I am congratulating myself on having read the Mantel. Only a couple of them have been released here in the U.S. I wish books didn't have different release dates although I will grudgingly admit I see why they do.

Siobhan is right, there are only a few released in the US. I thought I'd do a mini-display at work (library) featuring the long list and found mini would be the operative word. We had Skios, Bringing Up the Bodies, and some ARCS of Harold Fry floating around but not much else.

OK - tried a couple more.

The Garden of Evening Mists is rather nice, and I reckon it'll be short-listed.

Skios is a comedy. It looks like it could make a very funny film, but it makes for an annoying book - I didn't finish it. I'm astonished it was long listed, and I'd be appalled if it was short-listed.

Swimming Home I reviewed on Amazon UK. I didn't like it. I'd be very surprised if it was short listed.

The Teleportation Accident I haven't managed to finish, but I'll try it again. Some very funny episodes, but it all doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. Maybe short-list material.

Harold Fry is nice (I read this earlier in the year) but I'd be astonished if it were short-listed.

Bring Up The Bodies - I'd be astonished if that wasn't short-listed.

Narcopolis, Umbrella, The Yips and Communion Town I have no interest in, judging by the reviews. Let's hope they don't get shortlisted.

And I'll probably try The Lighthouse and Phillida.

Tell me again why these books even you can't read have made the list in the first place.

Thanks, Martin! I look forward to your posting of the list every year. Contemporary literary fiction comprises only a small portion of my reading, but I do like to dip my toes in the water now and then. I'll wait and see how many of them show up here.

Rosefolly

Even I can't read?

I'm not sure whether I'm offended or chuffed... ;)

To be fair, there's only one I've completely abandoned, which is Skios - and that's simply because I wasn't enjoying it. It's actually perfectly readable, and I could well imagine other people thoroughly enjoying it. And if it does make the short-list, then I'll give it another go.

Hmmm. No Ian McEwan or Zadie Smith, either.

I tried to read Hilary Mantel's first one, but just did not like the writing style. The others, I've not heard of.

Well, I am somewhat through the Harold Fry story and I am enjoying it. It seems like it would be a good choice for the Guernsey Literary.. and Major Pettigrew crowd, of which I am a part. It is, truthfully, easy to read.

I've also started Bringing Up the Bodies and finding it well written and in the same vein as her Wolf Hall which is no surprise. I petered out while reading WH and probably will do so with this one too as this historical era doesn't hold my interest as it once did.

Skios is also in my pile. No comment yet. :)

Chuffed, my dear, chuffed!

Martin...When you mentioned "Bodies" I hoped it was a murder mystery! Has one of those ever been even long-listed?

OK. I've now read The Lighthouse. It's alternate chapters - half of them are about a man who is on a one-week walking holiday in Germany; the other half are about the woman who runs the hotel he stays in at the start and end of the holiday. (What is it with books about people on long walks this year?) It's actually a really quite unpleasant little story, with an ambiguous ending. None of the characters are really very pleasant; it's difficult to understand the motivation of any of them.

Not a classic year, it seems. At least from my point of view.

Shortlist on September 11th.

Well, I'm just about done with Skios. I think it's kind of cute, kind of witty, kind of fluffy--it does not seem like a "major award" (stolen movie quote) kind of book. Agree with Martin that it would make a funny movie; author is also a playwright and I can easily imagine this farce on stage.

I am surprised by Bring Up the Bodies; I am far more invested in it than I was in her first, this despite knowing how the story ends. :)

At last - a book worth reading on the longlist. Philida by Andre Brink is a book about a slave called Philida in South Africa in the early part of the nineteenth century, approaching the emancipation of the slaves. It talks about a history of which I knew nothing - for that reason alone, it's fascinating. It's beautifully written, and a good story - based on real events. However, be warned - it has some fairly graphic descriptions of some unpleasant events. But one I'd expect to make the shortlist.

So far, I would bet on The Garden of Evening Mists, Bringing Up the Bodies and Philida making the short-list. I have read five others, which range from "good, but not Booker winner good" to "how on earth did this even get published"?

Perhaps I might try Communion Town after all...

I've just learned a movie has been made of David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas." (Wasn't this a Booker winner some years back?)