Those of you who have followed the blog for a while already know that Murakami is one of my favorite authors so it’s probably no surprise that I picked a Murakami novel as my first read of the year. 2024 was less than stellar for me from a reading perspective. Work burnout and life stress left me with little energy and motivation to read (outside of our Booker feature) and even less time. So I go into 2025 hoping for a better reading year and I always enjoy a good Murakami novel. Did this book live up to my expectation? keep reading to find out.
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 (and thus the reason for why I pushed out the last three posts in the same day.
Apologies for rushing through these last three posts but time got away from me and I wanted to post this last one before our predictions post (which I will also post tonigh). Our panel had somewhat mixed reviews for Held. You can read our short reviews here: Held. The novel made it onto 3 of our predictions lists with Nicole, Tracy, and Anita predicting it. The Booker judges had this to say about the book…
‘The first few pages of this brief kaleidoscopic novel from the author of Fugitive Pieces may seem forbidding, yet every member of the judging panel was transported by this book. Michaels, a poet, is utterly uncompromising in her vision and execution. She is writing about war, trauma, science, faith and above all love and human connection; her canvas is a century of busy history, but she connects the fragments of her story through theme and image rather than character and chronology, intense moments surrounded by great gaps of space and time. Appropriately for a novel about consciousness, it seems to alter and expand your state of mind. Reading it is a unique experience.’
What does our panel think of the odds of this book being this year’s winner? Keep reading to find out
The verdict was also unanimous on this book: Our whole panel loved it. You can read our short reviews here: Stone Yard Devotional. The Booker judges had this to say about the book…
‘Sometimes a visitor becomes a resident, and a temporary retreat becomes permanent. This happens to the narrator in Stone Yard Devotional – a woman with seemingly solid connections to the world who changes her life and settles into a monastery in rural Australia. Yet no shelter is impermeable. The past, in the form of the returning bones of an old acquaintance, comes knocking at her door; the present, in the forms of a global pandemic and a local plague of mice and rats, demands her attention. The novel thrilled and chilled the judges – it’s a book we can’t wait to put into the hands of readers.’
You can read more about the novel and an author interview on the booker prize website:here.
What does our panel think of the odds of this book being this year’s winner? Keep reading to find out
Our panel reviewed the Safekeep (you can read our reviews here) favorably and it made it onto 3 of our predictions lists – Nicole, Tracy, and Lisa called it. The Booker judges had this to say about the book
‘Set in the early 1960s in the Netherlands in an isolated house, The Safekeep draws us into a world as carefully calibrated as a Dutch still-life. Every piece of crockery or silverware is accounted for here. Isa is the protagonist – a withdrawn figure who is safeguarding this inheritance. When her brother brings his new girlfriend Eva into this household the energy field changes as we sense boundaries of possession being crossed, other histories coming into the light. We loved this debut novel for its remarkable inhabitation of obsession. It navigates an emotional landscape of loss and return in an unforgettable way.’
What does our panel think of the odds of this book being this year’s winner? Keep reading to find out
Our panel was very mixed on this book and so is the literary community. You can read our short reviews here: Creation Lake. The novel made it onto 2 of our predictions lists (Jen and Lisa correctly predicted it). The Booker judges had this to say about the book…
‘Sadie Smith – not her real name – is an FBI agent turned spy-for-hire, whose latest mission is to infiltrate a commune of eco-activists in rural France. She’s an extraordinary creation: sharp-minded, iron-willed, accustomed to moving fast and breaking things. As she investigates the group, she hacks into emails from their guru, a shadowy eccentric who has withdrawn from modernity into the ancient caves that dot the landscape; he has some beguiling ideas about the role of Neanderthals through history. What’s so electrifying about this novel is the way it knits contemporary politics and power with a deep counter-history of human civilisation. We found the prose thrilling, the ideas exciting, the book as a whole a profound and irresistible page-turner.’
You can read more about the novel and an author interview on the booker prize website: here.
What does our panel think of the odds of this book being this year’s winner? Keep reading to find out
Next up for our shortlist musings is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. The majority of our panel was underwhelmed by this book. You can read our short reviews here: Orbital. The novel only made it onto 2 of our predictions lists (Jen and Anita correctly predicted it). The Booker judges had this to say about the book…
‘Samantha Harvey’s compact yet beautifully expansive novel invites us to observe Earth’s splendour from the drifting perspective of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they navigate bereavement, loneliness and mission fatigue. Moving from the claustrophobia of their cabins to the infinitude of space, from their wide-ranging memories to their careful attention to their tasks, from searching metaphysical inquiry to the spectacle of the natural world, Orbital offers us a love letter to our planet as well as a deeply moving acknowledgement of the individual and collective value of every human life.’
You can read more about the novel and an author interview on the booker prize website: here.
What does our panel think of the odds of this book being this year’s winner? Keep reading to find out
Up next for our panel is Samantha Harvey’s Orbital. Orbital is Harvey’s fifth novel. It has received some glowing reviews from various literary critics.
Cover blurb: A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men traveling through space. Selected for one of the last space station missions of its kind before the program is dismantled, these astronauts and cosmonauts—from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan—have left their lives behind to travel at a speed of over seventeen thousand miles an hour as the earth reels below. We glimpse moments of their earthly lives through brief communications with family, their photos and talismans; we watch them whip up dehydrated meals, float in gravity-free sleep, and exercise in regimented routines to prevent atrophying muscles; we witness them form bonds that will stand between them and utter solitude. Most of all, we are with them as they behold and record their silent blue planet. Their experiences of sixteen sunrises and sunsets and the bright, blinking constellations of the galaxy are at once breathtakingly awesome and surprisingly intimate.
Profound and contemplative, Orbital is a moving elegy to our environment and planet.
It’s finally arrived! The longlist was announced about 10 minutes ago. Lots of leaks this year and looks like they were correct since I had seen half the list leaked.
How did our panel do? I I predicted 3 correctly, falling in the middle of the pack for our panel. I vacillated on Wild Houses since I had read it and thought it was good but not quite good enough to make the list. I was clearly wrong. I have a lot of reading to catch up on since I’ve only read 4 of the books on the list (and am halfway through my 5th thanks to the leaks). I thankfully already have copies of 10 of the books since most of them were on my radar to read for our Booker panel.
Our winners this year were Tracy and Anita who both correctly predicted 5. Lisa predicted 3, and Nicole came in at 2 correct predictions. Now the reading begins! Follow our panel as we make our way through the longlist and post abbreviated reviews for each book. Below is the full list of the longlist books.
This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack Published: October 26, 2023 Rating: ★★★★ Order it here: This Plague of Souls
Nealon has just been released from prison and arrives to an empty house. Where are his wife and son? Why was Nealon in prison? As Nealon reflects on the past, loss, loneliness, fatherhood, and life’s meaning, his reveries are interrupted by a mysterious caller who appears to have answers to Nealon’s musings. Described as a metaphysical thriller or noir, This Plague of Souls is a follow up (although can be read as a stand alone) book to Solar Bones. But is it worth the read?
★ Hated it & no redeeming additional qualities noted. Recommend avoiding it.
★★ Disliked it, may have 1 redeeming quality (writing style, novelty, etc).
★★★ Liked it or may have a few interesting qualities.
★★★★ Really liked it & it has at least a couple interesting qualities.
★★★★★ Loved almost everything about it. Only a few, if any, minor limitations noted.
Book Worm’s rating system
★ Bah I really hated this would not even pass this to my worst enemy
★★ I really didn't like this but would consider giving it to my worst enemy for vengeful purposes
★★★ this was an enjoyable way to pass the time not great not horrendous
★★★★ really enjoyed this book there was something about it that made me think
★★★★★ wow I loved this book I am now out recommending it to all my friends, will keep to re read even though I have banned re reads
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 