2023 Booker shortlist predictions

The time has come for our shortlist predictions. We’ve spent the last few months reading all the longlist books and rating the nominees. Keep reading to see which books topped our collective list and what panelists picked as their personal predictions.

Each year the panel reviews books and scores them on the following categories: writing, plot development, character development, originality, and enjoyment. Of course ratings are highly subjective and often influenced by which books we liked the most. This year in particular our panelists diverged pretty substantially on their ratings, but according to our rating method, we ended up with the following ranked order list.

Our panel’s Rankings

1. All the Little Bird Hearts: 18
2. Pearl: 17.75
3. The House of Doors: 16.5
4. Bee Sting: 16.25
5. A Spell of Good Things: 15.38
6. The Prophet Song: 14
7. Study for Obedience: 14
8. Old God’s Time: 13.2
9. The Other Eden: 12.8
10. In Ascension: 12.5
11. Western Lane: 12.5
12. How to Build a Boat: 12.38

BookWorm’s Predictions: I hate saying this, but this year’s is the weakest longlist I have ever read. It seems like the judges chose books with similar themes mainly around absent parents so a lot of the books felt like reading the same thing from a slightly different angle.

My predictions are based on the books that I can remember distinctly and not necessarily the ones I enjoyed most.

1. House of Doors
2. The Bee Sting
3. Prophet Song
4. All The Little Bird Hearts
5. A Spell of Good Things
6. In Ascension

Jen’s Predictions: This was a very mixed year for me with respect to the longlist books. I finished the 13 books and was left feeling confused by so many of the judges picks. I thought it was a weak list but with a few gems that were outstanding. My predictions are mostly based on what I think the judges will pick (not necessarily the ones I enjoyed the most). In no particular order, here are my predictions:

1. Study for Obediance
2. Old God’s Time
3. This Other Eden
4. A Spell of Good Things
5. All the Little Bird Hearts
6. Prophet Song

Nicole’s Predictions: This has definitively been a challenging year and I only really loved 2 books, I don’t feel the slightest bit confident in my picks. I’ll be lucky to get one right. Though I’m not listing it, I have a sick feeling Western Lane will make the shortlist.

1. House of Doors
2. This Other Eden
3. Pearl
4. The Bee Sting
5. A Spell of Good Things
6. Prophet Song

Tracy’s Predictions: After reading all but one of the chunksters, I can say with absolute confidence that I have no clue what the shortlist will be. So, in the tradition of a sport I understand (American football, definitely not squash), I’m gonna punt with mostly the ones I didn’t like and hope I’m wrong like normal.

1. The Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song
3. This Other Eden
4. In Ascension
5. Western Lane
6. How to Build a Boat

Anita’s Thoughts: Unfortunately, due to a terrible work schedule, I was unable to read many of the longlist titles. Fortunately, I’ll be reading the shortlist. However, of course, I still have opinions. My guess includes the three I’ve read and three I have not, but really want to!

1. In Ascension
2. The Bee Sting
3. Prophet Song
4. All the Little Bird-Hearts
5. This Other Eden
6. Pearl

Which books do you predict will make the shortlist? Which of our panelists will predict the most shortlist books?