Meet our Booker Panelists

Booker seasons is one of my favorite of the reading year. Those of you who have followed the blog for a while know that each year we bring together a panel of readers to make predictions, read (or attempt to) and review all nominated longlist books. Since we’ve been doing this for over 7 years and some of our panelists have changed, I figured it was time to introduce our panel before we start posting our reviews next week. Who are we? What sorts of readers are we? What do we look for in our literature?

Jen: I’m an eclectic sort of reader, in that I read across genres, but my true passion is literary fiction. I live in the US (Northeast) but I grew up in England and Costa Rica and my second great passion after reading is travel. So I appreciate books that open the world to new cultures, experiences, people, and traditions.
Favorite authors: David Mitchell, Margaret Atwood, Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi, Jeannette Winterson, Murakami Haruki, Max Porter, Colm Toibin, Roberto Bolaño, Jose Saramago & Angela Carter.
Types of books I enjoy: I like weird, experimental, and quirky books that push the boundary of narrative structure and/or plot. I also like more traditional books with beautifully written poetic prose. I especially appreciate books that don’t lay it all out for you but rather push the reader to piece together plot and larger narrative meaning.
Types of books I dislike: I am an admitted book snob. I dislike romance novels, commercial, best-sellery types of books, & chick-lit. I don’t particularly like science fiction either although there are some exceptions. Within literary fiction, I tend to dislike overly philosophical stream-of-conscious types of narrative styles -specifically the combination of those two things. I’m not a huge fan of dark comedy/satirical writing but I love Everett, so go figure.
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: Brief History of Seven Killings, Do not say we have Nothing, Solar Bones, The Overstory, The Trees.
Least favorite booker winners: Bringing up the Bodies & Wolf Hall (yes, I’m probably alone in hating her writing style), The Children’s Book, Vernon God Little (my all time least favorite), The Life of Pi.
Fun fact: I was a finalist in a trivia competition about David Mitchell’s metaverse to win the honor of having a character named after you in his next book.

Nicole: I’m So-Cal born and raised, and I have an awesome house where I live with my son, his girlfriend, 3 cats and a pug. I love reading, puzzles, reality TV (games, not housewives), and sleeping. Currently obsessed with Taylor Swift, and going to see her in Canada which I am pumped about. There is no explaining or understanding it 🙂
Favorite authors: This is hard because things have changed so much but Deborah Levy, Richard Powers, Tom Robbins is an all time favorite, Ottessa Moshfegh (you can see the Booker influence, except Tom who is a sentimental favorite.)
Types of books I enjoy: I started participating in this panel in 2016, and it’s changed the way I read in general. I tend to read a lot more novels published in the reading year now, vs. finding a new author and devouring everything in their back catalog. I also found that when I did that, I’d burn out on the author (like Murakami) so this new way works better. Literary fiction is my go to, but I like to throw in a good or even marginal thriller as a palate cleanser and I can’t wait for the next book in the Fourth Wing series, so I’m all over the place. I love social commentary and satire, and will do Sci Fi as well.
Types of books I dislike: Like Jen, no chick lit, stream of consciousness or romance (except Fourth Wing). Barf. The less mushy stuff the better for me 🙂 This is weird, and very specific – I don’t like books about music. Also not a huge fan of books about abuse in any form: substance, child, spousal, animal, racial, etc.
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: The Colony, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeiada, Hot Milk, The Overstory, Apeirogon (This was really hard)
Least favorite booker books: This is easy, Life of Pi, anything by Hilary Mantel, Disgrace didn’t age well – loved it when I first read it, re-read it and was kinda horrified. Anything by Cusk or Rushdie.
Fun fact about me: I have a huge action figure collection sitting in my garage, about 50 boxes worth. My son wants me to dispose of them before I die. haha.

Tracy: I’m from Iowa- I live in a ‘famous’ college town where the local library has a huge collection of Iris Murdoch books. My boys are both grown and gainfully employed at universities, and my husband and I are now raising a Boxer and a Dachshund. They won’t be getting degrees anytime soon. I’ve loved reading and music (of almost all kinds) for as long as I can remember. I also have been perfecting my gazpacho recipe. Lots of cucumbers and tomatoes this summer.
Favorite authors: This week: Ali Smith, James Baldwin, Elizabeth Strout, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Mariana Enriquez, Louise Erdrich, guilty pleasure: the manga of Junji Ito
Types of books I enjoy: I have gone through phases of everything- romance, thrillers, cozy mysteries. I don’t read those anymore. They were easy reaches when the kids were little. Now I’m such a mood reader, it’s hard to pinpoint. I love translated fiction from all over the world- it is so necessary to remember that we’re not the center of the world. Mostly I read literary fiction, but I have a lot of nonfiction, humor, history and biographies, and I love horror, for some reason it brings me comfort- especially in an election year.
Types of books I don’t enjoy: Tell all gossip, politics, “nonfiction” based on flawed research (these are all the same to me, but), romantasy, space opera, cozy anything, procedurals, spy/Cold War stuff. I can do almost any writing style, but if it’s not done well, I’m abandoning the book. As far as specific authors, I’m willing to try to read them. I mean, Rachel Cusk could write a cute children’s book, right?
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: Only five? Shuggie Bain; Girl Woman Other, James, Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Milkman
Least favorite booker books: Wolf Hall, Vernon God Little, G. by John Berger.
Fun fact about me: I’ve been lucky to see most of my bucket list concerts: Grateful Dead (with Jerry Garcia), Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Little Feat, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Gordon Lightfoot. Yes, I’m old. Thanks.

Lisa: I live in Massachusetts and I grew up in Connecticut. I’ve always loved to read. As a young teen, I loved Nancy Drew books and books by Madeline L’Engle. Then, I moved on to reading every book Margaret Atwood had written. I first read 1984 in 1984; I read that and Brave New World multiple times. When I became a mom with two kids, a great day in my life was the day both my kids knew how to read so we could all sit in a room together and quietly read our own books.
Favorite authors: N.K. Jemison, Tana French, Jane Austen, David Mitchell, Lev Grossman, George Saunders. These are authors who I consistently enjoy. There are lots of books I loved — like On Beauty by Zadie Smith — but then it turned out that I didn’t like other books by the author. So hard to call them a favorite author.
Types of books I enjoy: I like literary fiction (obviously, or else I would not be here). I like books that focus on women’s experiences. I like sci-fi and fantasy, particularly when they can also be categorized as literary fiction. I like it when an author chooses a side character from a classic novel and then writes the story from their point of view (as in James). I have a soft spot for re-telling of Greek myths from the point of view of a female character.
Types of books I don’t enjoy: I dislike books where I have to work hard to keep track of the different characters. I have a particular aversion to books with no paragraph demarcations (when will I rest?) and also books with a lot of very short paragraphs (really? Could you flesh it out a little more? ). I just read The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante and I did not enjoy it. It’s hard to put into words what I did not like; it is more of a feeling of yuckiness that I got reading the book. So, I guess you could say I don’t like books that make me feel yucky. (Real Life did that too; it also features a main character who makes a series of self-injurious choices.)
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: Lincoln in the Bardo, Milkman, The Overstory, Girl Woman other, 4321.
Least favorite booker books: A Brief History of Seven Killings, Swing Time, The Mars Room, The Testaments, Real Life
Fun fact about me: I love to crochet, quilt, and do needlepoint and embroidery.

Anita: I live in Baltimore in a high rise on the 38th floor, am a mom to two adult sons, married for 34 years, and have a very cute little cockapoo, named Remy. I’ve been a huge reader since I was a very little girl. Reading and talking about books is one of my greatest pleasures in life. I only wish I could read faster!
Favorite authors: Elizabeth Strout, Deborah Levy, and Jonathan Franzen are my top three. I also like T.C. Boyle, David Grann, Laura Hillebrand, John Krakauer, Jhumpa Lahiri, George Saunders, and John Irving.
Types of books I enjoy: Literary fiction and memoirs are my go-to! I am increasingly into non-fiction of many types: true crime, biography, business cases, and history. I’m definitely more picky about fiction overall.
Authors I don’t enjoy: Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Barbara Kingsolver
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy, The Colony by Audrey Magee, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Least favorite booker books: So easy. Ducks, Newburyport (to be fair I didn’t finish it) and The Milkman
Fun fact about me: Everyday, I make it my mission to run a mile for every run scored by the New York Yankees the day before, and I’ve been doing this for like 10 years straight.

Susie: I’m an avid reader from Melbourne, Australia. I enjoy a wide range of genres, but literary fiction has my heart. I enjoy crime fiction when I am looking for a low demand read, and I’m not sure what that says about me! I’m the mother of two teenaged sons, and have been with my husband for nearly 30 years.
Favorite authors: Ann Patchett, Jonathan Franzen, Kent Haruf, Elizabeth Strout, Eimear McBride, Kevin Barry, Fernanda Melchor, Douglas Stuart, and Peter Temple, along with many others.
Types of books I enjoy: Literary Fiction that is character driven tends to wow me the most, but I also enjoy a good plot driven novel if the writing captures me.
Authors I don’t enjoy: Colleen Hoover, Alex Michaelides, and Elif Shafak are names that spring to mind.
Top 5 favorite Booker books from last 10 years: Prophet Song, The Promise, Snuggie Bain, Lincoln in the Bardo, and The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Least favorite booker books: The Testaments (I am still angry!), Milkman, and The Sellout.
Fun fact about me: I am a clinical social worker who specialises in complex trauma.

We want to hear from you! Lett us about yourself and the types of books and authors you enjoy.