Counting Down to the 2013 Man Booker Prize: The Shortlist

"The six books on the list could not be more diverse. There are examples from novelists from New Zealand, England, Canada, Ireland and Zimbabwe – each with its own highly distinctive taste. They range in size from the 832 pages of Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries to the 104-page The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín. The times represented stretch from the biblical Middle East (Tóibín) to contemporary Zimbabwe (NoViolet Bulawayo) by way of 19th-century New Zealand (Catton), 1960s India (Jumpha Lahiri), 18th-century rural England (Crace) and modern Tokyo (Ruth Ozeki). The oldest author on the list, Jim Crace, is 67, the youngest (indeed the youngest ever shortlistee), Eleanor Catton, is 28. Colm Tóibín has written more than 15 books, The Luminaries is only Catton's second."
~from the Man Booker website

I always look forward to this time of year - the countdown to the Man Booker Prize!  The Telegraph said the longlist, announced on July 23rd, "is an incitement to read...[it] is dominated by epic tales that criss-cross the globe" - what do you think of the shortlist, announced today? Your ABC Library catalog has these titles already...place your holds now!

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
 

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
 

The Harvest by Jim Crace
 

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
 

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

The winner of this year's Man Booker prize will be announced on October 15th.