Reading All the Bookers!

  Booker Prize :  Shortlisted 2024 Plot Time and Place :  Present day France Opening sentence :  "Neanderthals were prone to depression, he said." Plot summary :  Sadie Smith - an American undercover agent of ruthless tactics, bold opinions and clean beauty - is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists led by the charismatic svengali Bruno Lacombe. (from thebookerprizes.com) Review :   A great read, fast-paced, intelligent, thought-provoking and surprising. And a great female protagonist: cynical, strong and independent.  Rating :   4/5

Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 2024 Plot Time and Place :  The Netherlands, 1961 Opening sentence :  "Isabel found a broken piece of ceramic under the roots of a dead gourd." Plot summary : Two very different women meet and fall in love, but all is not what it seems... Review :  Wow. It's hard to imagine something better than this winning the Booker this year. (At the time of writing, the 2024 winner is not yet known). Really good writing, great story, makes you think about war, love, sibling relationships, historical injustices and repair, love between women, about loss, grief and obsession... Rating :  4/5

  Booker Prize : 2024 WINNER Plot Time and Place :  Present day, International Space Station Opening sentence :    "Rotating about the earth in their spacecraft they are so together, and so alone, that even their thoughts, their internal mythologies, at times convene." Plot summary :  .Six astronauts rotate in their spacecraft above the earth, and they observe our silent blue planet. Review :   On reading the synopsis, you'd think this would be completely boring. But it manages not to be boring at all, although it is quite calm and contemplative. I liked it very much. The writing is beautiful, the descriptions of life in the space station are interesting, and the love for our planet that this story conveys is just touching.  Rating :   4/5