Here are the 6 novels shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize! A new video is up on my YouTube channel discussing all these books and fun info about the list as well as the exciting news that the Booker is sponsoring me to follow this year's shortlist: https://youtu.be/rJeF4NoymaA Yes, she is official! This is a lovely thing which will allow me to engage with readers even more than I usually do about this prize season, but I'll continue to give my honest thoughts about the nominated books and the list as a whole.

I correctly predicted that 4 of these novels would make the shortlist and I've read 5 of them. I'm thrilled Bulawayo, Everett, Keegan and Karunatilaka made it! Their novels are extraordinarily clever, emotional and excellently written. Moreover they are all a JOY to read. Though this novel by Strout isn't my favourite or one of my personal tops from the longlist or my fav from the Lucy Barton series (the 4th novel in the series “Lucky by the Sea” will be published in the UK on Oct 6th), I love her writing and this is a very moving and deceptively simple story. I've not read Garner's short novel yet but I've heard such mixed opinions I'm so intrigued to get to it.

It is a shame “The Colony” by Audrey Magee and “Nightcrawling” by Leila Mottley didn't make the shortlist. I loved both of these and would encourage anyone who hasn't yet read them to get to these as well. There are also other books from the longlist I've not read yet which I'm still intending to explore.