Play Book Tag discussion

Many people expressed an interest in reading from the Booker Longlist for August, so I thought I would post the full list here (mainly because I want a single place to find it! lol).

Any thoughts of if you will read any of them and if so, which ones? The shortlist will be announced on September 3rd and the winner on October 14th. Will you just wait til they narrow it down a bit more?!

I know we have several members who read most—if not all!—of the list for The Reader's Room blog, which was started by Jen P. Book Worm, Nicole D, Anita, Susie and others are very involved! Be sure to check that out if you are interested. They have great reviews, insights, and predictions.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Wall by John Lanchester
The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
Lanny by Max Porter
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson

I will be reading:
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

I have several others on my TBR, but not sure when I will get to them: Lanny, The Lost Children Archive, An Orchestra of Minorities, The Man Who Saw Everything, The Testaments

Joy D wrote: "I will be reading:
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

I have several others on my TBR, but not sure when I will get to them: Lanny, The Lost Children Archive, An Orchestra ..."

I have never read Rushdie. Am I the only one?

I hear his name and all I can think of is Bridget Jones's Diary! lol

Here are my thoughts! I am not saying I will for sure get to these, let alone before the short list is announced (or even the winner) but they have piqued my interest!


The Testaments by Margaret Atwood—YES! 1000% percent YES! I cannot wait!!!
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry—Hmmmm, perhaps.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite—I don't think so. Also, I have seen this several times and it really just struck me as a crime thriller. There must be something more to it though if Booker nominated it.
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann—A 1000-page run-on sentence. LOL!!! Nope.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo—Intrigued. Though, I don't even know what the descriptor "Joyfully polyphonic" means. That seems so Booker.
The Wall by John Lanchester—Oooo, this seems like my kind of dystopian! Unless it is scary. Someone needs to tell me if it is scary.
The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy—I'm going with yes for the sole reason that it is short.
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli—Nicole D's review moved this to my TBR last week.
An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma—this has been on and off my TBR. Seems like a good excuse to get to it.
Lanny by Max Porter—No because the description tells me nothing about the book!
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie—is it finally time for Rushie?! Leaning yes because of a "modern day Don Quixote." Leaning no because it is described as a "tour-de-force."
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak—Eh, probably not. The cover is pretty though
Frankissstein: A Love Story by Jeanette Winterson —Firm yes on this one!

Now, I will probably get to a grand total of one of them....The Testaments. lol

Nicole R wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I will be reading:
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

I have several others on my TBR, but not sure when I will get to them: Lanny, The Lost Children Archive,..."

Nope, I haven't read Rushdie either.

I probably won't read any of these for August.
My Sister, the Serial Killer is on my trim, so eventually.

Meli wrote: "Nope, I haven't read Rushdie either. "

Are we missing out on something? lol

Meli wrote: "I probably won't read any of these for August."

honestly, me either. this is more like books I have added to my TBR to consider in the next 6 months, after which I will do another shelf purge and likely remove an unread ones.

Nicole R wrote: "Meli wrote: "Nope, I haven't read Rushdie either. "

Are we missing out on something? lol"

I have to assume "no" and live without regret for now because I am buried under all my recent purchases this year (even though I told myself to start the year "no new books until I read most of what I have." It hasn't been going well AT ALL! :(

"Meli wrote: "Are we missing out on something? lol"

I can't say for sure. I have only read one other by Rushdie, Golden House and really enjoyed it. I received an ARC of Quichotte from NetGalley, so it's all queued up.

I’ve read five, and have several, except those that aren’t out yet. So I plan to read them all this year.

I love Rushdie! His manipulation of language is full of humor. But I know that he’s not for everyone.

Nicole R wrote: "Joy D wrote: "I will be reading:
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

I have several others on my TBR, but not sure when I will get to them: Lanny, The Lost Children Archive,..."

I've not read Rushdie either - and I have friends who adore his work. I started something once and cast it aside- do I remember what?

Some day ....

Nicole R wrote: "Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann—A 1000-page run-on sentence. LOL!!! Nope.."


You know what my first thought was when I saw it was a 1000 page run on sentence? James Joyce's Finnegans Wake - which I never managed to read in college even though I was supposed to do so. I'm with you - no way!

Although I believe one of the novels by Samuel Beckett - one of the trilogy Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable - is pretty much without punctuation, but that was only a couple hundred pages...manageable - barely. Another required reading for college that I actually read.

I read Lost Children Archive and loved it. I know Anita read it as well and didn't love it.

Not all of these have been released yet in US, so any that haven't been released in ebook are off my list. It only leaves a couple, but I will probably try to read as many as I can.

It looks like My Sister, the Serial Killer(this has been on my radar for a long time), Lanny(this is on my wish list), An Orchestra of Minorities and The Wall(not too terribly interested.)

I’m going to read all of them so I’ll fill you all in as I go. I have no idea why Serial Killer is on the list. I obviously missed something. So far I’ve read three, and I’m on my fourth and fifth. I’m gunning for Frankissstein at this stage.

I'm going to read as many as I can. I think last year that amounted to four or five.

I haven’t read any yet, but aim to read them all (once they are published - which some aren’t yet - and available here). I’m scared stupid about ‘Ducks’ though!!!

I’d like to think I’ll finish most before the shortlist is announced but on current performance it would take a miracle.

Trip to the bookshop tomorrow to make a start.

I’m terrified of Ducks too Kate!

Susie wrote: "I’m terrified of Ducks too Kate!"

I think Ducks sounds very interesting! The topics and things like that, but the format sounds horrible.

And, 1000 pages of someone just thinking about things out loud? If I wanted to kill some time that way, I would call my mom.

I would love to read them all, but that surely won't happen by October 14th, nevermind September 3rd. Tracy, I'm so jealous you've managed to read 5 beforehand. I have only read one :(.

I'm reading the Levy right now. She's a favorite of mine, and it's short. So yay.

I'm hoping to get to Frankisstein, My Sister the Serial Killer, and An Orchestra of Minorities before the shortlist announcement. Ha! We'll see. I actually really would like to read Ducks though Nicole's comment has me rolling.

The others are not so easy to obtain. I definitely am in for The Testaments, but it isn't released until 9/10 so there's that.

Nicole R wrote: "Susie wrote: "I’m terrified of Ducks too Kate!"
And, 1000 pages of someone just thinking a..."

Oh Nicole...calling Mom🤣🤣

I’m adding to the chorus of laughter here!

I love my mother, we are very close, but she has been known to ramble about just random shit. Lol

I laugh now but I am basically her mini-me and may be looking at myself in another 25 years 😬

Still snickering about Nicole and her mother, lol!

Five purchased: Lanny, The Wall, Frankisstein, My Sister, and Lost Children’s Archive. Yum, yum, yum

I'm thinking that Lanny is one of the first I will try.

What a great haul Kate!

I read My Sister the Serial Killer for my IRL book club and you guys should give it a chance. It is definitely not a thriller or a murder mystery. It’s a super short read and really good!

Just finished Frankissstein, and it was really good. Like Mary Shelley’s book, there’s a lot to think about.

Love seeing Charlotte and Tracy's rave reviews already!

Nicole R wrote: "
,..
I have never read Rushdie. Am I the only one?

I hear his name and all I can think of is Bridget Jones's Diary! lol ."

Same here! I remember that scene from Bridget Jone's speech. LOL

I don't know why but I always felt a little intimidated by him.

Charlotte wrote: "I read My Sister the Serial Killer for my IRL book club and you guys should give it a chance. It is definitely not a thriller or a murder mystery. It’s a super short read and really good!"

Geez, when I think of all the times I passed that book by on the giveaways list just based on the title.

Nicole R wrote: "Susie wrote: "I’m terrified of Ducks too Kate!"

I think Ducks sounds very interesting! The topics and things like that, but the format sounds horrible.

And, 1000 pages of someone just thinking about things out loud? If I wanted to kill some time that way, I would call my mom.
*."

LOL! I would call my sister. Our last call was 3 hours long. And she wonders why I don't call her more often.

You're on a roll today.

My library has Lanny, Lost Children Archive, An Orchestra of Minorities, so I ordered them all. I still have more to check.

I'm disappointed that Tenth Muse didn't get selected. I listened to some of it last night, and I think I'll read it.

NancyJ wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "I read My Sister the Serial Killer for my IRL book club and you guys should give it a chance. It is definitely not a thriller or a murder mystery. It’s a super short read and real..."

Yea... I probably would have avoided it if my friends didn't pick it for the club. It was an unexpectedly delightful book and we had a lot of great discussions about particular actions of the sisters and more.

It's less than 300 pages, it's a small book (length and width) and there are A LOT of really short chapters and white space so I was able to finish it in a Sunday afternoon. I didn't think it was dense at all and thought it was an easy, fun read.

NancyJ wrote: "My library has Lanny, Lost Children Archive, An Orchestra of Minorities, so I ordered them all. I still have more to check.

I'm disappointed that Tenth Muse didn't get selected. I listened to some..."

I was hoping Tenth Muse would be chosen, too. It’s definitely in my top five this year. I hope you enjoy it!

I got a little taste of the Lanny audio and this seems like it is really made for audio. There are many different voice actors. It's a fantasy that takes place in a small village and the nearby woods. The beginning sounds very weird (like a creepy children's book), but I was hooked within 15 minutes.

I’ve read Lanny and I think it would be great in audio. Good choice.

I've just started Ducks, Newsbury and it will definitely fit August's tag if any of you want a good place to start with this list!

OMG Tour De Force .... LOL, same

Charlotte wrote: "I read My Sister the Serial Killer for my IRL book club and you guys should give it a chance. It is definitely not a thriller or a murder mystery. It’s a super short read and really good!"

I just finished this one yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what makes it Booker material. I don't think it will make the shortlist.

Anita wrote: "I would love to read them all, but that surely won't happen by October 14th, nevermind September 3rd. Tracy, I'm so jealous you've managed to read 5 beforehand. I have only read one :(.

I'm readin..."

The Levy is one I've not been able to get my hands on. Surprisingly none of the libraries in the countywide system have it on order. I don't really buy books anymore, but I think I'll have to make an exception for this one.

Nicole R wrote: "Susie wrote: "I’m terrified of Ducks too Kate!"

I think Ducks sounds very interesting! The topics and things like that, but the format sounds horrible.

And, 1000 pages of someone just thinking a..."

I love stream of consciousness, but even I'm worried about this one.