Reading the Booker Prize winners
Several years ago, I was curious how many of the Booker Prize winners I'd read, so I decided to find out. Unfortunately once I'd written them all out and checked off the ones I'd finished, I realised I'd created a checklist for myself and was thus bound to complete it.
I don't really know why I'm doing this. I don't think the Booker is the arbiter of good literature or anything (and in fact I think some of the ones I read have been real stinkers). But, well... it's something to do.
I've also noted the ones which I have a copy of but haven't gotten around to yet.
The Booker Prize
Current completion rate: 27/59 (46%)
| Year | Title | Author | Read? | Owned? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Something to Answer For | P. H. Newby | ||
| 1970 | The Elected Member | Bernice Rubens | ||
| 1970 | Troubles | J. G. Farrell | ✔️ | |
| 1971 | In a Free State | V. S. Naipaul | ||
| 1972 | G. | John Berger | ||
| 1973 | The Siege of Krishnapur | J. G. Farrell | ✔️ | |
| 1974 | The Conservationist | Nadine Gordimer | ||
| 1974 | Holiday | Stanley Middleton | ||
| 1975 | Heat and Dust | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | ||
| 1976 | Saville | David Storey | ||
| 1977 | Staying On | Paul Scott | ||
| 1978 | The Sea, The Sea | Iris Murdoch | ✔️ | |
| 1979 | Offshore | Penelope Fitzgerald | ||
| 1980 | Rites of Passage | William Golding | ||
| 1981 | Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie | ✔️ | |
| 1982 | Schindler's Ark | Thomas Keneally | ✔️ | |
| 1983 | Life & Times of Michael K | J. M. Coetzee | ||
| 1984 | Hotel du Lac | Anita Brookner | ✔️ | |
| 1985 | The Bone People | Keri Hulme | ||
| 1986 | The Old Devils | Kingsley Amis | ||
| 1987 | Moon Tiger | Penelope Lively | ||
| 1988 | Oscar and Lucinda | Peter Carey | ✔️ | |
| 1989 | The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | ✔️ | |
| 1990 | Possession | A. S. Byatt | ✔️ | |
| 1991 | The Famished Road | Ben Okri | ||
| 1992 | The English Patient | Michael Ondaatje | ||
| 1992 | Sacred Hunger | Barry Unsworth | ||
| 1993 | Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha | Roddy Doyle | ✔️ | |
| 1994 | How late it was, how late | James Kelman | ||
| 1995 | The Ghost Road | Pat Barker | ||
| 1996 | Last Orders | Graham Swift | ✔️ | |
| 1997 | The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy | ✔️ | |
| 1998 | Amsterdam | Ian McEwan | ||
| 1999 | Disgrace | J. M. Coetzee | ✔️ | |
| 2000 | The Blind Assassin | Margaret Atwood | ✔️ | |
| 2001 | True History of the Kelly Gang | Peter Carey | ✔️ | |
| 2002 | Life of Pi | Yann Martel | ✔️ | |
| 2003 | Vernon God Little | DBC Pierre | ||
| 2004 | The Line of Beauty | Alan Hollinghurst | ✔️ | |
| 2005 | The Sea | John Banville | ✔️ | |
| 2006 | The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai | ||
| 2007 | The Gathering | Anne Enright | ||
| 2008 | The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga | ✔️ | |
| 2009 | Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | ✔️ | |
| 2010 | The Finkler Question | Howard Jacobsen | ||
| 2011 | The Sense of an Ending | Julian Barnes | ✔️ | |
| 2012 | Bring Up the Bodies | Hilary Mantel | ||
| 2013 | The Luminaries | Eleanor Catton | ✔️ | |
| 2014 | The Narrow Road to the Deep North | Richard Flanagan | ✔️ | |
| 2015 | A Brief History of Seven Killings | Marlon James | ✔️ | |
| 2016 | The Sellout | Paul Beatty | ✔️ | |
| 2017 | Lincoln in the Bardo | George Saunders | ✔️ | |
| 2018 | Milkman | Anna Burns | ✔️ | |
| 2019 | The Testaments | Margaret Atwood | ✔️ | |
| 2019 | Girl, Woman, Other | Bernadine Evaristo | ✔️ | |
| 2020 | Shuggie Bain | Douglas Stuart | ✔️ | |
| 2021 | The Promise | Damon Galgut | ||
| 2022 | The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida | Shehan Karunatilaka | ✔️ | |
| 2023 | Prophet Song | Paul Lynch | ||
| 2024 | Orbital | Samantha Harvey | ✔️ |
The International Booker Prize
Current completion rate: 4/10 (40%)
| Year | Title | Author | Read? | Owned? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | The Vegetarian | Han Kang | ✔️ | |
| 2017 | A Horse Walks Into a Bar | David Grossman | ||
| 2018 | Flights | Olga Tocarczuk | ||
| 2019 | Celestial Bodies | Jokha al-Harthi | ✔️ | |
| 2020 | The Discomfort of Evening | Marieke Lucas Rijneveld | ||
| 2021 | At Night All Blood Is Black | David Diop | ||
| 2022 | Tomb of Sand | Geetanjali Shree | ||
| 2023 | Time Shelter | Georgi Gospodinov | ✔️ | |
| 2024 | Kairos | Jenny Erpenbeck | ✔️ | |
| 2025 | Heart Lamp: Selected Stories | Banu Mushtaq |
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