The Man Booker Book Challenge. IT'S BACK!!

The Man Booker Prize Book Challenge. It’s Back!

Thursday September 17th and again on Tuesday October 13th. 

Once again the nation holds its breath in anticipation of the announcement of The Man Booker Prize shortlist on September 15th.

 London will grind to a standstill and police cordons will be set up to hold back fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the judges entering the hallowed Booker Towers to announce their decision.

And media attention couldn't be more intense. Heightened security measures have been introduced to ensure the Longlisted authors’ protection as Booker frenzy continues to sweep the nation. 

So, who is it going to be?? Only the judges know, but we hear from an anonymous source that the six shortlisted authors are all likely to come from the 13 books on the longlist.

 

And here is that Longlist.

Bill Clegg  - Did You Ever Have a Family (Jonathan Cape)           

Anne Enright - The Green Road (Jonathan Cape)

Marlon James  - A Brief History of Seven Killings (Oneworld Publications)

Laila Lalami - The Moor's Account (Periscope, Garnet Publishing)

Tom McCarthy  - Satin Island (Jonathan Cape)

Chigozie Obioma  - The Fishermen (ONE, Pushkin Press)

Andrew O’Hagan  - The Illuminations (Faber & Faber)

Marilynne Robinson  - Lila (Virago)           

Anuradha Roy - Sleeping on Jupiter (MacLehose Press, Quercus)

Sunjeev Sahota - The Year of the Runaways (Picador)

Anna Smaill  - The Chimes (Sceptre)

Anne Tyler - A Spool of Blue Thread (Chatto & Windus)

Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life (Picador)

After the controversy of last year’s boycott of the Man Booker, rules have changed and it seems that the books are  (nearly) all available, which means EVERYONE has a chance to read them!

So I am delighted to announce  that The Big Green Bookshop will be running its Booker Book Challenge again *cheers*.

Here’s how it works;

As soon as the shortlist is announced, we’ll order copies of each of the books, which we’ll hopefully get by Thursday September 17^th.  We’ll open until about 8pm on the Thursday, so people can come and pick up copies of the books.

Over the next five or so weeks the idea is to make a concerted effort to read as many of the six shortlisted books as you can.
We'll meet on Tuesday October 13th, the evening the winner is announced, to discuss each of the books. After a heated debate, and a glass or two of wine, the group will vote for whom they think should win. We’ll then watch the televised ceremony, and hopefully cheer as our choice and the actual winner is one and the same. Or more likely, shout and curse as our least favourite book takes the glory.

We realise that the cost of buying six books, some of them hardback is somewhat budget busting. So for our local customers, rather than asking you to buy all the books at full price we’ve come up with a few solutions;

•For a one off payment of £30, we will be a lending library, where you can borrow each of the books for a week each. You can also keep your favourite book after the ceremony. Pre-order this deal HERE.
•We will offer a discount of 20% on the shortlist.
•A group of you could share the cost, so for example 3 of you could buy 2 books each. 

However you decide to do this, we will do everything we can to make the books accessible to you. The important thing is that you're able to join in. 

It's a challenge to read six books in four weeks (especially books you wouldn't necessarily read), but if you think you're up for it, get involved.

My guess at the Shortlist (based on nothing). 

Anne Enright

Tom McCarthy  

Andrew O’Hagan

 Marilynne Robinson  

Anne Tyler

Hanya Yanagihara

Please let me know if you’re planning on getting involved, so I can order enough books.