Books on the Nightstand discussion

This years long list has just been announced - any thoughs?

The ones I'm most likely to get are:

The Luminaries
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
and
A Tale for the Time Being

There is one book on this year's longlist that has really piqued my interest, The Kills (by Richard House.) It's actually four books or parts with multimedia components that are accessed online. The story itself sounds intriguing, a thriller involving post conflict reconstruction, murder and a man hunt... Alas, it is not yet available in the U.S., which is often the problem with some of the longlist contenders as the judges can judge pre-pub mss as well as books that haven't been released outside of the U.K. Hopefully, there will be enough interest now for The Kills to move up the U.S. release date. :-)

I checked out the website - nice :-)
Can't you just get it from amazon.co.uk?

I'm looking forward to reading Jhumpa Lahiri's book, The Lowland , but it isn't being released until September. I'm still surprised she is on the longlist.

I was embarrassed that I had only heard of a couple of the books. I guess we really are America-centric.

Suzanne, I don't know the rules for the prize, but Lahiri was born in London and moved here when she was two (yes, I went to Wiki!). So if you're born in the UK, does that make you eligible? She won the Pulitzer, but I thought that was only for American writers. Now I'm curious about the rules for all these prizes! Someone please enlighten me! :-)

Hey Louise! Yeah, I can order things from the UK; and I have ordered books not-yet-released in the U. S. in the past; but ever since the Alex thing* I've been trying not to do that.

* I ordered Alex (by Pierre LeMaitre) before it's US release date and got frowny faces from Ann. It really isn't fair to the US publishers who work hard to get non-US titles brought over.

Chris wrote: "Suzanne, I don't know the rules for the prize, but Lahiri was born in London and moved here when she was two (yes, I went to Wiki!). So if you're born in the UK, does that make you eligible? She wo..."

It is citizenship that counts for the Booker:

"What is eligible for the prize?

Any full-length novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published in the United Kingdom for the first time in the year of the prize. The novel must be an original work in English (not a translation) and must not be self-published."

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "Hey Louise! Yeah, I can order things from the UK; and I have ordered books not-yet-released in the U. S. in the past; but ever since the Alex thing* I've been trying not to do that.

* I ordered Al..."

AAah :-) I can see what you mean.

Chris wrote: "Suzanne, I don't know the rules for the prize, but Lahiri was born in London and moved here when she was two (yes, I went to Wiki!). So if you're born in the UK, does that make you eligible? She wo..."

Carol Shields won both a Pulitzer and Governor General's Award (Canada) for The Stone Diaries. She was born in the US but was a long time resident of Canada (in my hometown of Winnipeg, btw).
I wonder how they "prove" citizenship for eligibility?

Suzanne wrote: "Chris wrote: "Suzanne, I don't know the rules for the prize, but Lahiri was born in London and moved here when she was two (yes, I went to Wiki!). So if you're born in the UK, does that make you el..."

For the GG you can be a permanent resident (used be known as landed immigrant) and you do not need to be residing in Canada.

Suzanne wrote: "Chris wrote: "Suzanne, I don't know the rules for the prize, but Lahiri was born in London and moved here when she was two (yes, I went to Wiki!). So if you're born in the UK, does that make you el..."

Thanks for all the info, Suzanne! Interesting, I always thought of Carol Shields as a Canadian author! LOL!

Suzanne wrote: "I'm looking forward to reading Jhumpa Lahiri's book, The Lowland , but it isn't being released until September. "

I too am looking forward to Lahiri's new book.

Looks like NoViolet Bulawayo made the long list for We Need New Names and it was outstanding. Young, new, raw. It is hard to imagine putting Bulawayo and Lahiri next to one another and saying, "who is better"? So different.

US publishers will, if they can, move up pub dates if a book hits the Booker (or any significant award) long or shortlist. I know it's frustrating to American readers but if an author signs with a UK house first, it can take a while to sell various international rights. Given that we all work so far out (I'm currently working on Jun/Jul 14 titles), it can be hard to get a new book into the schedule sooner. "Crashing" a book--bringing it out off of your normal schedule--creates a lot of problems for sales reps, production, editors, etc. but it does happen, particularly with award winners. Don't be surprised if some of these turn up sooner, especially once the shortlist is announced.

I'll probably read A Tale For the Time Being and The Testament of Mary, and perhaps Transatlantic.

A Tale for the Time Being was excellent .. I highly recommend reading it.

Thanks Denise!

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "There is one book on this year's longlist that has really piqued my interest, The Kills (by Richard House.) It's actually four books or parts with multimedia components that are accessed online. Th..."
I think this sounds fascinating, too. Although I believe the book is 100 pages long...

Denise wrote: "I'll probably read A Tale For the Time Being and The Testament of Mary, and perhaps Transatlantic."
This is an interesting book, especially if you pair it with My Name Was Judas, by C.K. Stead. (a memoir from Judas, who didn't die, and wasn't all bad...)

The Kills (by Richard House) is actually four books bound into one volume and, in hardback comes in at approximately 1000 pages:

The Sutler = 302 pages;
The Massive = 311 pages;
The Kill = 256 pages;
The Hit = 261 pages

Hmmm, even if I were to get a hold of this book now, it's doubtful that I would be able to shoehorn it into my Fall reading schedule, so perhaps it's just as well that it hasn't been released in the US yet!

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "The Kills (by Richard House) is actually four books bound into one volume and, in hardback comes in at approximately 1000 pages:

The Sutler = 302 pages;
The Massive = 311 pages;
The Kill = 256 pag..."

I meant 1000!

Whew! You had me scrambling! I was wondering if the page counts were inflated. In the UK, the books were released as eBooks first. And too, I was wondering if/how the ancillary material was accounted for! :-D

Transatlantic was wonderful, especially in audio.

Eleanor Catton wins for The Luminaries: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

I am currently reading The Luminaries and really enjoying it. Would love to discuss it with other BOTNS listeners.