Skip to content

Archive for

2017 Man Booker Shortlist: Lincoln in the Bardo

Over the next month, our panel will be giving their thoughts on each of the nominated shortlist books. We’ll tell you briefly what we think of the book, the reasons we think it might win, and the reasons why it might not win. First up is Lincoln in the Bardo, a book that our entire panel managed to read. Keep reading to see what we think about whether it will be our 2017 Man Booker winner. Read more

2017 Man Booker Shortlist

The 2017 Man Booker shortlist was announced this morning. Keep reading to see which books made the list and how our judges fared in their predictions.
Read more

2017 Man Booker Shortlist Predictions

Our shadow panel of 6 judges managed to collectively read all 13 books. We rated all the books on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) enjoyment.  Based on our collective ratings we came up with a group shortlist. Keep reading to find out how each book was ranked and which books we predict will make the list. The shortlist will be announced tomorrow.  Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist thoughts

We’ve reached the end of our longlist reviews and are ready to make our shortlist predictions! Before we make our predictions we’d like to share some of our favorites and least favorites. Similar to last year, each of our panelists responded to a list of 20 questions about the longlist books. We asked about favorite writing, favorite plot, best title, favorite cover, and more. Keep reading to see what each judge selected as their top books for various categories.  Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: 4321

4321.jpg

Our final book is 4321. Because it’s such a monster of a book, only two panelists were able to finish the book although Book Worm is currently reading it too. Our panel reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. And with 4321, we now have our collective rankings of all 13 longlist books. Tomorrow we’ll also post our individual predictions and preferences (which will vary from judge to judge).

Here are our ratings for 4 3 2 1…
Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: Autumn

autumn

Book #11 for our panel is Autumn by Ali Smith. Our panel reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. Here are our ratings for Autumn.
Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

ministry of utmost

Book 11 for our shadow panel is The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Once again our panel reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. Let us know what you thought of the book too. Here are our ratings for The Ministry of Utmost Happiness…
Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: Elmet

elmet.jpg

Next up for our shadow panel was a book none of us had heard of prior to the longlist announcement: Elmet. Four panelists reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. Here are our ratings for Elmet.
Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: Solar Bones

solar bones.jpg

Up next our panel reviews book #9: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. Three panels reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. We hope you add your thoughts, reviews, and/or comments. Here are our ratings…
Read more

2017 Man Booker Longlist: Home Fire

home fire

Next up for our panel is Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. Three panelists read and reviewed the book on the following criteria: 1) writing quality; 2) originality; 3) character development; 4) plot development; and 5) overall enjoyment. We’ve each provided mini-reviews and ratings. Here are our ratings:
Read more