Tag: literary prizes

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 Shortlist @waltscottprize

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WalterScottPrizeThe shortlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 was announced this morning, 1st May 2024. Congratulations to the authors and publishers of the shortlisted books. Some fantastic books have made it through to this final stage.

I ventured to predict the books that would make the shortlist but only got two right. On a brighter note, there are only two of the six I haven’t read – Absolutely & Forever and In the Upper Country – which makes it much more likely I’ll have read the entire shortlist before the winner is announced at the Borders Book Festival on Thursday 13th June 2024. I might even chance another prediction…

So without further ado, here are the books on the shortlist. Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

The New Life by Tom Crewe
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor
In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas
Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

Have you read any of the books on the list? Are there any you’re planning to read? Is there a book you’d like to see win?

#TopTenTuesday Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon #TuesdayBookBlog

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Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon. Oh my goodness, how do I narrow it down to just ten? Rather than pick out some of my oldest unread books (that would be way too embarrassing), I’m focusing on books I need to – as well as want to – read soon. So my ten comprise the seven books on the longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction that I haven’t yet read, two books that publish next month and my book club’s pick for May. I can get through those, can’t I? Hollow laughs all round…

  1. For Thy Great Pain, Have Mercy on my Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie
  2. Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson
  3. Cuddy by Benjamin Myers
  4. The Fraud by Zadie Smith
  5. Mister Timeless Blyth by Alan Spence
  6. In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas
  7. Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
  8. Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
  9. The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley 
  10. The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis

Which books from your TBR pile do you hope to read soon?