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In the world of the Booker Prizes this week: read the reaction to Orbital's win; the best books to read this winter; where to start with Elena Ferrante; and we revisit the Booker in the 1970s
What everyone is saying about Orbital winning the Booker Prize 2024
Just over a week ago, Samantha Harvey won this year’s Booker Prize for her compact yet expansive novel that explores the fragile beauty of our planet. Harvey’s fifth novel and sixth book is the first Booker Prize-winning book set in space, and her victory makes her the first woman to win since 2019.
Over the past few days, Orbital has hit the number-one spot in the charts, selling in record numbers and garnering widespread praise. Read more about the reaction to this year’s winner, here.
14 of the best wintry reads from the Booker Library, chosen by you
We asked our readers to recommend their favourite Booker-nominated books to read throughout winter. Their chosen works inspire reflection and renewal; they are stories of memory and time, all of which invite a well-needed pause.
If you’re feeling the chill – like we are – we present the best wintry reads from the Booker Library, a selection which will offer comfort and companionship during the long, dark nights ahead.
Where to start with Elena Ferrante: a guide to her best books
She was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2016; her Neapolitan Quartet has been hailed as one of the best fictional series of all time; and the final instalment of the series, The Story of the Lost Child – which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2016 – has been described as ‘Ferrante at the height of her brilliance’. The TV adaptation of the book is out now.
Here, discover more about the novel, which is our November Monthly Spotlight, and explore Elena Ferrante’s remarkable body of work.
The Booker in the 1970s: 10 novels to rediscover, five decades later
In the 1970s, its first full and turbulent decade, the Booker Prize was still finding its feet. It was a decade of short shortlists and some of the prize’s most controversial moments. But it also saw dozens of exceptional works of fiction nominated for the Booker, which, almost half a century later, are well worth rediscovering now.
Here, John Self delves into the archives to discover more, and presents a selection of novels that are essential volumes for any keen reader’s library.
Please don't run out of books to recommend.
Wonderful must read 💕📚💎📚💕