Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July
The question is open. Each year I set out to read at least some of the books. Here is the list for this year, which I will update as I progress through my reading and responses:
2026 Booker Longlist – The Books I read this year.
I’m aiming to keep purchases lower – but only by not buying unless in 1st impression.
Here’s the Longlist – and how I’ll record my adventures with it. The 13 nominated books, and their UK publishers, are:
| Bought (B) | Date Start/ Finish / Order of Preference | The 2026 longlist is: | Outcome:Blog = URL Explanation Paragraph no. below |
| Not Yet Pub. April ‘26 | The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis (Chatto & Windus) | ||
| Not Yet Pub 10 Sept 2026. Order if on shortlist | Switzy by Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus) | ||
| B 28/7/26 | 7/8/26 – ? | Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman (Fitzcarraldo Editions) | |
| Not Yet | The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail) | ||
| Ordered Durham Waterstones 28/7 | The Disappearers by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton) | ||
| Not Yet Pub. Mar ‘26 | Black Bag by Luke Kennard (John Murray) | ||
| B 21/7/26 | 29/7/26 – 2/8/26 / 1 | The Renovation by Kenan Orhan (Hamish Hamilton) | https://livesteven.com/2026/08/04/why-not-name-troy-byzantium-constantinople-and-istanbul-and-keep-proliferating-names-for-the-primary-city-of-the-golden-horn-until-you-reach-10-such-names-for-cities-rich-in-trade-that-are-for-ever/ |
| B 28/7/26 | May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta) | ||
| B 28/7/26 | 2/8/26 – 4/8/26 / 4 | The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley (Picador) | https://livesteven.com/2026/08/06/i-used-to-worry-about-finding-out-that-a-novel-was-not-for-me-but-you-dont-have-to-like-writing-just-because-in-its-own-terms-it-is-good-this-is-a-blog-on-gwendoline-ril/ |
| B 1/7/26 | Finished 11/7/26 / 3 | The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Viking) | https://livesteven.com/2026/07/12/this-blog-uses-elizabeth-strout-2026-the-things-we-never-say-as-a-test-case-for-a-thesis-based-on-the-difficulty-of-erasing-trends-from-history-in-it-the-narrator-says-that-artie-dam-thinks-h/ |
| B On publication | Finished 6/6/26 / 2 | John of John by Douglas Stuart (Picador) | https://livesteven.com/2026/06/09/self-confidence-is-an-illusion-as-the-best-novels-tell-you-try-for-resilience-and-the-drive-to-move-on-first-of-all-think-more-deeply-about-what-selves-are-the-guardian-entitles-its-review-of/ |
| B 28/7/26 | 5/8/26 – 6/8/26 | All Them Dogs by Djamel White (John Murray) | Started. Perhaps 8/8 |
| B 30/7/26 | Next | The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams (4th Estate) |
Quick Paragraphs
I use these to record reading a novel but choosing not to blog on it.
All the best
Steve
Steve_Bamlett_blog 