Women's Prize 2023 reviews and shortlist prediction
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2024
- I've been a total Women's Prize fanboy this year, and managed to read a bunch of the titles on the longlist (though not all of them!)
Here are my reviews of the books I've read, plus my guess at the shortlist.
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00:00 Intro and stats
01:18 Ones I didn't read (and why)
02:41 I'm A Fan
05:04 Children of Paradise
06:38 Cursed Bread
09:07 Wandering Souls
10:47 Fire Rush
13:01 Trespasses
15:01 The Marriage Portrait
18:26 Homesick
20:57 Black Butterflies
22:44 Glory
26:13 The Bandit Queens
28:12 Overall thoughts and predictions
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#booktube #womensprize #reading
I also was intimidated by the size of Demon (I'm not the fastest reader normally) but honestly I read that thing in 3 days. I think you'll appreciate what Kingsolver does with the language and how she sort of creates a heightened specific vernacular out of a manner of speaking that most people would look down upon but also just on a basic level it's super wild juicy ride of a book. I loved it and hope you enjoy when/if you read it :)
That’s great to hear! Love the way you describe the language.
Fingers crossed it makes the shortlist and I will dive right in (though, let’s face it, I will read it regardless). Super excited to get to it, and even better if it’s a page-turner.
Glory is a brilliant novel. Booktube really missed the boat on it. I'm rooting for it more than anything else on the longlist. Will stay up super-late to watch the shortlist unveiling live.
It's definitely been quite divisive among the people I watch on Booktube. I can see why some people have struggled with it - it's a more challenging novel than a lot of what gets discussed, and I certainly appreciated and respected it more than I enjoyed it. But I'm inclined to agree that it has a lot going for it!
So excited for the shortlist! I'm going to try and get up early to watch it before I head out to work.
Great video, just enjoyed listening to your thoughts on them in general.
Loved your picks, I think it will be 6 of 8, and you picked 6 of them and it seems like we have the same favourite... Also, well done on avoiding Pod and Dog of the North.
Thank you so much! I was very pleased to see I’m A Fan was your top pick in your video. It just burns so bright and I’d love it to win.
(Now watch Pod and Dog make it onto the shortlist 😂)
Hi Ben,
11 out of 16 is a big achievement imo; gonna be very interesting to see which ones make the shortlist. I’m looking forward to reading Black Butterflies and Wandering Souls even more now! They were two of the books along with Trespasses that “spoke” to me the most from the off. I am cynically expecting The Marriage Portrait to be on the shortlist (bc I think it will be slightly overhyped like Hamnet was to an extent). But anyway, definitely agree that the voices/narration is diverse and really worth the - hopefully - expanded amount of recognition that follows with this prize.
Have a good day! ☀️
Thank you so much for watching! Glad this has helped with your excitement for Black Butterflies and Wandering Souls - they’re both great! And Trespasses was definitely vying for a spot on my shortlist.
And yes I’m very pleased with 11! I’m not normally that fast a reader, but was feeling very excited/motivated for the Women’s Prize this year 😊
Can't wait for your comments on the short list. 😄
I am delighted to find you on UA-cam I really enjoyed your reviews which are so honest. I absolutely loved The Bandit Queens. I could not read Hamnet I have loved all her other books. I must try a The Marriage Portrait. Kindest regards from Cape Town South Africa
Thank you so much! Bandit Queens really is great - now that the shortlist is out I’m really disappointed it didn’t make it.
Apologies this has turned out so long. I’ll break it down across a few videos next year! 😅
Don't make it shorter, this flowed nicely.
Almost too much to say in response in a comment so I’ll keep it unusually brief. Really interesting thoughts on all the books. Seems we were aligned with I’m a Fan and Cursed Bread on both ends of the spectrum. Also sorry for late viewing I ignore all other WP videos until I’ve filmed mine with mum so I don’t get swayed ha.
Thanks for watching Simon! Glad that we at least agree on some things 😂 And I’m guessing we’re also on the same page that Bandit Queens missing out is a massive shame.
Everything you said about Cursed Bread was why I was so disappointed. Maybe that’s to do with the marketing of it 🤷♀️
I loved Black Butterflies too!! Such a great novel!!
Not long now!!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us 🤩
Thanks Charlie - glad I’m not the only one! It was such a shame with Cursed Bread, as I really loved the premise. I’ve heard there is a book by Barbara Comyns also loosely based on the event, so maybe that addresses it more.
Glad you liked Black Butterflies. Fingers crossed it makes it!
Hi Ben,
just found your channel and loving it. I'm a very new booktuber from the UK. Black Butterflies arrived on my doorstep yesterday so I can't wait to get to it after hearing your thoughts.
Lovely to meet another relative newbie (not sure how much longer I can keep calling myself that, perhaps 6 months is the limit...)
Hope you enjoy Black Butterflies!
Love your reviews. Thanks.
Thanks so much Karen - that’s really kind of you to say 🙏
We have five out of six in common on our predicted shortlist! In general you had such a considerate way of talking about all the books, even the ones you did not love - what a wonderful skill to have!
That is such a nice thing to say - thank you! 🙌 I often feel like I am blabbering on, haha.
And that's cool that we have 5 in common. I shall head to your channel to see what we have picked differently 👀
Such a spot on review of The Bandit Queens. Love how you described not being able to see the seams 🙌🏻
Thanks Keri! I was really impressed with how well it was constructed, and how it managed to be both funny and address the heavier themes without doing a disservice to either.
I am so glad to come across someone else who is not raving about Hamnet. I just cannot read Maggie O'Farrell! So, I have not even attempted The Marriage Portrait.
I have to admit that I did enjoy The Marriage Portrait a lot more, but that might have been down to expectations. I wasn’t expecting a 5 star read this time around!
I really enjoy the way you talk about books and I especially appreciate your thoughts on I'm A Fan. I really didn't like No One Is Talking About but I've been interested in I'm A Fan but been concerned about the comparisons. It's not published in Canada until August and I've on the fence about ordering it from The UK. So I'll wait until the shortlist but I think I might.
Wandering Souls was my favourite the metafictionalness worked very well for me!
Thanks so much Kier, that's so nice of you to say. I have seen quite a few people compare I'm A Fan and the Lockwood book, so I can't promise you won't find it to be similar. But for me they moved in such different lanes and I found I'm A Fan so much more compelling. Hopefully you'll feel the same!
And yay for Wandering Souls love - I thought it was such a touching, reflective story.
@Ben Reads Good It was primarily the nihilistic detachment of being so deep in twitter that made it unbearable to me as a reader. Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Raven Leilani's Luster are two of my favourite books. I love books that look at obession and the weird often toxic closeness of people and relationships and how social media changes that I think could be super interesting. I just like reflective not detached. Even if the reflection is not of a very likeable character.
In which case, I suspect you might like it!
Love your shortlist! I’d bet on you being right! Cannot wait to find out!
Thanks Danae - glad you agree! Not long to go now until the shortlist announcement 📣
haha the live broadcast in I'm a Fan was a really funny moment!
I loved Trespasses but I was shocked it was described as a "nice love story" when it's just a garbage affair between a young woman and a middle age guy twice her age. I agree the relationship with her pupil was sooo much more interesting.
The font of Marriage Portrait is outrageous haha
I just started Glory and ....I'm not sure what I think. It's definitely irritating. irritating. If it's not shortlisted I might DNF it.
Fire Rush keeps falling down my memory, like oooh yeah I read that. Last year the 'music book' wasn't shortlisted so I left that one out of my predictions.
Thanks for watching, Camila!
Glad you agree on Trespasses - it’s so strange to me to see Cushla and Michael’s affair so romanticised in marketing and reviews. Enjoyed the book nonetheless.
I think both Trespasses and Glory are in with a shout for the shortlist, even though they didn’t make my predicted list. So hold on for a few more days!
I’ve read Stone Blind, The Marriage Portrait, Memphis, Bandit Queens and Demon Copperhead. Enjoyed them all, but the latter has my vote thus far . Appreciate you sir ! Happy Reading 📖🪱💚
Great pick! Hope I’ll join #teamdemon soon. Thanks for watching 🙌
I can’t wait to read I’m a fan. It’s not out here in the US so I have to wait 😭
It’s worth the wait!
Interesting shortlist prediction- I agree with you on 4!😁
Ahhh some overlap at last 😅 I already know you aren’t a fan of I’m A Fan - what was the other one that didn’t make your list?
@@benreadsgood Oh I'm a fan is on my predictions list! Purely a predictions, not a wish list, so most of my guesses aren't ones I've enjoyed 😂
Haha ok I’m looking forward to your ‘books I hated from the Women’s Prize longlist’ video 😂
Great video Ben! Not too long at all! I love videos were the creator really gets into a subject, thoroughly engaging. I am half way through my 7th womans prize book ( one of those 7 being a dnf unfortunately) ...Having started with much enthusiasm, I have slowed down a bit with my reading of the prize and at this point, I will read the shortlist when it is announced and probably give the others a miss. With the exception of Deamon Copperhead. I will read that regardless. Just waiting for it to come out in paperback at the end of May as it'll be so much cheaper 😅. Though I have heard that the paperback cover is a bit hideous! Oh well!
My favourite so far is The Marriage Portrait.
Thanks Rebecca - glad the runtime wasn’t off-putting I tend to aim for the sort of video length I like to watch, around 15 minutes. But there was so much to cover!
Can see what you mean about waning enthusiasm when you have a pre-set list to read. I almost stopped after Glory, but very glad I carried on and read The Bandit Queens in the end.
And yeah, the Demon Copperhead paperback… the less said about that the better 😬
@@benreadsgood 😆 indeed!!
I laughed so much @ that lord of the rings poem bit 😂 💚
And not a single lie was told 😂
I am also CURRENTLY listening to Glory as an audiobook! I still have 13h49min left! (But the David Copperfield audiobook was 36 hours, so who's afraid? LOL) I am skeptical about Glory, but am giving it a shot because it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I have read Animal Farm many times (I am an English teacher) and I do not want a second Animal Farm... the reference to the Ministry of Homophobia, etc., also made me think of George Orwell's 1984... but time will tell if I like it and if it is indeed fresh enough or just the same message in a different package. Some books just work really well as audiobooks and this might be one of them. PS Have you listened to Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir? It was one of the best audiobooks ever!
I think it’s very different from Animal Farm - hopefully you’ll find the same! I haven’t listened to Project Hail Mary but I did read it not that long ago and loved it. I am very curious about how you-know-who (avoiding spoilers, haha) is done on audiobook 🎶
You know who's voice is changed synthetically and you know who actually sounds like a you know what. Which is exactly what makes the audiobook so good. (I cried twice while reading the book.) It was just so touching!
Sounds great! I’ll have to check it out if I ever do a re-read 🧑🚀
Another BookTuber suggested that the font size in Marriage Portrait was primarily to aid the pacing, to turn it into even more of a page-turner than it actually was. But the financial angle sounds believable too. If they expected it to be a consistent seller throughout the award season, it would be hard to turn down the extra money. That's one of my frustrations with modern classics. They can charge $20 for a 100 page paperback partly because they know professors will keep assigning it and best-of lists will keep mentioning it. Good video. Didn't feel long at all.
Ahh that would make sense too. Although I’d maybe expect the US edition to be the same in that case 🤔
$20 for a backlist paperback is nuts! I haven’t really seen pricing like that in the UK, where paperbacks tend to be either £8.99, £9.99 or £10.99 depending on publisher and the length of the book.
Thank you for watching! 🙌
11 is amazing! I’m on 9, and doubt I will get beyond 10 before the shortlist. Finding it very hard to predict! Also I’ve seen the £75 edition of The Marriage Portrait. Stunning, but I would never pay that. I really enjoyed your reviews, you make things seems so clear that I can never quite put my finger on. Because of this, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say those things about Hamnet 🙉. 😂 I’m A Fan is one I absolutely expect to see on the list, the more I think about it the better I think it was. You were right, the audiobook of Fire Rush is amazing. The repetition in Glory! Argh! So much. I get what she was doing but it wasn’t for me. As you say they were a couple of amazing bits, but it was long! I think Bandit Queens is also going to be my last before the short list. I think you predicted well, I’m wavering but I think 5 of those would be on mine. 😊
Thanks Alice! 9 when you’ve also been reading non-WP stuff is impressive. I have shunned all other reading at this time 😂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and your kind words - great to see we share some of the same reflections, even if they worked differently for us. Would definitely recommend the Bandit Queens if you’ve got space for one more.
P.S. Sorry not sorry about Hamnet 🤪
I will try the audiobook of Fire Rush after Glory. Thanks for the recommendation. 11 out of 16 is well done!
I read Cursed Bread to page 150 and then re-started the book and read it AGAIN from the start till the end, because I felt that I lost the thread. I think the feverishly poetic style was beautiful, but one cannot afford to stop concentrating. The book was unique. The rejection that Elody experiences from her own husband is poignantly portrayed. As you said, the book is deals more with Elody's obsession than the poisoning, but I liked that. It is also smoke and mirrors all the way and one does not know what is real and what is Elody's imagination / obsession.
Wow, well done! I'm on book 9 now (Glory. Should have gone for the audio.) Like you I have no interest in Dog of the North. Unlike you I read Pod - and regretted it. Of the ones I've read my experience has been very similar to yours, except that I didn't love I'm a Fan quite as much. I loved the rants, but the cringe was a bit too much. I won't be upset to see it on the shortlist, but it's not one of my faves. I agree that Children of Paradise could be weirder! I saw it compared to Angela Carter, and it didn't reach those heights. I really hope for Black Butterflies and Wandering Souls on the shortlist, they are my favourites so far. (But plenty of books to go yet.)
Thanks Leni! If it’s any consolation, I think the one drawback of the Glory audio is that it probably takes a heck of a lot longer to listen to than to read, due to all the repetition.
Nice to see some alignment of our faves. And maybe one day Camila Grudova will write the weird book we clearly want from her 😅
11 out of 16 is brilliant! I decided to "read" David Copperfield as an audiobook before reading Demon Copperhead. I have started Demon Copperhead and so far I think it is important to read David Copperfield first.
Thanks very much! I haven’t read David Copperfield for many, many years since my schooldays. May have to give myself a refresher before Demon!
I agree with most of your picks. All except Wandering Souls--I loved it but am not sure the structure was as strong as it could have been. Especially towards the end it really fell off for me and I ended up giving it 3.5 stars. If the end had maintained the strength of the beginning it would definitely be on my list.
That’s fair - I can definitely see what you mean. To be honest, those last two slots were really a toss-up for me. I could have just as easily put in Trespasses or Glory.
Which book would you sub in instead?
@@benreadsgood I am betting it will be Glory. Although it is not my personal choice. I'm not sure what my personal choice would be as I am only halfway through the Longlist. Maybe Trespasses--I have not read it yet.
I’m okay with big font these days unfortunately 🤷♂️
Ahh I hadn’t thought about it from an accessibility perspective!
I guess that’s one of the beauties of e-readers actually, where you can set the font size to whatever you want or need, big or small.
Why is there a Woman’s Prize. Is it relevant if the author is female or male? If it’s a good book …it’s a good book!
The Women’s Prize was started because women have been historically under-represented in literary prizes, despite writing a greater share of published books.
I think it’s a wonderful thing to celebrate novels written by women 😊
I’ve only read 2 and a tiny bit of a third so far. I loved Trespasses on audio even with its trope of younger woman stupidly getting involved with older man thinking he’ll leave his wife. When I finished Cursed Bread, I slammed the book shut and said WTH did I just read? I definitely enjoyed it more than you, but I thought with more time, it was possible my rating would drop. It hasn’t though. The third book, which I DNF’d after 15 pages with a hearty NOPE!, was I’m A Fan. You mentioned No One is Talking About This and I thought about that book (which I also DNF’d) after giving up on I’m A Fan. I think there are two commonalities between them: millennials and social media. It turns out that’s a pretty deadly combo for me.
I just ordered Black Butterflies yesterday after seeing how much Simon and Louise enjoyed it. I’m cautious though. The war in the former Yugoslavia was something that had me enraged every night when I saw it on the news for those years. I’m going to start Wandering Souls tonight. Seems like a quick read. Then maybe The Marriage Portrait. I’m waiting for The Bandit Queens on audio from the library. I’ve also got Pod and Stone Blind here, but I’m in no rush to read either at this point. I think those are the only ones I’m reading.
I know you said you aren’t into myth retellings, but if you want to give one a try, make it Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. It is brilliant and told with appropriate reverence to the characters and the stories. Such a great book.
Great to hear your thoughts! Trespasses was great and definitely vying for a place on my shortlist. Shame you didn’t like I’m A Fan but I can understand why it won’t work for some folks. Hope you enjoy Black Butterflies - it’s great!
And thank you for the Clytemnestra recommendation. Seen a few people raving about it so maybe I need to get on board! I have only read Circe, and while it was definitely well-written, the style and tone (or something!) just didn’t bowl me over.