In the last couple of days I’ve started ‘River East, River West’ and also ‘Nightbloom’. I’m just under about half way with both but delighted that I’m enjoying them so much, I was absorbed pretty much immediately with both. Reading the list has started really well for me!
River East, River West is the only physical book I don't have so far so I need to get a copy for if/when I pick it out! I'm about 100 pages into Brotherless Night and equally very happy to find I'm thoroughly engaged and impressed!
I actually think it's fun that so many are unknowns (to me, at least). Sometimes the literary world can feel quite small because the same titles get talked about over and over, but there are so many books published each year that don't get as much recognition! I was a big fan of Tom Lake, for example, but I'm actually glad it wasn't on here to make room for others with less marketing power than Ann Patchett. I'm really intrigued by Enter Ghost and The Wren, The Wren.
I agree! A great thing about prizes is to shine a light on books that might have otherwise not had a chance and I've never read all/most the longlist without discovering new favourites I hadn't even heard of before. I'm excited to delve in!
I was slightly unimpressed by most of the blurbs (and frankly yours and Eric's reaction didn't make many buzz for me either 😅), so I love the idea of trusting Women's prize judges beyond the minimum we can judge from. Will get Enter Ghost as soon as paperback is out, got myself Western Lane (also not a fan of sport background but I trust Eric here). I'll see what else I can borrow from the library (that's gonna be another sort of long list!) Looking forward to hearing more thoughts about all of these!
This is a really good idea. Initially I was disappointed with the list, but after looking at it a bit further I’m a little more optimistic. I’ll be trying to read the whole list but will definitely dnf if I come across anything I’m really not in to.
Ah thank you! While I usually trust my own instincts on books, prize lists are definitely where I've got tripped up in the best (or led astray by bad covers..!). I honestly hadn't even heard of enough of the books to have much of a strong emotional reaction one way or the other but I am optimistic..!
In the last couple of days I’ve started ‘River East, River West’ and also ‘Nightbloom’. I’m just under about half way with both but delighted that I’m enjoying them so much, I was absorbed pretty much immediately with both. Reading the list has started really well for me!
River East, River West is the only physical book I don't have so far so I need to get a copy for if/when I pick it out! I'm about 100 pages into Brotherless Night and equally very happy to find I'm thoroughly engaged and impressed!
I actually think it's fun that so many are unknowns (to me, at least). Sometimes the literary world can feel quite small because the same titles get talked about over and over, but there are so many books published each year that don't get as much recognition! I was a big fan of Tom Lake, for example, but I'm actually glad it wasn't on here to make room for others with less marketing power than Ann Patchett. I'm really intrigued by Enter Ghost and The Wren, The Wren.
I agree! A great thing about prizes is to shine a light on books that might have otherwise not had a chance and I've never read all/most the longlist without discovering new favourites I hadn't even heard of before. I'm excited to delve in!
I was slightly unimpressed by most of the blurbs (and frankly yours and Eric's reaction didn't make many buzz for me either 😅), so I love the idea of trusting Women's prize judges beyond the minimum we can judge from. Will get Enter Ghost as soon as paperback is out, got myself Western Lane (also not a fan of sport background but I trust Eric here). I'll see what else I can borrow from the library (that's gonna be another sort of long list!) Looking forward to hearing more thoughts about all of these!
This is a really good idea. Initially I was disappointed with the list, but after looking at it a bit further I’m a little more optimistic. I’ll be trying to read the whole list but will definitely dnf if I come across anything I’m really not in to.
Ah thank you! While I usually trust my own instincts on books, prize lists are definitely where I've got tripped up in the best (or led astray by bad covers..!). I honestly hadn't even heard of enough of the books to have much of a strong emotional reaction one way or the other but I am optimistic..!