#Man Booker Prize Longlist

[books-i-once-read]

Being sensitive means you understand people. And that’s the greatest power.

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

[justforbooks]

Middle England by Jonathan Coe

Reactionaries and remoaners clash in a meditation on anger, loss and the passing of time featuring the characters from The Rotters’ Club

At one point in Middle England, a couple attend a marital counselling session in which they are each asked to explain why they are so angry that their spouse voted differently from them in the EU referendum. One complains that the other, by voting leave, showed that “as a person, he’s not as open as I thought he was. That his basic model for relationships comes down to antagonism and competition, not cooperation.” Her husband answers that her remain vote made him realise she’s “very naïve”, “lives in a bubble”, and that it gives her “an attitude of moral superiority”.

The therapist’s verdict is: “What’s interesting about both of these answers is that neither of you mentioned politics. As if the referendum wasn’t about Europe at all. Maybe something much more fundamental and personal was going on. Which is why this might be a difficult problem to resolve.”

That, perhaps, is the sore point a novelist taking on Brexit as a subject might be expected to probe. There’s a truth here – that the Brexit vote was experienced and has continued to be experienced as a matter of personal identity. For a novelist, this is where the action is.

Middle England is the third novel featuring the characters from Coe’s 2001 novel The Rotters’ Club and 2004’s The Closed Circle, and sees an excellent writer making an enjoyable, absorbing and less than completely successful attempt to find the sweet spot of that sore point. The action runs from the spring of 2010 to the autumn of 2018, and the newsreel that unrolls in the background takes in Gordon Brown’s encounter with “that bigoted woman”, the coalition government, the London riots, the murder of Jo Cox, Nigel Farage’s notorious “Breaking Point” poster, the London Olympics and all the rest of it. And in that respect, of course, we know what’s going to happen because we’re living it. This is a book that foretells the present.

It also has a good deal to tell us, oddly, about geography and local transport. Coe has frequent resort to the melancholy poetry of place. On page four we read that the hero is driving “through the towns of Bridgnorth, Alveley, Quatt, Much Wenlock and Cressage”, and 40 pages later he’s taking the route in the other direction: “Cressage, Much Wenlock, Bridgnorth, Enville, Stourbridge and Hagley”. A garden centre isn’t just “midway between Shrewsbury and Birmingham”: it’s “not far from the M54 and considered such a geographical fixture that it had its own official sign on the motorway”. A pub is “tucked away in a hard-to-find corner beside the Suffolk Street Queensway in Central Birmingham”. At one point we meet characters “driving out of Birmingham along the A3400”; at another contemplating the “rail replacement service between Kettering and Nuneaton” “‘Rail replacement service’, ‘Kettering’, ‘Nuneaton’. Were there five more dispiriting words in the English (or any other) language?”

In its politics, just as in its gripes about public transport, this is a great big Centrist Dad of a novel. It lives largely in the world of the media, academia, politics and (peripherally) the City. Benjamin Trotter is a failed novelist who in late middle age finds himself longlisted for the Man Booker prize; his old friend Doug is a well-heeled centre-left newspaper columnist; his niece Sophie is a university lecturer who becomes a minor TV don. The book has a wide cast of characters, though the ones we’re invited to sympathise with are pretty much all remainers.

And yet it’s never stronger or more convincing than when it’s furthest from political events. As the novel addresses the rise of populism, for example, we meet reactionary oldies in golf clubs moaning about “political correctness”; a lunatic conspiracy theorist buttonholing a publisher with a manuscript about the EU’s “Kalergi Plan” for white genocide; a porcine chancer funding the referendum through a dodgy free-market thinktank; an elderly former car worker uncomprehendingly contemplating the site where the Longbridge plant used to be; a privileged Corbynite student lodging a complaint against a lecturer after hearing (at second hand) that they’d said something to a trans student that could be taken the wrong way. They tell us, in caricatural form, what we already know – or at least suppose we do.

One problem is that the historical scaffolding is so familiar, and yet will date so fast; this means that certain passages of exposition feel clunky. The reader in 2018 has no need to be told the following:

Jeremy Corbyn had become leader of the Labour Party in September. The surprising – even astonishing – election of this obscure but long-serving, rebellious backbencher had been seen by many, including Sophie, as a welcome sign that the party was planning to return to the principles it had abandoned under Tony Blair.

The reader in 2028 might welcome the reminder. The reader in 2038 will struggle to give a damn. The reader in 3018 may eke a PhD out of it.

To give Middle England its due, it doesn’t aim to cover everything, recognising wanly that, in drink, the conversation will broaden out “to include Brexit, Donald Trump, Syria, North Korea, Vladimir Putin, Facebook, immigration, Emmanuel Macron, the Five Star Movement and the contentious result of the Eurovision song contest in 1968”. So the American elections are dispatched, wittily, in two lines:

Finally, Benjamin said: “I don’t like Trump, do you?” “Nope,” Charlie said. “Can’t stand the bloke.” Benjamin nodded. With the political discussion out of the way …

And it is when the political discussion is out of the way that the novel becomes richer and less schematic. There’s Sophie’s odd-couple relationship with her driving instructor husband Ian (they met on a speed awareness course) and the way she thinks and rethinks an adulterous near-miss at the beginning of their marriage. There’s Benjamin’s relationship with his sister Lois and his long-lost schoolfriend Charlie, now working as a children’s entertainer and locked in a feud with a rival clown. And there’s Benjamin’s journey towards self-understanding and acceptance. All these are done with real style and feeling.

Coe’s writing is as smoothly accomplished as ever. His comic set pieces – funerals, dinners, clown fights – and scenes capturing the affectionate and ridiculous sex of middle age, and a relationship between a journalist and a Yes Minister-style government adviser, are very funny.

Yet this is also a surprisingly sentimental book, beginning and ending with Benjamin listening wistfully to Shirley Collins’s song “Adieu to Old England”, which is not to its disadvantage. It is an autumnal novel, and a sad one: poignant about the passing of time, the wishing for what has vanished, the decades lost to obscure hatreds, misplaced loves and unsatisfactory marriages – and about what, washing up on the brink of old age, we’re left with and what we can or can’t make of it. That a river, or two, runs through it is no accident.

And in this context the national stuff just sort of bubbles up. The Midlands landscape of Benjamin’s childhood, a landscape at once familiar and remembered and transformed and imaginary, is the real middle England of the novel. And what is lost and gained goes far beyond the referendum in 2016. To quote that therapist again: “Something much more fundamental and personal was going on.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[bookblast]

A Dictator Calls, BookBlast®Translation Book Club, Hatchards, Piccadilly, News

A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson, was longlisted for the 2024 Man Booker International Prize. “History is usually reticent regarding what happens between poets and tyrants. The truth gives way to inventions, some memorable, others forgettable,” Ismail Kadare   Ismail Kadare, the renowned Albanian novelist and poet, navigated the oppressive environment of communist…

[denmark-street]

Kyiv, 1919. The Soviets control the city, but White armies menace them from the West. No man trusts his neighbour and any spark of resistance may ignite into open rebellion. When Samson Kolechko’s father is murdered, his last act is to save his son from a falling Cossack sabre. Deprived of his right ear instead of his head, Samson is left an orphan, with only his father’s collection of abacuses for company. Until, that is, his flat is requisitioned by two Red Army soldiers, whose secret plans Samson is somehow able to overhear with uncanny clarity. Eager to thwart them, he stumbles into a world of murder and intrigue that will either be the making of him – or finish what the Cossack started.

👀👀 hmm

Quiz: which book from the International Booker Prize 2024 longlist should you read?

[authordenisefyffe]

Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

#Book Review: Normal People by Sally #Rooney

Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney Sally Rooney is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has written several critically acclaimed novels, including “Normal People,” which was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Overview “Normal People” is a novel about two young people from a small town in Ireland who develop a complex and intense relationship as they navigate the ups and downs of…

[booksreview24]

Normal People - Review, Summary, Age Rating and Pdf

Normal People - Review

"Normal People" is a novel by Irish author Sally Rooney, published in 2018. The book follows the complex relationship between two young people, Connell and Marianne, from their teenage years in a small town in rural Ireland to their early twenties as university students in Dublin.

Connell is a popular and well-liked student in high school, while Marianne is an outcast who comes from a wealthy but abusive family. Despite their differences, they develop a deep connection and intimate relationship, but their relationship is complicated by issues of class, social status, and personal insecurities.

The novel explores themes of love, class, identity, and the challenges of navigating relationships in a modern society. It has been widely acclaimed for its raw and realistic portrayal of young love and the struggles of growing up.

"Normal People" has been adapted into a television series by the same name, which premiered in 2020 and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal as Marianne and Connell, respectively.

Normal People - Age rating

"Normal People" is a novel intended for adult readers, as it contains mature themes and explicit language and sexual content. Therefore, it may not be suitable for children or young readers. It deals with complex and sensitive issues such as mental health, trauma, and abusive relationships, which may be difficult for younger readers to fully comprehend and process. 

It is important for parents or guardians to use their discretion and judgment when determining whether or not this book is appropriate for their child's reading level and maturity.

Normal people - popularity

"Normal People" has been a highly popular book since its publication in 2018. It has received widespread critical acclaim and has been both a commercial and a literary success.

The novel was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, and it won the 2019 Costa Novel Award, the 2019 Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, and the 2019 Irish Book Award for Novel of the Year.

The book has also been a bestseller in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Its popularity has been further bolstered by the release of the television adaptation, which has also received critical acclaim and has introduced the story to a wider audience.

Overall, "Normal People" is a highly regarded and popular book that has resonated with readers and critics alike.

Normal People - Sally Rooney author biography 

Sally Rooney is an Irish author born in 1991 in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. She grew up in a small town in the west of Ireland and attended Trinity College Dublin, where she studied English Literature.

Rooney's debut novel, "Conversations with Friends," was published in 2017 and was well-received by critics. However, it was her second novel, "Normal People," published in 2018, that brought her widespread acclaim and international recognition. The novel won the 2019 Costa Novel Award and was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.

Rooney's writing style has been praised for its realism and her ability to capture the nuances of modern relationships and social dynamics. Her work often deals with themes of class, politics, gender, and sexuality.

In addition to her novels, Rooney has also written several short stories, which have been published in various literary magazines. She has been named one of Granta's Best of Young Irish Novelists and was included on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019.

Rooney currently lives in Dublin and continues to write and publish new work.

Read full review

[whilereadingandwalking]

Thoughts on the 2017 Man Booker Prize Longlist

I’ve only read four books on this year’s (fairly inclusive!) Man Booker Prize longlist, but that’s four more than I’ve usually read. So I thought I would share my own personal thoughts on who should win or make the shortlist, based solely on what I have been able to read, and on my own personal thoughts on timeliness, craftsmanship, and potential. Here are the four books I’ve read on the list, ranked. 

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders ~ This novel was stunning, and did something with the novel, with historical fiction, with the subversion of genre, and the twisting of narrative that I have truly never encountered before, which is why I believe it should win. See my review here, and my pieces about seeing Saunders discuss his craftsmanship here and the subversion of genre here.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid ~ The short novel sets a romance within a magical realist refugee crisis. It’s a beautifully written, concise book that tells an intriguing love story as well building a fascinating world where portal-esque doors are opening all over the world. The craftsmanship and concept are both new, and it would certain deserve the prize if won, particularly if timeliness of subject matter factors into the judges’ decision. Read my review here.

Swing Time by Zadie Smith ~ Ever since I swept through her works in November 2016, I’ve been obsessed with Zadie Smith and what she can do with the novel. While I adored what Swing Time did with time, and while I highlighted it in several posts about great 2016 releases, it wasn’t her best or most effective. See my review here, and my piece about seeing Smith discuss her works here.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy ~ Many of the reviews of this novel suffered from comparisons to Roy’s The God of Small Things, which I thought was unfair. The novel takes an incredible scope, weaving from story to story to bring together a legendary epic of misfits from across India, coming together in a graveyard that is also a home. I ended up loving this book, but I can’t help but agree with some reviewers that it could have used a better editor, considering that some formatting and motifs were curiously inconsistent. See my review here, and my piece about Roy in person here.

[books-i-once-read]

Paul was always inclined toward revolution at a distance.

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney 

[justforbooks]

Siri Hustvedt to write a book about her late husband Paul Auster

The American writer is 120 pages into a memoir about her relationship with the New York Trilogy author, entitled Ghost Stories

Siri Hustvedt has revealed that she is working on a memoir about her late husband, Paul Auster, author of the acclaimed New York Trilogy.

The news was first reported in Zeit Online, where Hustvedt said in an interview that “a few days after Paul’s death” she started writing a memoir about him. “It’s called Ghost Stories. I have 120 pages now,” she told the German news website, adding that writing about Auster was her “first impulse” after he died.

Auster died aged 77 on 30 April due to complications from lung cancer. “I began writing the memoir about him and me, about ‘us’, after he was buried in Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on May 3rd,” Hustvedt told the Guardian. “It isn’t that I ‘wanted’ to write this book, but rather that I had an urgent need to write it.”

“The compulsion to write after the death of a beloved person is hardly unique to me,” the 69-year-old author added (her most recent book, Mothers, Fathers and Others, is an essay collection written after her own mother’s death).

“There is something about death that triggers in writers this impulse to write,” Hustvedt told Zeit Online. “Writing on a blank page is different from talking to someone in person. There is something about that page, that empty space, that creates an intimacy that doesn’t exist in a live dialogue with a human being.”

Born in Minnesota, Hustvedt has a PhD from Columbia University. Having published her first novel, The Blindfold, in 1992, she went on to write several novels including What I Loved, The Summer Without Men and The Blazing World, which was longlisted for the Man Booker prize (as it then was) in 2014. Hustvedt and Auster met in 1981, and married the following year. They have a daughter, and lived together in Brooklyn, New York, until Auster’s death.

When asked by Zeit Online how she was doing, Hustvedt said she was ���OK”.

“You know, I’m grieving for my husband,” she added. “But as I always say to friends now: I’m not depressed. But I’m scared. Since he died, I’ve been reading about grief all the time.”

While Hustvedt hopes that she will have finished writing Ghost Stories by early next year, she told the Guardian: “That is my hope, not my promise. I have no idea when it will be published.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[nolabballgirl]

Eid 2022: Muslim Books Wrap-up and Review Part i

we've almost made it through ramadan, so with eid coming up, i figure i'd list out some of the recently published books (2017 to present) with muslim main characters i've read over the year with spoiler-free reviews. young adult and lgbtq muslim fiction reviewed in part ii!

these books represent a wide spectrum of the muslim experience. from practicing, non-practicing, or questioning one's faith to spanning cultures, nationalities, and ethnic origins from across the globe. and we're only scratching the surface. some thoughts:

contemporary fiction/poetry:

bless the daughter raised by a voice in her head (2022/warsan shire) - this poetry collection by ms. shire (somali-british) was so moving and gripping. poems about womanhood, trauma, racism, migration. all told through the backdrop of this somali muslim family. *chef's kiss*

home fire (2017/kamila shamsie) - winner of the women's prize and a longlist for the man booker prize. yes, i know it touches upon themes of terrorism but stay with me here. reimagined greek classics are all the rage nowadays, so here we have a re-telling of antigone but from the perspective of a group of young south asian/pakistani muslims in the uk.

exit west (2017/mohsin hamed) - a shortlister for the man booker prize. such a unique take on migration and refugees with elements of magical realism. this speculative fiction novella follows a couple from an unnamed city escaping war and moving from country to country. a quick read with beautiful imagery/writing.

a burning (2020/megha majumdar) - an indian muslim teenager makes an offhand comment on facebook and gets swept up in a govt investigation following the aftermath of a terrorist attack. this one stays with you. super relevant given modi/bjp’s india.

a woman is no man (2019/etaf rum *tw domestic violence) - oh the woes of generational trauma and how hard it can be to break free. this novel is told from the pov of three generations of palestinian women from the same family, diving into themes of a woman's place in society, abuse, trauma, and shame. enjoyed it, but i do wish we got a little more perspective from fareeda (the grandmother).

the beauty of your face (2020/sahar mustafah *tw: school shooting, gun violence) - this novel takes place during a shooting at an islamic girls school in the chicago area. but it's interspersed with the story of the principal, a palestinian american woman and her family growing up as immigrants in the us. i actually found her life story to be a lot more compelling than the actual school shooting chapters, which felt reductive.

the stationary shop (2019/marjan kamali) - just a lovely little story about a persian woman and her lost love, spanning the course of 60 years in both iran and the us. partly told through prose and partly told through letters, this bittersweet tale stuck with me til the very end.

fantasy/dystopian:

the city of brass (2017/sa chakraborty) - book 1 of the daevabad trilogy. super enjoyable read, fantastic world building with various elements from cultures across the muslim world. and of one the main leads is an unabashed, practicing muslim too? sign me up!

the bird king (2019/g. willow wilson) - gww of ms. marvel fame sets up this beautifully vivid world of moorish spain during the inquisition and combines it with mythological creatures from the region (think jinns and more!) the novel does drag in the middle but otherwise it's an immersive experience.

i hope you get this message (2019/farah naz rishi) - the world is about to end (think aliens!) and these three teens need to get their respective acts together before that happens. i ended up really invested in certain characters (adeem - pakistani muslim boy and his friendship with cate) and them navigating complex family dynamics. not exactly dystopian but more of a contemporary novel feel. wish there was a stronger ending but enjoyed the journey.

we hunt the flame (2019/hafsah faizal) - so we're not treading new ground in terms of fantasy tropes and story here, but the setting and characters are worth the read for exploring the mythology and lore of the arab world. the story follows a young huntress disguised as a man and the forces/friends/loves she meets on the way. a solid first effort.

graphic novels:

huda f are you (2021/huda fahmy) - such a cute coming of age, graphic novel about a egyptian american girl trying to fit in high school in dearborn, michigan. very clever and wholesome. (it's from the same creator as the "yes, i'm hot in this" webcomic. she also has a short graphic novel on marriage called "that can be arranged.")

[rockislandadultreads]

2022 Booker Prize: Shortlist 

Enjoy some of the titles shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize! For a list of all of the finalists (as well as the longlist), visit https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2022.

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

Glory centers around the unexpected fall of Old Horse, a long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup, in November 2017, of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president of nearly four decades, Bulawayo's bold, vividly imagined novel shows a country imploding, narrated by a chorus of animal voices who unveil the ruthlessness and cold strategy required to uphold the illusion of absolute power, and the imagination and bullet-proof optimism to overthrow it completely. As with her debut novel We Need New Names, Bulawayo's fierce voice and lucid imagery immerses us in the daily life of a traumatized nation, revealing the dazzling life force and irrepressible wit that lies barely concealed beneath the surface of seemingly bleak circumstances. At the center of this tumult is Destiny, who has returned to Jidada from exile to bear witness to revolution - and focus on the unofficial history and the potential legacy of the women who have quietly pulled the strings in this country.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

The Trees by Percival Everett 

Percival Everett’s The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till. The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in fast-paced style that ensures the reader can’t look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America’s pulse.

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Lucy Barton is a writer, but her ex-husband, William, remains a hard man to read. William, she confesses, has always been a mystery to me. Another mystery is why the two have remained connected after all these years. They just are. So Lucy is both surprised and not surprised when William asks her to join him on a trip to investigate a recently uncovered family secret - one of those secrets that rearrange everything we think we know about the people closest to us. There are fears and insecurities, simple joys and acts of tenderness, and revelations about affairs and other spouses, parents and their children. On every page of this exquisite novel we learn more about the quiet forces that hold us together - even after we’ve grown apart. At the heart of this story is the indomitable voice of Lucy Barton, who offers a profound, lasting reflection on the very nature of existence. “This is the way of life,” Lucy says: “the many things we do not know until it is too late.”

This is the third volume in the “Amgash” series. The first two books are My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible, respectively. 

[bigtickhk]

The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

US: https://amzn.to/32lAJoO

UK: https://amzn.to/2qkevWt

[riverheadbooks]

We are incredibly proud to publish these gorgeous, urgent, boundary-pushing books! Congratulations to Mohsin and Kamila - we’re rooting for you!!! 

[wellesleybooks]

Chair of the 2019 judges, Peter Florence, says:

“If you only read one book this year, make a leap. Read all 13 of these. There are Nobel candidates and debutants on this list. There are no favourites; they are all credible winners. They imagine our world, familiar from news cycle disaster and grievance, with wild humour, deep insight and a keen humanity. These writers offer joy and hope. They celebrate the rich complexity of English as a global language. They are exacting, enlightening and entertaining. Really – read all of them.”

Everybody Start Reading!

[outstarethestars]

The 2017 Man Booker Shortlist

There are some really interesting picks (and even more surprising omissions). The full list is available here.

[liseuselonglist]

Man Booker Prize 2017 Longlist

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster (US) (Faber & Faber) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/171654900381/4-3-2-1-by-paul-auster

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Ireland) (Faber & Faber) -  http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/166289024956/days-without-end-by-sebastian-barry

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (US) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/164219870101/history-of-wolves-by-emily-fridlund

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan-UK) (Hamish Hamilton) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/171658196821/exit-west-by-mohsin-hamid

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Ireland) (Canongate) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/166564606101/solar-bones-by-mike-mccormack

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (UK) (4th Estate) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/171731136401/reservoir-13-by-jon-mcgregor

Elmet by Fiona Mozley (UK) (JM Originals) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/169501005906/elmet-by-fiona-mozley

The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (India) (Hamish Hamilton) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/167973160196/the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness-by-arundhati

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (US) (Bloomsbury Publishing) - Abandoned. I know, I know, it won and everything, but I hated it.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (UK-Pakistan) (Bloomsbury Circus) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/167973649861/home-fire-by-kamila-shamsie

Autumn by Ali Smith (UK) (Hamish Hamilton) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/168048070146/autumn-by-ali-smith

Swing Time by Zadie Smith (UK) (Hamish Hamilton) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/169538911186/swing-time-by-zadie-smith

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (US) (Fleet) - http://liseuselonglist.tumblr.com/post/169541350171/the-underground-railroad-by-colson-whitehead