Picking the Man Booker Prize 2012

I'm not normally one to pick an award-winning book (invariably I always like the ones that don't make the short-list), but I'm going to wade into the Man Booker Prize debate this year, for no other reason that I am ever hopeful that one year I might actually be able to agree with the judges of book awards.

There were two books that I was surprised, and somewhat disappointed, that didn't make the final short list of six titles this year, The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman (both of these are on my recommended reads for 2012).

There's already been some controversy surrounding this year's awards as chair Peter Stothard weighed in with his opinion piece about book bloggers. I'll leave you to judge this comments for yourself. 

So, onto the short-list of six titles (from an original of twelve) :

• Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
• Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
• Umbrella by Will Self
• Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
• The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Ewing
• The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

One of the apparent surprises this year was the four debut novels made the final short list alongside more established authors, Hilary Mantel & Will Self. I'm really pleased that these four new writers have been recognised, and that their books will now get greater exposure. It's hard enough for a debut author to be noticed, so to be part of the Man Booker short-list gives their books an extra boost.

The official Man Booker Prize announcement takes place on October 16th (which will be October 17th NZ time), so let's see if I can pick a winner ... 

My pick for the 2012 Man Booker Prize is ... The Lighthouse by Alison Moore.

It's creepy. It's short (less than 200 pages). It's published by an indie publisher. It's not quite what I expected when I started it. It's not as simple as it seems.

If you still need convincing, here is a review in The Guardian, and it is also this month's Listener Book Club book, and you can read an interview the author Alison Moore here.

So we'll find out soon enough if I (finally) managed to pick a winner. 

*** Update 17/10/2012 - So I couldn't pick a winner this year. It turns out that Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel is this year's pick - and she joins a select list of people to have won the award twice. Oh well, I will try again next year. ***

Award winners - a useful tool for choosing what to read?

There's plenty awards around, at both national and international level, whether it's for movies, music or books. Does it influence what you watch, read, listen to?

For me, the longlist and the shortlist of various book awards means a lot. Someone else has gone to the trouble of pre-reading a book for me, and making a judgement call. It saves me the time of reading *everything* published in a given year, or genre, and let's me start with some of the best books.

So, a shortlist for an award either gives me a ready-made list of titles, authors and/or illustrators that I might be interested in (if I have enjoyed books that have won the award previously), or it gives me a list of books to avoid (if I haven't enjoyed previous award winning titles).

I've learnt that I generally don't enjoy books that have won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, but I often enjoy books that have won the Commonwealth Book Prize. I have a friend who is the complete opposite to me - she actively seeks out anything on the Man Booker Prize shortlist.

Some 2011 book award winners include

Blue Smoke by Chris Bourke - New Zealand Post Book of the Year

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - The Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis - The Hugo Award

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna - Commonwealth Writers' Prize

So, does it make a difference for you when you see "award winner" on the front of a book cover?