My Best of the Bookers

Between February and December 2018, I read all 53 books that have won the Man Booker prize since its inception in 1968. Here are my personal favorites. Click on links for my reviews.

Booker winners that I marked 5 stars on my Goodreads account:

The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood

The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro

Possession, A.S. Byatt

Sacred Hunger, Barry Unsworth

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

G., John Berger

Amsterdam, Ian McEwan

Vernon God Little, D.B.C. Pierre

Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Best Plot: The Luminaries. Staggeringly complex plot that ties together nearly 20 main characters. Runner-up: Amsterdam, an incredibly satisfying tale of comeuppance.

Best Historical Novel: Sacred Hunger. A must-read for anyone interested in the impact of the slave trade on people of all colors. Runner-up: Wolf Hall and its sequel Bring Up the Bodies, that place you in the cunning mind of Thomas Cromwell.

Best Twist at the End: Life of Pi.

Most Original Narration: Lincoln in the Bardo, a compilation of the words of ghosts and quotations from historical sources.

Authors I’m Most Glad I Discovered: Anita Brookner, A.S. Byatt.

Best Also-Rans that Should Have Won: Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go; Ali Smith, The Accidental.