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#Bookerlonglist2025
And I am done! I think it is the first time I have finished before the winner is announced, although it did help that I allowed myself to listen to the longer novels (anything over 10 hours) on audiobook.
There were some great novels longlisted this year. My favourites are Seascraper, Misinterpretation, Sonia and Sunny and Flesh. And perhaps I am overly influenced by Jaclyn Crupi, but expect Flesh will take the prize.

29 Sep-10 Oct 2025
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 13
An impressive debut, Xhoga follows the life of an Albanian interpreter living in NYC. The narrator reminded me a great deal of a family friend from Bulgaria who seemed to take in all kinds of Eastern European strays (before the fall of the iron curtain) much to the dismay of her conservative, ENT husband.
The tension and underlying violence Xhoga creates is remarkable and disarming. Another great novel.

25 Sep-2 Oct 25 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 12
A sprawling tale of loneliness, love and longing. I do not remember anything about Inheritance of Loss, others than so enjoyed it and read it as part of the Booker longlist many years ago.
I enjoy sprawling family sagas, which seems to be a genre at which some modern writers from India excel, and this deserves it place in the shortlist.

6-13 Sep 2025
#Bookerlonglist2025 9
Another book I enjoyed, but did not love, from the longlist.
On the death of her father, Teresa returns to the Greek seaside village she visited on the death of her mother nine years earlier to find some things change and some stay the same.
Perhaps it is just that I am more introverted than Teresa but I did find the depth of her discussions she had with the villagers somewhat unlikely. But some lovely writing

12-3 Sep 25 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 10
Having dropped his youngest off to college, Tom makes good on his resolution 12 years ago to leave his wife after she had an affair.
I related to many of the questions facing Tom as my oldest nears the end of her schooling, although fortunately not in relation to my marriage.
Not a book I would ordinarily read and I would not expect it to make the shortlist, but I nevertheless enjoyed it.

1-5 Sep 2025
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 8
Far from a perfect book but I was entertained and found that I read through it quickly.
The initial feature article engaged me the most - the various POV narratives that followed less so. Perhaps it was a bit laboured in its point that truth in journalism cannot be taken for granted.
Anyway, given so many poor reviews I expected to enjoy it less.

28-31 Aug 2025
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 7
A beautiful cover for a beautiful book. I loved Wood‘s delicate portrait of Thomas, whose life is constrained by his class, circumstances and the drudgery of his life as a shrimp fisher, yet who still shows such depth of character and manages to take an artistic view of his world through his music.
Reminded me of many of the quiet books I have enjoyed in the recent years: Clare Keegan, Clear, Lucy Barton.

18 Aug 2025 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 5
I am not sure I enjoyed this book, but I appreciated the discomfort it made me feel as a reader and that it truly went somewhere unexpected. In that way, it reminded me a little of All Fours. Not entirely sure what it was about.
I had not intended to listen to audio, and expect hard copy would have been better, but inadvertently purchased and could not return. Strange how that sometimes happens.

15-7 Aug 2025 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 no 4
A 16 year old from a wealthy family in Trinidad is encouraged to put her baby up for adoption and then moves to the UK where she builds a seemingly successful life but is never able to stop searching for her first baby.
Whilst small parts of this were well-written, I found the overall structure and pacing a bit of a mess. Not sure why it made the longlist, but expect it won‘t be shortlisted.

13-5 Aug 25 (audiobook)
#Bookerlonglist2025 No 3
Epic story of a broken American Korean family‘s lives in various locations in the American mid-west, Korea and Japan. Each character battles with isolation, exile, disability and the tension of family ties.
I found this to be a gripping story which provided some further insight into 20th century Korea. Interesting that Korean stories seem to be trending in the past few years.