In 2007 we undertook our first Bookerthon, with the naive idea we could channel the judges’ thoughts and pick a winning book when we saw one.
While we did not successfully hedge our bets that year, we appreciated the fact we were were reading six of the year’s best books in one hit. And so, a new literary passion was born, as was a new arm of bookclub.
Here are the shortlisters for each year, along with each participant’s pick of winner – occasionally we con someone else into reading the 70+ pages per day with us!
Winner: Milkman – Anna Burns
Suzy’s pick to win: The Overstory – Richard Powers
Rachel’s pick to win: The Long Take – Robin Robertson
Winner: Lincoln In The Bardo – George Saunders
Rachel & Suzy’s pick to win: Lincoln In The Bardo – George Saunders
Winner: The Sellout – Paul Beatty
Rachel & Suzy’s pick to win: Do Not Say We Have Nothing – Madeleine Thien
Winner: A Brief History of Seven Killings – Marlon James
Rachel & Suzy’s pick to win: The Fishermen – Chigozie Obioma
line of writing
Winner: The Narrow Road To The Deep North – Richard Flanagan
Rachel’s pick: The Narrow Road To The Deep North – Richard Flanagan
Suzy’s pick: How To Be Both – Ali Smith
line of writing
Winner: The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton
Suzy & Rachel’s pick: The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton
line of writing
Winner: Bring Up The Bodies – Hilary Mantel
Suzy’s pick: The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng
Rachel’s pick: The Lighthouse – Alison Moore
line of writing
Winner: The Sense of An Ending – Julian Barnes
Rachel’s pick: The Sense Of An Ending – Julian Barnes
Suzy’s pick: The Sisters Brothers – Patrick de Witt
line of writing
Winner: The Finkler Question – Howard Jacobson
Rachel’s pick: In A Strange Room – Damon Galgut
Suzy’s pick: Parrot & Olivier in America – Peter Carey
line of writing
Winner: Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
Suzy’s pick: The Quickening Maze – Adam Foulds
Jo’s pick: The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
Rachel’s pick: Summertime – J M Coetzee
line of writing
Winner: The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Rachel’s pick: The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Suzy’s pick: Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh
line of writing
Winner: The Gathering – Anne Enright
Suzy’s pick: Mister Pip – Lloyd Jones
Rachel’s pick: Animal’s People – Indra Sinha
line of writing
In the name of true nerdiness, Suzy and Rachel have also completed back-Bookers, where obviously pre-empting the winner is impossible, but we do still meet to discuss the lineup and proclaim our favourites. Here’s the info:
The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai (winner) (Suzy’s favourite)
In The Country of Men – Hisham Matar (Rachel’s favourite)
The Secret River – Kate Grenville
Carry Me Down – M J Hyland
Mother’s Milk – Edward St Aubyn
The Night Watch – Sarah Waters
line of writing
The Sea – John Banville (winner)
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro (Rachel & Suzy’s favourite)
The Accidental – Ali Smith
A Long, Long Way – Sebastian Barry
On Beauty – Zadie Smith
Arthur & George – Julian Barnes
line of writing
The Line of Beauty – Alan Hollinghurst
(winner) (Rachel & Suzy’s favourite)
Bitter Fruit – Achmat Dangor
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
I’ll Go To Bed At Noon – Gerard Woodward
The Electric Michelangelo – Sarah Hall
The Master – Colm Toibin
line of writing
Vernon God Little – DBC Pierre (winner)
Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood (Suzy & Rachel’s favourite)
Brick Lane – Monica Ali
Astonishing Splashes of Colour – Clare Morrall
The Good Doctor – Damon Galgut
Notes on a Scandal – Zoe Heller
line of writing
Life of Pi – Yann Matel (winner) (Rachel & Suzy’s favourite)
Fingersmith – Sarah Waters
Dirt Music – Tim Winton
Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
Unless – Carol Shields
The Story of Lucy Gault – William Trevor
lline of writing
True History of the Kelly Gang – Peter Carey (winner)
Atonement – Ian McEwan (Rachel & Suzy’s favourite)
Number9dream – David Mitchell
Oxygen – Andrew Miller
Hotel World – Ali Smith
The Dark Room – Rachel Seiffert
