2026 Booker Longlist: The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Next up for our panel is The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout. Our whole panel read this book. Keep reading to see how it rates among our panel.
Read moreAug 13
1 Comment
Aug 11
2026 Booker Longlist: John of John by Douglas Stuart
First up for panel is the book that seemed to make the most prediction lists: John of John by Douglas Stuart. Three of our panel members read this book and here are our reviews…
Read moreJul 28
2026 Booker Prize Longlist
It’s here! The booker longlist was announced today at 2pm BST. I did worse than usual on my prediction list, but I own quite a few of them and am excited to read them. Here is the list…
Jul 17
Battle of the Bots: Which AI can Predict the Booker?
Yesterday our panel posted our 2026 Booker longlist predictions. Today it’s time for the AI predictions. You all saw how well Chat GPT did with its predictions. I asked several frequently-used AI to give us their predictions for this year’s booker longlist. The prompt was the same for all. The prompt I gave was: Can you please give me your predictions for the 13 books you think will make the 2026 Booker longlist. Please follow Booker Prize eligibility criteria. Books must be originally written in English, have a UK publisher, and be published between October 1, 2025 and September 20, 2026. Thanks to Gygoldenreviewer (if you’re not already following him on Instagram, you should rectify that asap) for pointing out that ChatGPT from yesterday’s post selected a book that does not have a UK publisher. As such, I modified the prompt slightly to try and direct them to be more accurate.
Responses were copied and pasted exactly as obtained. I did not correct any errors. Keep reading to find out what they all predicted.
Read moreJul 16
2026 Booker Longlist Predictions
It’s that time again! Every year our panel comes together to read and review all the booker nominees and to predict the winners. Welcome back to Andrew who is joining us again this year after a short hiatus. This year’s longlist will be announced on July 28. Every year we try and most years we fail spectacularly to get more than 3 correct predictions each. Will we have better luck this year? Keep reading to find out who we all selected and let us know what you think.
Read moreJun 13
The Last Samurai (no relation to Tom Cruise movie) – Helen DeWitt
Where has this book been all my life?
Read moreGlyph by Ali Smith
It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Ali Smith’s writing. So I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest book, due out this May. Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Ali Smith is known for her use of wordplay and tendency to bend time, perspective, and narrative structure. I enjoy her writing because it is highly intellectual while at the same time thoroughly readable. I’m also trying to get a head start on potential Booker nominees and while I’ve heard conflicting things about Smith submitting her books for consideration, she’s been on the list before and is a good candidate for Booker lists. So how’s her most recent novel? Here is my review
Read moreTerrible Reviews of Great Books: 1984 by George Orwell
There is no such thing as a universally loved book. In this series, I revisit Time’s 100 best English-language novels and unpack the weirdest reasons readers can’t stand them. From the nasty to the snarky to the downright absurd, I’ll highlight some of the strange reasons why some people hate these great reads. It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these features and what could be more appropriate for review than 1984 by George Orwell.
Read moreDec 29
Our best books read in 2025
Many of the major book sites have released their top books of 2025 so we figured our panel would share their favorite reads of the year. While our lists do contain many books published in 2025, they are not exclusive to 2025 but rather the best books we read during the year.
Here are the top 5 books that each of our panel members read in 2025.
Read moreNov 9
2025 Booker prize predictions
It’s time for our panel to pick our winner. Find out which book our panelists think will win the prize this year. The prize will be announced tomorrow, November 10th.
Read more
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 