Orange Prize Short List 2011

The short list was announced this morning!

Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

Any surprises? Predictions?

I was surprised to see that Jennifer Egan's book didn't make the list.

I don't know enough about these titles to be surprised ... but I do know enough to be intrigued and excited about reading them! This will impact my Orange July plans in a big way. I'm glad to see Room on the list; it's the only one I've read.

Re: your touchstone, try Great House (no "the").

Aha, the "the" was the problem! Thanks, Laura! All fixed! =)

Haven't read any of them. Am not tempted by Room, but Great House is on my list.

Sweet! I still have Annabel at home to read, and I've already read Room.

I've just finished The Memory of Love and found it an initially absorbing and ultimately very powerful read. I think it could win though the only other one I've read is Room. I loved Room too but it didn't feel like an Orange prize winner to me!

I wasn't a great fan of Room. Just from readers' buzz around here, I'm looking at Annabel and The Tiger's Wife as front runners.

I could be wildly wrong, however. :)

I'm disappointed The Swimmer didn't make the list (just because I'll be reading it for Belletrista.com soon), also surprised that Egan's book didn't make it--just because I've heard it's great, surprised Annabel is there because it seems to be always a bridesmaid, and expect Room to win.

You can read synopses, bios and chapter excerpts of this year's short list nominees on the Orange Prize Web site.

Thanks for providing the link Jill! I have only read Room so far and will probably only get to one more of the Short List books this year, so the chapter excerpts will be a great help in choosing which one to read.

Thank you, Jill. I love reading short extracts before I commit myself to a book so that I can check out the writing style. I probably wouldn't have bought the longlisted The Seas if I hadn't used the "look inside" feature for the book on Amazon.

You're welcome! Sometimes the first few chapters are all you need to get a feel for a book! =)

I've just finished all the excerpts except for the Great House one which I had to give up on as it seemed to go on forever. Not sure how I'll ever manage to read the book if I can't complete one chapter!

I've just finished Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson. Whilst it took me a few pages to get used to the writing style, I really got into it after that and thought it was very well written and moving.

Haven't read the others but after reading it I highly recommend Room by Emma Donoghue

I finished The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna yesterday morning, which was the best novel I've read this year, and my favorite of the four shorlisted books I've read so far. My current ranking:

1. The Memory of Love (5 stars)
2. Room (4-1/2 stars)
3. Grace Williams Says it Loud (4-1/2 stars)
4. Annabel (3 stars)

Yay for another Memory Of Love fan! I really want it to win although I'm not as qualified as you to judge if it deserves it as the only other short-lister I've read is Room.

I've read -Annabel - which I enjoyed -but I don't see it as winning the Orange Prize.
I've got Room in my TBR pile - but once again - I'm not sure I see that as winning the Orange Prize.
I'm about 120 pages into The Memory of Love -and this one I could see winning the Orange Prize.
Grace Williams Says it Loud will go onto my get it right away list.

The Memory of Love does feel like an Orange winner doesn't it? Though I have a strange feeling Annabel could win against the odds!

Memory of Lovedoes feel like an Orange Winner, yes. But I guess I should finish reading the book. It would be great to see a Canadian take the Orange. Judges are a fickle bunch! So I guess it's hard to say! I've just gotten Grace Williams Says it Loud put on hold... That sounds like an interesting book! Great House well - I've not read it , but I did not like her previous book. I'll only read Great House if it actually wins -and even then... :)

I've not read any yet. But brought Room home from the library on Saturday so should get to it next week. Going to seek out Memory of Love if Darryl is giving it 5 stars.

Room was one of my best reads so far this year. Love it! 5 *****

All this talk about Memory of Love had me checking out my library. I get it next as there were no other requests. Interestingly, The Tiger's Wife had 5 requests already, and it is just on order. I'm not sure what that says about the Orange Prize possible winner.

More unscientific data:
Grace Williams Says it Loud is not even available, nor on order.
Great House I can request now, if I wanted, as it is in the library.
Annabel has 25 requests. (I'm in Canada)
Room has 65 requests. (I was the first to read this one when the library got it, because I had heard all the buzz last summer, and requested it while it was still on order. Ha! Plan ahead people.)

Per Jill's approval, I will set up threads for each of the shortlisted books, to encourage discussion about each one. I just posted my review of The Memory of Love on one thread, and will post my review of Room from last year and a link to a conversation about Annabel that Cyrel (torontoc), Joyce (Nickelini) and I had for the most recent issue of Belletrista.

>24 kidzdoc:: Thanks for setting the threads up. I have left comments about the three I've read. Am quite excited because the city library now has multiple copies of all the Orange short-listers. I'll probably wait for July before I start the others though and have some doubts about whether to try Annabel though I found the Belletrista converation fascinating.

I'm planning to read some shortlisted books in July so I'm going to stay away from the book-specific threads for a bit (except for Room, which I've already read).

#23 I'm in Australia and have just had a look at the library catalogue. Annabel is on order, but Grace Williams Says it out Loud is non-existent. The others are all available.

Judy, in my local (Australian) library, Annabel is non-existent, but I've just requested Grace Williams Says It Loud. :) I might put in a purchase request for Annabel.

I'm also dodging the book-specific threads until I've read the book in question. I like minimal discussion before reading a book.

Ah, but Grace Williams Say It Out Loud is available from the Book Depository for 11.64 Australian dollars.

Hm, Judy, do you have the title right? Both you and Joyce are calling it Grace Williams Says It Out Loud, but I thought the title was Grace Williams Says It Loud. Maybe try a library search with the correct title (assuming *I* am correct, and not you!).

@30 - Wookiebender - I've got the book sitting in front of me and the title is Grace Williams Say it Loud.

Annabel was a contender for several literary awards in Canada. Hope that helps a little! :)

Tania - I was just copying post #27, but it came up at Book Depository anyway. Only $11.64, including shipping . . . (you'd think I have stock in BD or something!).

The Book Depository has a better search than my local library website! Have to be pretty exact there, or it can't find the book. (It's not much of a website, I have to be honest. But it's definitely better than nothing.)

>33 wookiebender: - Tania - have you tried a NLA Trove search for Annabel? It is listed at several libraries and would be available for an ILL.


ETA:Touchstones won't load for correct edition.

Finished Grace Williams Says it Loud. A solid 4 from me. I still think of the shortlisted Orange books that I have read - Memory of Love will take the prize...The only other Orange Shortlist book I have read is Annabel and I don't think it will take the prize -but what do I know?

. . . and there it is! Thanks for the hint wookie. I can get it through the library after all.

#34> Oh, if I do get desperate, I will do an ILL. But for the moment, I have enough books to be going on with (and it may suddenly appear at the library anyhow, they often do that). I'd like to read it, but I've got a gazillion other books I'd like to read too. :)

I'm just going to begin reading Room. I have it in my TBR pile for at least a year...