Yes, it's Booker Prize season and a time when I embark on a mission to read all of the shortlisted books in the weeks leading to the ceremony.
Just like in previous years, I will draw a book randomly, read it, write about it and then draw another name out of the hat Spiky's bowl. This will repeat until I have completed the entire shortlist. Once I have done that, I'll take a look at the betting odds (if any are available) and have a small punt on which title - or titles, if the odds are good - I believe will win.
The winner will be announced on November 12th. My reading of all the titles began in mid-September when the shortlist was revealed. Here's how it went.
Monday 16 September
The six books have just been announced. I've printed off the six covers to place inside the bowl once the marathon begins sometime tomorrow.
What I'd like to state from the start is I am very happy to see that Percival Everett's James has made the list.
I was given an advance copy of the novel earlier this year. At the time, I wrote about thinking it was 'award worthy'. I still do. So, this is the first year of doing the marathon where I've already read one of the books.
As of right now, I don't know whether I will reread James for this marathon. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Tuesday 17 September
I have printed off the covers for the draws. Here's how they looked after I cut them up.
In the bowl they go for the first drawing.
As I was jumbling them around to make my first selection, one of the pieces of paper jumped out at me. I decided that would be the first book. Therefore, it's....
...Held by Anne Michaels.
Going by the Booker Prize website, Held's narrative 'spans four generations' seeing 'moments of connection and consequence ignite and re-ignite as the century unfolds'.
Saturday 21 September
I did not enjoy Held by Anne Michaels.
The novel focuses on loss from generation-to-generation and does so by jumping backwards and forwards.
Michaels' talent as a poet is clear in the way the way her words build an atmosphere in a lot of scenes of the story. Yet, that's all they come across as: scenes. It felt like I was reading words on a treadmill.
There was one part in the early part of the novel where I thought 'oh, it looks like it's going somewhere now' only to find a figurative cul-de-sac. At that point, I felt lost or that I had missed something important. By then, I was too far gone to retrieve any sort of footing.
Here's something I wrote in my journal when I was hovering around the 60% mark of the book:
I'm not sure about this (book) at all. It started off okay then picked up, but it has now dropped a bit. I don't know how some of these characters are related across the generations. Are they even meant to be related?
I feel like I've missed something important.
Or have I?
As noted, I didn't find my way back by the time I reached the end.
⭐⭐
* * *
The next book on the list is about to be selected.
Out comes...
Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
The blurb about Orbital on the Booker Prize website reads 'Six astronauts rotate in the International Space Station. They are there to do vital work, but slowly they begin to wonder: what is life without Earth? What is Earth without humanity?'
Monday 23 September
'That's more like it'.
Those was the first words which came to mind as soon as I finished Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
The book sees a combination of characters living together on a space station. They're comprised of four astronauts and two cosmonauts. All from different parts of the World. In fact, it could be said that Planet Earth itself is a character of this story.
Orbital is somewhat similar to Held in that there was atmosphere built by both authors yet there was little in the way of a plot.
I never once felt lost reading Orbital, though. I loved the use of Diego Vasquez's painting - Las Meninas - which appears in the story. The painting is one of the most analysed bits of art of all time and raises questions about 'reality and illusion' which is just like what Harvey does with Orbital by having her characters view earth from their own views and backgrounds. Are the spacepersons the artists or the observers?
Orbital is claustrophobic yet agoraphobic, shows nature at peace and at its most devastating. It definitely has a right to win because I believe, just like Las Meninas, it can be construed in numerous ways.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tuesday 24 September
I will start the next book today. I pulled it out of the bowl yesterday afternoon.
It is Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake.
To steal a blurb, yet again, from the Booker Prize website - in Creation Lake 'a woman is caught in the crossfire between the past and future' in what is 'part-spy novel, part-profound treatise on human history'.
Sunday 29 September
I finished reading Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner this morning. I thought it was mostly enjoyable.
It's about a female mercenary spy who has been assigned a job to infiltrate a group of eco terrorists and has to prompt this cadre of people to commit an act of terror during a demonstration.
There's more to Creation Lake than that, but that's the main story.
I found the main character to be.. I don't know how to describe her.. but she was absolutely not your conventional spy from literature (that's more than likely the point!).
Throughout the book, we see 'Sadie Smith' (we don't find out her real name) read a plethora of essays she has managed to hack into from the email account of the group's leader who has gone to ground by, err.. living underground. These emails are very philosophical and, by the novel's end, it could be argued has impacted the unnamed spy even once her job has been done.
The emails were initially about neanderthal and their contrast with homo sapiens. It led me to believe - at certain points in the story - that the reason why 'Sadie' has been asked to disrupt the group is because the Government was aware that the leader of the group had found ways to unleash the entities from where he is bunkered. The title 'Creation Lake' made me even more sure that was where the story was going.
Nothing like that happened. Score that as a loss for my pre-emption skills. Or lack thereof.
As I wrote at the start of this entry, I found Creation Lake 'mostly enjoyable'. I found it way better than Held (unsurprisingly) yet not as equal to Orbital.
⭐⭐⭐
* * *
The next title pulled out of the bowl is..
James by Percival Everett.
I'm pleased this one came out next because the elephant in this year's diary can finally be addressed.
As I wrote on February 14th, I was given an advance reading copy of this novel - set around the events of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn but through the words of Jim the Slave - and felt that it was 'award worthy'.
I was happy to see James had made the longlist and was ecstatic to see the book had made the final six.
Back in February, I gave Percival Everett's novel four stars. I stay by that score. Of the four titles I have read on this year's shortlist, it is the one to beat. It always has been.
Here's the main part of February's post:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The next selection will be drawn tomorrow. With that pick, we'll also know which book goes last.
Monday 30 September
I have pulled out the penultimate book cover out of Spiky's bowl and it's..
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.
The Booker Prize website states that this novel is about a 'fearless exploration of forgiveness, grief and female friendship.'
Friday 4 October
I regard Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood to be one of the better books on this year's Booker Prize shortlist.
The book is written in the first person with the narrator a female who has left her husband and her home life to spend time at a retreat inside a nunnery. There is a short jump in the narrative and we find that the lady has stayed at the convent permanently.
As the story progresses, we see the narrator have to deal with outside forces that open up reflections of her own previous life and she addresses those themes. One of the most prominent themes is dealing with long-term grief.
Something which makes me very fond of a book is if it manages to make me feel for any of the characters. There is one character who shows up inside the nunnery who had known the main voice in their previous lives. I felt quite sorry for that person in certain parts of the novel. I had a sensation of sympathy towards them. Whenever a work of fiction draws me in like that, I have to score it highly.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stone Yard Devotional is a strong number two behind James.
* * *
There should be no surprise as to what I have to read next. The final book on this year's shortlist is The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden.
As usual, I have taken a look at a blurb on the Booker Prize website. For The Safekeep, the websites states the book is 'an exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes - and the legacy of one of the 20th Century's greatest tragedies'.
Tuesday 8 October
Okay, well..
You know from the start of this year's Booker Prize Marathon I have been claiming - from the jump - that James by Percival Everett is the one to beat? I have finished with the strongest contender it has faced in The Safekeep by Yael van Der Wouden.
This novel is stunning. It's set in the Netherlands in the years following the Second World War and focuses on a home which had been lived in by a trio of siblings and their mother. We meet the three children, now older and in the years following the passing of their mum, with all but one having left the property to lead their own lives. The house plays a huge part in this story and I am reluctant to write more about it because this is a story which deserves to be read and not spoiled. All I can state is I had one of those 'WOW!' moments when the narrative began to piece together in such a perfect way. It has a lot of themes - obsession, desire, subterfuge and more.
If I gave James four stars and set it out as the benchmark to beat on this year's shortlist, then The Safekeep has to easily score one higher because it is, in my opinion, the top book on this year's shortlist.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
* * *
Before I hunt for any betting markets for this year's Booker Prize, I thought I would do what I have done in previous years and create a table comparing my grading of the books with the average scores each title has received from Good Reads members.
As you can see, James is the readers' number one title with an average of 4.53 stars (out of five). The Safekeep is next up with an average of 4.11.
Looking at my scores, it seems fair to say that this has been a good year for the shortlist. I consider Creation Lake to be a high three and then we have three books with four and then The Safekeep scoring highest than all of them.
Creation Lake is, if we're going by the averages, the least liked of the six. The next one after Creation Lake - from the bottom up - is my least liked work in Held by Anne Michaels.
* * *
I have found one betting market as of the time of writing this entry. It is from Coral/Ladbrokes and is in the following order:
James by Percival Everett 2/1
Orbital by Samantha Harvey 5/2
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood 5/1
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner 5/1
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden 6/1
Held by Anne Michaels 8/1
* * *
Wednesday 16 October
I notice William Hill is now offering betting. The company has Orbital and James as joint 2/1 favourites. The Safekeep is 11/2.
Orbital 2/1
James 2/1
Creation Lake 9/2
The Safekeep 11/2
Stone Yard Devotional 11/2
Held 7/1
I believe it's fair to see those two books at the top. I strongly believe The Safekeep is misplaced. It should be further up the board.
Thursday 24 October
Another market has been published. This one is from Unibet.
Another market has been published. This one is from Unibet.
Here are the prices: James 6/4, Orbital 2/1, Stone Yard Devotional 4/1, Creation Lake 5/1, The Safekeep 5/1, Held 13/2
Sunday 10 November
It is now a couple of days before the winner is announced, so I have taken another look at the market from Coral/Ladbrokes to compare their current odds to when I first found them early last month.
James 2/1 (No apparent change)
Orbital 5/2 (No apparent change)
Creation Lake 5/1 (No apparent change)
Held 5/1 (In from 8/1)
Stone Yard Devotional 6/1 (Up from 5/1)
The Safekeep 7/1 (Up from 6/1)
Monday 11 November
It's a good job I had a look over the Coral/Ladbrokes odds last night because they have been taken off the board as of the time I am writing this entry (15:45 GMT).
William Hill's markets are still active. The selections' prices are:
James by Percival Everett 13/8
Orbital by Samantha Harvey 9/4
Held by Anne Michaels 5/1
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner 5/1
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden 11/2
Stone Yard Devotional 6/1
When I last wrote about this particular market, James and Orbital were 2/1 joint-favourites. As you can see, James has been moved down into a 13/8 sole-favourite with Orbital up slightly to 9/4. Just like with the Ladbrokes/Coral market, Held by Anne Michaels is showing shorter odds because that novel was 7/1 on October 16th, but is now into 5s. Creation Lake (9/2 to 5/1) and Stone Yard Devotional (11/2 to 6/1) have both moved up slightly while The Safekeep has stayed at 11/2.
The Unibet market I mentioned on October 24th is also off the board as of 15:45 GMT today.
Tuesday 12 November
11:00
I have just reread everything I've written above because I am about to publish this post. It's clear that I am in two minds over my prediction. I believe The Safekeep should be the surprise winner (going by the odds, it would class as a 'surprise'!) while Percival Everett's work would be, as funny as this comes across, an unsurprising winner. And the 'unsurprising' bit does not factor in the odds. Well, not entirely. I had a feeling way back in February - upon reading an advance copy of James - that it could be this year's winner.
I am drawn to the fact that Everett is the only male author on the shortlist. Is there something to be read in that? The last time a female won the Booker Prize was five years ago when Margaret Attwood (The Testaments) and Bernadine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other) were joint-winners. I cannot shake off the feeling that this year's winner will be female. Or maybe that's because I am leaning more toward The Safekeep than I am on James.
21:30
I looked at the YouTube page, where the livestream will be aired, earlier and looked at the chat room.
The users were asked which book they think will win tonight. Going by the few responses I caught, it seemed strong for either James or Orbital. Not long to go now.
22:02
Samantha Harvey won for Orbital. Not the result I was expecting, but - don't forget - I did think Orbital was good enough for four stars.
To be frank, this was a strong shortlist in 2024. I look forward to doing this all again in 2025.
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