you are right that the Booker will take it seriously, too. What a book! That Shafak cover is so much better than the American version! So glad to hear Whale Fall is on your list.

Gosh, so many attractive books I haven't read.

When you were talking about About boobs that were part of a series and booker alumni I for sure thought you were gonna say Long Island Colm toibin

New subscriber. Thanks for this video - a nice list I think! Have you read Martyr! ? I persoally haven't, but based on where I've been sitting this year it seems like that's going to be an inevitable long list nominee. Actually, I should pry figure out if it's elligible because perhaps it's not and I didn't know that and that's why you didn't mention it lol.

Messud was in fact longlisted for the Booker in 2006 with The emperor's children

Thanks, Scott!🌷I do hope The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store makes the longlist and I’m curious to see whether Tell Me Everything, the new novel by Elizabeth Strout expected in September, will make it. I look forward to your Booker reviews!😊📚

❤️📖 I do hope your predictions are close to the mark🤞. You make such good choices, Scott, and this is just the list I want to read! I've already read and loved both The Safekeep and James and put on hold The Coast Road, which I heard about first on Savidge Reads, and Whale Fall - interested to see if I also like it better than Clear 😊 😮 I think I may try Boysie Singh on audio.

Oh god it's that time again

James is certainly the standout most likely to be on the longlist. Listening to your predictions I feel like I haven't even been reading this year, so many titles I haven't heard of but would like to get to. Naturally, I would like to see an Australian writer, perhaps Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko. I'm still plodding through Praiseworthy but struggling. I actually hope it's not on the list.

I'm currently reading The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh and it's whew! Really good! Great list! I picked out a few the same as you but you've introduced me to some titles I haven't heard of. this should be a very interesting long list. I think there's a possibility that Brotherless Night could be on the list.

Surely James will win! I would love Praiseworthy to be there and My Friends by Hisham Matar must have a chance too.

Always love hearing your predictions

😂 same regarding RICH

I really enjoyed all of this well researched speculation. I loved James and Blackouts. I'd also love to see Heaven & Earth Grocery Store make it in there, too. I want to read The Safe Keep!

Thank you for this information! Great as always!

Will be soooo interested to see what makes it. I really want to read Whale Fall either way

I haven’t watched yet but I’m soooo excited to see prediction videos popping up! I am trying to finalize my list so I am holding off on watching others so I’m not influenced but I’m sure your list is fantastic. Not only that, your prediction lists always damage my TBR! it’s Booker season, baby!!!

With Wandering Stars I agree with your assessment on his choice to have so much of the novel about a school shooting, but just one small step forward I’d say this: As an American I often hear when we talk about the “first” masa shooting, or the numbers, and this crushing phenomenon, that these aren’t really the first, the first are what was done to the indigenous people, the highest numbers were what was done to them, how this issue of gun violence has been prevalent way before. I haven’t read the book yet, but I would imagine that conversation piece that I often see inspired that choice. And it absolutely breaks my heart thinking of any indigenous person also seeing that.

Thank you, thank you - for your in-depth research! I look forward to following your impressions throughout the Booker selection process this year 🙂

That's a great list. I'd like to add in My Friends by Hisham Matar. And I really hope they don't hit us with a book that doesn't release until after the shortlist is announced, because looking at the dates that would actually be possible 🤪

You rascal! Several of your honorable mentions were previously unknown to me, and it might have been best if that had remained the case. Because I don't need another excuse to go to the bookstore. ;-) I'm so glad you predicted The Safekeep. It's probably going to be my favorite of the year. I think it's brilliant, for all the reasons you said. I'm holding out for The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston. I'd love to see an Australian author (other than Alexis Wright, though I concede she's the most likely. The Great Undoing by Sharlene Allsop is my hope. Also - Passiontide by Monique Roffey to rep the Caribbean.

Why is it that I feel like your predictions are going to end up being better than the actual list? There has to be at least 1-2 books where everyone is like “How the hell did this make the bookers?!” I would love to see Everett, McBride, Emezi, Obioma, Shafak, and Gonzalez make the list…but sadly I don’t think the Bookers would put out a list that diverse. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong though.

Omg I want to read every single one of these!

Great list of books and enjoyable video - many thanks.

I’d love Greta & Valdin and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store to be long listed. I’m currently listening to Evenings and Weekends The In Between I finished Enlightenment by Sarah Perry It was a very disappointing book. I should have DNFd it 20% in but I kept reading hoping it would improve.

James and Blackouts would be on my list for sure.

I’m glad you have had such a good experience with the Womens Prize this year!

I’m eager to read Whale Fall. And thank you very much for bringing Cheri and Mayflies to my attention. I love your math-lit discussion!

Whale Fall was a surprise 5-star for me! I haven’t read Clear yet, but this gave me huge The Colony by Audrey Magee vibes. Give me a quiet little novel set on a remote Irish or UK island and I’m a happy girl. Also, Dominoes has been on my radar for a while and I kept deciding against it. Thanks for the review and I’m off to put a hold on it at my library!

Hi Scott, I'm surprised you didn't like Poor Things better, particularly as it was a pointedly socialist book from a socialist country's highly-esteemed (socialist?) author. The movie took all of that out and more. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Maybe the audio made a difference? It was a clear 5 stars. As someone who is well-versed in film and did watch the whole movie, I'm confident in saying there was a lot to dislike. I gave it 2.5 stars on Letterboxd.

My TBR has grown by 5 now. Thanks for your thoughtful reviews.

As a lover of literary fiction, I am so happy to have found this channel. I would subscribe ten times over if I could. Keep the content coming! I predict that in a year, you'll have at least ten times more subscribers. 🤞

☠️😅 Oliviera wins for book description. #teamhaterichpeople As always, so many books added to the TBR. Glad to hear that you liked How Beautiful We Were. I really like Mbue’s writing and I hadn’t really read any other books at the time that dealt with that specific issue.

Talking of slavery, I just finished reading Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim which was a great book... It's book #1 of the Freedman/Johnson series... Have you read it?

I still have An Orchestra of Minorities on my shelf. I’m due to read his works soon. Solid review. I will temper my expectations a bit, but expect I will probably like the book. Btw…I saw you are experimenting with thumbnails and I got the one with the author only. It didn’t affect my desire to watch the video, but I didn’t initially realize it was your video.

That’s what I get for thinking I could watch some booktube with my 12-year old in the room 😬😶‍🌫️

I read Bodies of Light for misery May. Thanks Scott for the recommendation. Has she written anything else?

I’m going to check out Tony Birch. Maybe for Straya September if I can’t get to them before that. I loved your analysis of Lean Your Lonliness. That was another great Patreon discussion. Love my lil nerd gang, and thank you so much for moderating those insightful meetings!

It’s always a pleasure to hear you talk about your reading. You reminded me of the powerful emotions I felt when I read How Beautiful We Were. I’m currently reading (and loving ) Clear and I have Whale Fall on my TBR so I look forward to seeing whether I agree that the latter is better. Would you say they both have similarities to Audrey Magee’s The Colony?

I noticed you mentioned the Walter Scott prize, which I had to look up. We hear about Booker, Stella, and the women's prize but It l'd love it if you'd do a video on prizes which aren't often discussed on booktube.

Thanks! Love your updates!