Voting is underway for the March Book Group books, so please visit the forum and cast your vote for the books you want to read and discuss with the group next month.

Books nominated:

The Enchantress of Florence – Salman Rushdie
The Owl Killers – Karen Maitland
The Hunger Games
Vagabond – Bernard Cornwell
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
The Help – Kathryn Stocket
Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger
Neil Gaiman – Fragile Things short stories
Anthony Kiedis – Scar Tissue
The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier
I am the Cheese – Robert Cormier

Please visit the forum to cast your vote.

A reminder that in April one of the books already confirmed is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

March Book Groups is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

1998

3.5.98 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

7.6.98 Beloved – Toni Morrison

5.7.98 Fatherland – Robert Harris

2.8.98 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernières

6.9.98 Wild Swans – Jung Chang

4.10.98 Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

1.11.98 Vanity Fair – William Thackery

6.12.98 Possession – AS Byatt

1999

3.1.99 1,000 Acres – Jane Smiley

7.2.99 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy / Honourable School Boy / Smiley’s People – John Le Carre

7.3.99 Brazzaville Beach – William Boyd

4.4.99 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

2.5.99 Cat’s Eye – Margaret Atwood

6.6.99 Snow Falling on Cedars – David Gutterson

4.7.99 Behind the Scenes At the Museum – Kate Atkinson

1.8.99 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling

5.9.99 Private Papers – Margaret Forster

3.10.99 Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels

7.11.99 Longitude – Dava Sobel

5.12.99 Flaubert’s Parrot – Julian Barnes

2000

2.1.00 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

6.2.00 House of Spirits – Isabel Allende

5.3.00 Larry’s Party – Carol Shields

2.4.00 Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier

7.5.00 Northern Lights – Philip Pullman

4.6.00 In the Springtime of the Year – Susan Hill

2.7.00 Fasting, Feasting – Anita Desai

6.8.00 Stalingrad – Anthony Beevor

3.9.00 Other People’s Children – Joanna Trollope

1.10.00 Enduring Love – Ian McEwan

22.10.00 The Miller’s Tale/Prologue – Geoffrey Chaucer

3.12.00 Waterland – Graham Swift

2001

7.1.01 Man and Boy – Tony Parsons

4.2.01 Moon Tiger – Penelope Lively

4.3.01 Touching the Void – Joe Simpson

1.4.01 The Witch of Exmoor – Margaret Drabble

6.5.01 The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy

3.6.01 The Shipping News – Annie Proulx

1.7.01 The Kitchen God’s Wife – Amy Tan

5.8.01 London Fields – Martin Amis

2.9.01 The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing

7.10.01 If I Don’t Know, Serious Concerns, Making Cocoa – Wendy Cope for Kingsley Amis

4.11.01 Talking to the Dead – Helen Dunmore

2.12.01 About a Boy – Nick Hornby

2002

6.1.02 Knots and Crosses / The Falls – Ian Rankin

3.2.02 Empire of the Sun – JG Ballard

3.3.02 Music and Silence – Rose Tremain

7.4.02 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

5.5.02 Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter – Mario Vargas Llosa

2.6.02 Headlong – Michael Frayn

7.7.02 See Under Love – David Grossman

4.8.02 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

1.9.02 From the Holy Mountain – William Dalrymple

6.10.02 A Dark-Adapted Eye – Barbara Vine

3.11.02 The Illustrated Mum – Jacqueline Wilson

1.12.02 Polo – Jilly Cooper

2003

5.1.03 Writing Home – Alan Bennett

2.2.03 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

2.3.03 After Rain – William Trevor

6.4.03 An Awfully Big Adventure – Beryl Bainbridge

4.5.03 Original Sin – PD James

1.6.03 Rebecca – Sally Beauman for Daphne du Maurier

6.7.03 The Tortilla Curtain – T Coraghessan Boyle

3.8.03 Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire – Amanda Foreman

7.9.03 Down by the River – Edna O’Brien

5.10.03 Junk – Melvin Burgess

2.11.03 Hideous Kinky – Esther Freud

7.12.03 Hawksmoor – Peter Ackroyd

2004

4.1.04 Clinging to the Wreckage and Rumpole & the Younger Generation – John Mortimer

1.2.04 True History of the Kelly Gang – Peter Carey

7.3.04 Fingersmith – Sarah Waters

4.4.04 Falling – Elizabeth Jane Howard

2.5.04 Nice Work – David Lodge

6.6.04 The Scold’s Bridle – Minette Walters

7.7.04 Mort – Terry Pratchett

1.8.04 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark

5.9.04 The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster

3.10.04 How the Dead Live – Will Self

7.11.04 Regeneration – Pat Barker

5.12.04 The World’s Wife – Carol Ann Duffy

2005

2.1.05 White Teeth – Zadie Smith

6.2.05 A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

6.3.05 The Hippopotamus – Stephen Fry

3.4.05 Independence Day – Richard Ford

1.5.05 Small Island – Andrea Levy

5.6.05 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾
- Sue Townsend

3.7.05 The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
- Dr Oliver Sacks

7.8.05 Blood Rain – Michael Dibden

4.9.05 Le Grand Meaulnes – Alain-Fournier
[Michèle Roberts was our guide]

2.10.05 The Buddha of Suburbia – Hanif Kureishi

6.11.05 The Gunpowder Plot – Antonia Fraser

4.12.05 We Were the Mulvaneys – Joyce Carol Oates

2006

1.1.06 Flashman – George MacDonald Fraser

5.2.06 Holidays in Hell – P.J. O’Rourke

5.3.06 We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver

2.4.06 Noughts and Crosses – Malorie Blackman

7.5.06 Hotel World – Ali Smith

4.6.06 Time to Depart – Lindsey Davis

2.7.06 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- John Berendt

6.8.06 Rum Punch – Elmore Leonard

3.9.06 English Passengers – Matthew Kneale

1.10.06 Old Filth – Jane Gardam

5.11.06 Malignant Sadness – Lewis Wolpert

3.12.06 Miss Garnet’s Angel – Salley Vickers

2007

7.1.07 The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen

4.2.07 The Mermaids Singing – Val McDermid

4.3.07 Eleanor of Aquitaine – Alison Weir

1.4.07 What A Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe

6.5.07 My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

3.06.07 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell

1.07.07 The Female Eunuch – Germaine Greer

5.08.07 The Remorseful Day – Colin Dexter

2.09.07 Tales of City – Armistead Maupin

7.10.07 Joseph Knight – James Robertson

4.11.07 The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

2.12.07 Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally

2008

6.01.08 Alice Sebold -The Lovely Bones

3.02.08 The Birth of Venus – Sarah Dunant

2.03.08 William Pitt the Younger, A Biography – William Hague

6.04.08 Simon Armitage – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

4.05.08 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Half of a Yellow Sun

8.06.08 Jan Morris – Venice

6.07.08 ÅsneSeierstad – The Bookseller of Kabul

3.08.08 Colm Toibin – The Master

7.09.08 Gore Vidal – Point to Point Navigation

Complete list of Radio 4 book club books from 1998-2008 is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize for Fiction features 13 titles, with five newcomers, including Tom Rob Smith and Aravind Adiga, alongside Booker veterans such as Salman Rushdie.

The “Man Booker Dozen”, which was revealed this afternoon (29th July) and is listed in full below, was chosen from 112 entries; 103 were submitted for the prize by publishers and nine were called in by the judges.

Chair of judges, former MP Michael Portillo, said: “The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners. The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing.”

The prize was revamped last year to increase its commercial appeal. Changes included cutting down the number of titles allowed on the longlist and a standalone marketing budged to promote the prize.

The shortlist will be announced on 9th September, and the winner is revealed on 14th October.

THE LONGLIST IN FULL:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic)
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold (Tindal Street)
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Faber)
From A to X by John Berger (Verso)
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser (Chatto)
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (John Murray)
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (Virago)
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (Cape)
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (Fourth Estate)
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (Fourth Estate)
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Cape)
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Hamish Hamilton)

The Booker Prize is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The 1981 book beat five other former Booker winners shortlisted from the prize’s 40-year history.

BEST OF BOOKER NOMINEES
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (won in 1981; also the previous winner of the Booker Of Bookers, in 1993)
Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)
Oscar And Lucinda by Peter Carey (1988)
The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (1974)
The Siege Of Krishnapur by JG Farrell (1973)
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (1995)

Sir Salman, who was unable to attend the event as he is currently on tour in the US to promote his latest novel, sent his thanks via a pre-recorded message. It is the third Booker award for the author, who was also the winner of the Booker of Bookers in 1993.

“Marvellous news – I’m absolutely delighted and would like to thank all those readers around the world who voted for Midnight’s Children,” the author said.

His sons, Zafar and Milan, were in attendance at the award ceremony at London’s South Bank Centre to receive the custom-made trophy.

“It’s a wonderful alternative to have my real children accepting the prize on behalf of my imaginary children,” Sir Salman said.

When voting closed at midday on the July 8, 7,801 people had voted via online and text, with 36% voting for Midnight’s Children.

The shortlist was chosen by a panel of experts including novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup.

“The readers have spoken – in their thousands. And we do believe that they have made the right choice,” Glendinning said. She added that Midnight’s Children had won by a “quite a large margin”.

The Booker Prize, which was first awarded in 1969, has spawned 41 winners because it was shared between two authors in 1974 and 1992.

The Booker Prize of Booker Prizes is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The shortlist, which had been whittled down to six from the 41 previous Booker winners by a panel of judges, also comprised Pat Barker’s The Ghost Road (Viking), Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda (Faber), J M Coetzee’s Disgrace (Secker), J G Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur (Weidenfeld) and Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist (Cape).

More than 7,800 votes were cast online and via text, with 37% of online votes from the UK and 27% from North America.

Rushdie, who also won the Booker of Bookers celebrating the prize’s 25th birthday in 1993, was the early favourite, with his chances of winning at 1/8 when Ladbrokes closed its books on the eve of the award announcement.

The award marks the 40th anniversary of the Man Booker Prize. Other celebrations include an exhibition about the history of the prize at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the autumn.

The British Council is also working on an online collection of contemporary British literature, and is negotiating with publishers to include former winners of the Booker as e-books for a pilot project.

Best of the Booker – winner announced is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

The one-off award marks the 40th anniversary of the Booker Prize, and the shortlist was selected by a panel of judges, novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning, writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and John Mullan, professor of English at University College London.

The public is now able to cast their vote through online partnerships with national and international media, with libraries, reading groups and book retailers.

According to William Hill, Rushdie is the favourite to win at 6/4, with Pat Barker the second favourite at 3/1, followed by Peter Carey (4/1) and JM Coetzee at 5/1, Nadine Gordimer (8/1) and JG Farrell (10/1).

The previous time the Booker created a one-off celebratory prize was in 1993 to mark the 25th anniversary, which was also won by Rushdie.

The overall winner of The Best of the Booker will be announced as part of the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre on 10th July.

The shortlist in full:

Pat Barker’s The Ghost Road (1995, Viking; paperback Penguin)

Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda (1988, Faber; paperback Faber)

JM Coetzee’s Disgrace (1999, Secker & Warburg; paperback Vintage)

J G Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur (1973, Weidenfeld, paperback Phoenix)

Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist (1974, Cape; paperback Bloomsbury)

Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (1981, Cape; paperback Vintage)

This is a tricky one.  I loved Oscar and Lucinda, I love Peter Carey generally and of course he’s an Aussie!  I hated JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, in fact I think I even gave it away, and I don’t generally give books away. And Midnight’s Children is such a great book from Salman Rushdie.  The choice is hard but I would hope it was between Rushdie and Carey

The best of Booker is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is the favourite Booker Prize winner of all time, according to a survey conducted by Abe Books ahead of this year’s official Best of the Booker award.

AbeBooks.co.uk asked 727 of its customers to name the best of the past winners and Martel’s novel – the Man Booker winner in 2002 – finished ahead of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie with Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things in third place.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and Disgrace by J M Coetzee were also among the top ten, while Holiday by Stanley Middleton was the only book to receive no votes.

A judging panel will announce an official shortlist for the Best of the Booker next week, followed by a public vote to decide the overall, to be announced in July.

Abe Books also compiled a list of the most expensive Booker Prize-winning novels sold through its sites, with a signed first edition of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children the most expensive at £1,500.

AbeBooks.co.uk Best of the Booker poll

1) Life of Pi by Yann Martel (12.4%)
2) Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (10.5%)
3) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (8.8%)
4) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (8.5%)
5) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (6.9%)
6) The Bone People by Keri Hulme (5.5%)
7) Possession by AS Byatt (5.4%)
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (5.2%)
9) Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (4%)
10) The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (3.3%)

Most Expensive “Booker Prize-winning” books sold through AbeBooks

1. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (£1500) – Signed first edition.
2. In A Free State by V.S. Naipaul (£1280) – First edition, inscribed by the author
3. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (£900) – First Indian edition of 1997 winner
4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (£600) – Signed first Canadian edition, one of only 2500 copies, of 2002 winner
5. Life & Times of Michael K and Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (£575) – Coetzee’s two winning novels (1983 and 1999 respectively) sold together, both signed first editions.
6. The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (£318) – First edition of 1970 winner
7. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje – (£312) Signed first UK edition of 1992 winner
8. Possession by AS Byatt – (£250) – Signed first edition of 1990 winner.
9. The Gathering by Anne Enright (£250) – Signed first edition of last year’s winner
10. Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (£250) – Signed first edition in olive clamshell box of 1982 winner

AbeBooks conduct own best of booker poll with surprising results is a post from: Book Addicts Book Group