Previously: Five Star Summer Reads| Coming Soon: Favourites of 2021 (so far…)
Hello. Hello. Hello everyone. With the announcement for the winner of the 2021 Women’s Prize on the 8th of September It is high time that I update you with my reading progress. Not to brag, but I did have my most successful year, in terms of reading from the shortlist. One day I know I will finish that shortlist. This year was not the year, but I am getting closer, and I’m proud of the progress.
If you want to know more about the books featured then you can check out my longlist or shortlist posts. I would also like to give a shoutout to Cardiff Libraries and BorrowBox because I did not need to buy a single book this year.
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s worth pointing out that since my review, this book has gone on to be shortlisted for Booker 2021.
Luster by Raven Leilani ⭐️⭐️⭐️
At one point earlier in the year absolutely everyone was talking about this book. Luster is follows a twenty-something black woman who becomes involved with a married man, his wife, and their adopted black child. The hype seems to have died a death because I have not heard a positive review for this book. I did not hate it, but I also do not remember a thing about this book. Even as I was reading it– well listening to the audiobook from my library– I was struggling to remember what had just happened. I’m sure the book had something to say, but I did not understand what that was. The premise is a little weird, but I almost wanted it to be weirder. If you’re going to go there, you may as well go all the way there.
Piranesi by Susannah Clarke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Of course, my biggest congratulations got to Susannah Clarke for her win. You’ll be able to see that it wasn’t my personal favourite, but it was a well deserved win, and I hope to see even more readers pick up this book.
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10/10. 10/10. 10/10. Do I have to bloody say it one more time. It’s 10/10. It’s peng out of ten. […] I’m sorry, but I’m never wrong.
KDBooks, 2020
All jokes aside Burnt Sugar is a very accomplished novel. We follow a woman caring for her aged mother, with whom she has a difficult relationship. The woman is convinced that her mother’s mind is deteriorating causing her to forget things. This description frames the narrative in a particular way so that you think you know the sort of story you are going to get. You don’t. The book is presented to us as an examination of the mother, and her deterioration, when in fact is is the daughter, and her deterioration that the book is preoccupied with. From the what the narrative unfolds and the way that it is written is is clear that Doshi is a very talented writer and I would love to read more from her in the future.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Transcendent Kingdom is my favourite of the shortlist this year.
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a contemporary gothic novel set in a small English village. We follow the lives of Julius and Jeanie, twins in their cities, after the sudden death of their mother. The atmosphere is the dining light of this story as it revels is the glory of the gothic. There’s something abhorrent about it, and yet it is difficult to look away as it covered everything like the spread of mould. Unfortunately I wasn’t a fan of the rest of the book, the plot is slow and steady, and feel like it is building to a crescendo. But the book just left me wanting in a bad way.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to read The Vanishing Half or How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House.
I also reviewed the following books from the longlist: Nothing But Blue Sky, Consent, and Detransition, Baby.
What about you? Did you read anything off the Women’s Prize longlist this year?
Coming Soon… Favourites of the year (so far…)
Carton-Manette-Darnay 
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