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#WP25
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Hooked_on_books
Prize Winners | Ryan W Bradley
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And the Women‘s Prize winners are in! Both really worthy books (and thank goodness The Safekeep won for fiction, given what else was on the list). I‘m sad for Agent Zo, but The Story of a Heart is such a compassionate, beautifully crafted book that I cannot fault its choosing. #wp25

AmyG Oh wow! Glad to hear The Safekeep won….such a wonderful book. 3d
TheKidUpstairs So happy with these winners, both excellent reads, both are ones that I still think about. 3d
BarbaraBB Very happy about The Safekeep! A worthy winner. 3d
See All 10 Comments
Bookwormjillk Good news about The Safekeep 3d
squirrelbrain Both my favourites! ❤️ 3d
Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain It‘s so great when that happens! 😍 3d
CarolynM I‘m reading The Safekeep at the moment, not yet sure it deserves a prize, but it‘s definitely better than All Fours! 3d
Hooked_on_books @CarolynM I hated AF, so I‘d say leaps and bounds better! For me, The Safekeep was one that took its time to show it to me, in a way that really worked, and I loved it by the end. Hopefully you‘ll feel similarly! 3d
squirrelbrain I don‘t think it‘s *ever* happened before! 😜 2d
squirrelbrain I agree with Holly on the Safekeep @CarolynM - it‘s a slow burner for sure! 2d
40 likes10 comments
blurb
Hooked_on_books
Women's Prize For Fiction | Women\'s Prize For Fiction
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Today‘s the big day for the Women‘s Prize! I know I‘m not alone in being underwhelmed by the fiction list, but here are the 6 finalists. I want to see The Safekeep take this one, but I‘d be happy with Fundamentally as well. I‘m about halfway through The Persians and it‘s fine, but I don‘t find it prize worthy. And if any of the 3 at the bottom win, I shall be very cross (especially that awful one in the middle). #wp25

RaeLovesToRead 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I think Litsy will riot when All Fours wins hahaha 3d
RaeLovesToRead But yes - your two faves are mine too! 3d
TheKidUpstairs A rather underwhelming list this year. I'm not a fan, but I could see Strout winning. I'd really love it to be 3d
See All 7 Comments
AmyG Same. I loved The Safekeep. 3d
JamieArc I loved Safekeep as well. It was one of my favorites last year. 3d
BarbaraBB Rooting for the Safekeep! 3d
squirrelbrain It has to be The Safekeep from this list! 3d
44 likes7 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
Artist and the Feast | Lucy Steeds
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Pickpick

A young journalist in 1920 manages to get invited to the home of a reclusive, famous painter to write an article. From there we learn about the artist and his niece as well as the journalist‘s own story. I really liked this and think it‘s far better than at least half the #WP25 shortlist.

Kitta Ooh sounds interesting. I‘ll stack it! 2w
46 likes4 stack adds1 comment
review
Hooked_on_books
A Little Trickerie | Rosanna Pike
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Bailedbailed

I tried, but this one is not for me. I don‘t like the writing or the voice and based on other reviews, it doesn‘t look like those will change, so I‘m out. #WP25 longlist

TheKidUpstairs I love your bookends! 1mo
Hooked_on_books @TheKidUpstairs Aren‘t they cute?! I‘m actually at my mom‘s house and I think they belong to her sister. I really want to steal them! 🤭 1mo
LeahBergen Those bookends!! 😍 1mo
43 likes3 comments
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Hooked_on_books
Crooked Seeds: A Novel | Karen Jennings
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Pickpick

I wasn‘t a fan of An Island and so would not have read this if not for the #WP25 longlist, so color me surprised that I enjoyed it. It is a portrait of a selfish, self-pitying woman who I think the reader gradually comes to see we all have a bit of inside us. She‘s unlikable, of course, and we gradually come to understand her a bit by the end. I do think this is worthy of the list.

BarbaraBB I had no idea she is the same author. Will bump it up my TBR! (edited) 1mo
46 likes1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
Dream Count | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Pickpick

This book follows four African women who are connected to each other in various ways, exploring the reality of being a woman and all the indignities that can be pushed on a woman‘s body (including sexual assault on the page). The writing is very good overall but a bit uneven and the start of the third woman‘s story was so dense I was thrown in a bad way. Good but not great. #WP25 longlist

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Hooked_on_books
Fundamentally: A Novel | Nussaibah Younis
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Pickpick

Finally, a book on the #WP25 shortlist I actually like! (I loved The Safekeep, but read it well before the longlist dropped.) This one follows an idealistic young Muslim British woman who goes to Iraq with a UN program in the hopes of repatriating ISIS brides. It balances the heavier content with snarky good humor and looks at how our own expectations can be blinding.

fredthemoose I liked this one, too! 2mo
BarbaraBB Me too! 2mo
51 likes2 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
Good Girl: A Novel | Aria Aber
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Panpan

I am beyond frustrated by this book. It has such rich material—fish out of water, racism, stranger in your own land—and it‘s just kind of a mess. Plus, there‘s an explosive event near the end that was so gripping, I really wish the book had been set around it, but instead it‘s squandered. What is this doing on the #WP25 short (or long) list?

squirrelbrain I thought that event was a bit deus ex machina - an excuse to bring her home. It would have been much better to have been suggested or signposted earlier in the book. 2mo
Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain If that event had been about a third of the way in after the stage was set about her struggles and the rest of the book explored the aftermath and how it upended her, her community, and her sense of identity, I would have loved that. Instead it was plopped in without really exploring it. I don‘t get it. 2mo
54 likes2 comments
review
BarbaraBB
Somewhere Else | Jenni Daiches, Sara Trevelyan
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Pickpick

I very much enjoyed this #WP25 longlist book. It‘s a quiet story about Rosa‘s life. Born in Poland wheee she witnesses the pogrom in which her family is killed. She somehow arrives in Scotland where she is adopted and lives her life. She goes through all the stages a woman goes, she‘s happy and sad, with friends and family or lonely. And yet in the back of her mind there‘s always her family, brutally murdered.

Deblovestoread Great review! 2mo
ChaoticMissAdventures so glad you enjoyed it! 2mo
BarbaraBB @ChaoticMissAdventures Yes, one of the better ones on the longlist imo 2mo
See All 13 Comments
ChaoticMissAdventures @BarbaraBB IDK if that is saying much this year.... ahahah :) 2mo
Cathythoughts Great review 👍🏻 I having stacked already x 2mo
LeahBergen Cool pic! 2mo
squirrelbrain Looking forward to getting back to this one now! 2mo
BarbaraBB @LeahBergen Thanks, you might know it. It‘s the crossing under the Rijksmuseum 2mo
BarbaraBB @ChaoticMissAdventures haha that‘s true 2mo
LeahBergen Ohhh! I HAVE been there! ❤️ 2mo
CarolynM Great review. Looking forward to this one. 2mo
sarahbarnes Great review. This one is on my list. 2mo
BarbaraBB @LeahBergen I thought so! 2mo
71 likes4 stack adds13 comments
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BarbaraBB
Women's Prize For Fiction | Women\'s Prize For Fiction
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I am okay with this #WP25 shortlist. I didn‘t read Good Girl, all others I liked except for The Persians. I am rooting for The Safekeep to win the prize.
What are your thoughts on the shortlist?

Amor4Libros I haven‘t read Tell Me Everything, and I liked all the others. The Safekeep is my pick, also! 2mo
TheKidUpstairs Ditto. Didn't love The Persians, didn't read Good Girl (and not really interested), and I'm not a Strout fan (but I acknowledge that's my own personal taste). I'm very happy to see the other three on here, definitely rooting for The Safekeep as it was one of my top reads last year. 2mo
Lesliereadsalot Safekeep would be my pick from this list. I did like All Fours and always like E. Strout. (edited) 2mo
See All 26 Comments
BarbaraBB @Amor4Libros Have you read earlier books in the Lucy Barton series? It‘s so good and I do think you‘d think so too! 2mo
BarbaraBB @TheKidUpstairs I know that you don‘t like Strout and I am always surprised since we mostly agree on the books we like! 2mo
Jas16 I am still waiting on library holds so haven‘t made much of a dent I the long list at this point. 2mo
sarahbarnes I read three of these before the list came out and based on that, agree that I‘d love to see The Safekeep win. Although echoing @Lesliereadsalot that I really liked All Fours and am a Strout super fan so would be happy with any of those really. 2mo
Amor4Libros @BarbaraBB I haven‘t read any, adding it to TBR! 😊 2mo
BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes Me too, I wouldn‘t mind them to win either! 👯 2mo
BarbaraBB @Amor4Libros I‘d be interested to hear your thought. The first is 2mo
Amor4Libros @BarbaraBB Just borrowed it from the library! 🤗 2mo
charl08 I've still not read the tagged - just didn't grab me when I started it for the Booker and then I got distracted by other shiny new books. Maybe I'll get the paperback and try again... 2mo
Deblovestoread I‘m going to give Good Girl a shot as I have it from the library. I will be thrilled if The Safekeep wins. 2mo
squirrelbrain I‘m rooting for Safekeep (still!) - it was top of my list. I‘m a bit disappointed with the shortlist, but then the longlist wasn‘t stellar to start with. I‘m still enjoying The Persians actually, more than I expected, so we‘ll see how that goes…. 2mo
AnneCecilie I was hoping Nesting would be there since everyone seems to love it. I would be quite happy if The Safekeep won, I loved that book 2mo
Amor4Libros @Deblovestoread I liked Good Girl 🤗 2mo
TheKidUpstairs @squirrelbrain have you read Good Girl? I haven't really been interested, wondering if it's worth giving it a try? 2mo
squirrelbrain @TheKidUpstairs - I have read it and it came 12th on my list, so that tells you what I thought of it. 😬 Actually I didn‘t hate it, but it was very repetitive- bad decisions, partying and drugs, all a bit depressing. 2mo
BarbaraBB @Amor4Libros Exciting! Let me know what you think. 2mo
BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie I didn‘t like Nesting much. I don‘t want to sound like a snob but it felt like a book I‘ve read many times before 🤷🏻‍♀️ 2mo
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain no the longlist was far from stellar. Glad you‘re enjoying The Persians. I did too - for the first half. 2mo
BarbaraBB @TheKidUpstairs @squirrelbrain That settles it. I wont read Good Girl and focus on the International Booker longlist again, which is much better this year imo 2mo
BarbaraBB @charl08 I‘d be interested to hear if you change your mind if you pick it up again! 2mo
BarbaraBB @Deblovestoread Maybe I‘ll change my mind if you read it and love it. For now I am very hesitant! 2mo
TheKidUpstairs @BarbaraBB I think I'll pass on it, too @squirrelbrain it sounds like one that could be a really good book for the right reader, and I just don't think I'm the right reader for it! 2mo
60 likes26 comments