{"id":358357,"date":"2026-07-30T12:14:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/entertainment\/books\/the-booker-prize-2026-longlist-lonesome-reader\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T12:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:14:33","slug":"the-booker-prize-2026-longlist-lonesome-reader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357","title":{"rendered":"The Booker Prize 2026 Longlist \u2014 Lonesome Reader"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

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The 2026 Booker season is officially here, and after making my predictions I’m relieved to say the book I was surest about made it: “John of John”<\/a> by Douglas Stuart \u2014 a heart-wrenching, atmospheric novel I’d been convinced there’d be near-rioting over if it were left off. I’m equally glad to see M. John Harrison’s “The End of Everything,”<\/a> a strange, quietly political dystopia whose mood I connected with deeply, and Elizabeth Strout’s “The Things We Never Say,”<\/a> a more overtly political turn for her that I loved.<\/p>\n

There are, as ever, surprises \u2014 three debut novels among them, including Rebecca Perry’s “May We Feed the King,” fresh from the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize<\/a>. Marlon James<\/a> returns with “The Disappearers”, giving us two former winners on the list alongside Strout as a previously-listed author. Two titles \u2014 James’s and Emma Cline’s “Switzy” \u2014 aren’t even out in the UK until September. The novel I\u2019m most hesitant about is \u201cThe Palm House\u201d since I loathed Gwendoline Riley\u2019s previous novel \u201cFirst Love\u201d<\/a> but I\u2019m willing to honestly give it a try.<\/p>\n

I’ve read only three of the thirteen so far, a lower hit-rate than usual, but I’m thrilled to get stuck in. My disappointments? “Transcription”<\/a>‘s absence stings most, and I’d hoped to see Maggie O’Farrell’s “Land,”<\/a> Kae Tempest\u2019s \u201cHaving Spent Life Seeking,\u201d<\/a> Tahmima Anam\u2019s “Uprising,” and Valeria Luiselli’s “Beginning Middle End” too.<\/p>\n

My online book club<\/a> votes next on which we read first through August \u2014 the shortlist lands 22 September, the winner on 9 November. Take your time with these; they’re worth savouring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Booker season is officially here, and after making my predictions I’m relieved to say the book I was surest about made it: “John of John” by Douglas Stuart \u2014 a heart-wrenching, atmospheric novel I’d been convinced there’d be near-rioting over if it were left off. I’m equally glad to see M. John Harrison’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[5198,3772,4741,4211,3773],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-358357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-booker","tag-lonesome","tag-longlist","tag-prize","tag-reader"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Booker Prize 2026 Longlist \u2014 Lonesome Reader - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Booker Prize 2026 Longlist \u2014 Lonesome Reader - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2026 Booker season is officially here, and after making my predictions I’m relieved to say the book I was surest about made it: “John of John” by Douglas Stuart \u2014 a heart-wrenching, atmospheric novel I’d been convinced there’d be near-rioting over if it were left off. I’m equally glad to see M. John Harrison’s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T12:14:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BookerLonglist2026_3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1091\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4\"},\"headline\":\"The Booker Prize 2026 Longlist \u2014 Lonesome Reader\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T12:14:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\"},\"wordCount\":285,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BookerLonglist2026_3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Booker\",\"Lonesome\",\"Longlist\",\"Prize\",\"Reader\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=358357\",\"name\":\"The Booker Prize 2026 Longlist \u2014 Lonesome Reader - 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