The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Usual rules apply - one entry per person, use edit comment to update, list your books in order of preference best first, and optionally predict where it will finish in your full list of 13. Please do not rank books you have not at least started to read.

These are the longlisted books:

A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Canongate Books)
Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (Granta Books)
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (Fourth Estate)
How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney (Harvill Secker)
This Other Eden by Paul Harding (Hutchinson Heinemann)
Pearl by Siân Hughes (Indigo Press)
All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow (Tinder Press)
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Oneworld Publications)
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Atlantic Books)
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (Picador)
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton)
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (Canongate Books)

FINAL LEAGUE TABLES

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 3.75, 2.86, 28, 11, 2.25
2, The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng, 4.18, 3.47, 38, 7, 2.33
3, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 5.06, 4.55, 33, 5, 3.02
4, In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, 5.18, 4.67, 39, 4, 3.27
5, Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry, 5.00, 4.69, 40, 2, 2.98
6, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 5.80, 5.56, 45, 4, 3.66
7, Pearl by Siân Hughes, 6.03, 5.62, 39, 0, 3.22
8, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 6.08, 5.69, 36, 4, 3.63
9, A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, 6.75, 6.71, 32, 2, 3.66
10, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 7.97, 7.57, 36, 1, 4.08
11, All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow, 8.44, 7.62, 27, 0, 3.65
12, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 8.16, 8.27, 43, 2, 4.56
13, How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney, 9.84, 9.82, 32, 0, 4.85

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 3.75, 145, 28, 11
2, The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng, 4.18, 131, 38, 7
3, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 5.06, 77, 33, 5
4, In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, 5.18, 73, 39, 4
5, Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry, 5.00, 71, 40, 2
6, Pearl by Siân Hughes, 6.03, 32, 39, 0
7, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 5.80, 22, 45, 4
8, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 6.08, 14, 36, 4
9, A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, 6.75, -43, 32, 2
10, All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow, 8.44, -80, 27, 0
11, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 7.97, -98, 36, 1
12, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 8.16, -156, 43, 2
13, How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney, 9.84, -188, 32, 0

I've only read one before the announcement, but I'm looking forward to most of the novels on the longlist.

1) This Other Eden
2) A Study for Obedience
3) Old God's Time
4) The Bee Sting
5) How to Build a Boat
6) The House of Doors

7) Prophet Song
8) All the Little Bird-Hearts
9) Pearl
10) A Spell of Good Things
11) In Ascension
12) If I Survive You
13) Western Lane

(5*)
1 Prophet Song
2 In Ascension
3 The House of Doors

(4*)
4 Pearl
5 How to Build a Boat
6 Study for Obedience
7 All the Little Bird-Hearts
8 This Other Eden
9 A Spell of Good Things
10 Western Lane

(3*)
11 If I Survive You
12 Old God's Time

(2*)
13 The Bee Sting

Links are to my reviews

So far....


1) House of Doors (5*)
2) Old God's Time (5*)
3) In Ascension (4*)
4) Pearl (4*)
5) The Bee Sting
6) Western Lane (4*)
7) This Other Eden (4*)
8) Study for Obedience (3*)

1. Prophet Song
2. This Other Eden
3. House of Doors
4. A Spell of Good Things
5. How To Build A Boat
6. Study For Obedience

1) In Ascension
2)
3)
4) House of Doors
5)
6) This Other Eden
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12) How to Build a Boat
13)

Longlist done - rankings may change after re-reads this month.

Prophet Song - 5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This Other Eden - 5 *
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Study for Obedience – 4.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In Ascension – 4 *
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pearl – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Spell of Good Things - 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
House of Doors - 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All The Little Bird Hearts - 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Old God's Time - 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If I Survive You - 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Bee Sting - 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Western Lane - 2.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
How To Build A Boat - 1.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1) Study for Obedience

I gave up.

8) In Ascension
9) This Other Eden (DNF)
10) Pearl (DNF)
11) All The Little Bird-Hearts (not going to read)
12) Western Lane (not going to read)
13) How to Build a Boat (not going to read)

1- A spell of good things
2- In Ascension
3- This other eden
4- Old God's time
5- If I survive you
6 - Western Lane

As always, will edit as I go:

1.
2. The House of Doors
3.
4. Old God's Time
5. The Bee Sting
6. Pearl
7. Prophet Song
8. A Spell of Good Things
9. This Other Eden
10. Western Lane
11. Study for Obedience
12. How to Build a Boat
13. If I Survive You

1. The Bee Sting
2. A Spell of Good Things
3. Prophet Song
4. Pearl
5. All the Little Bird-Hearts
6. The House of Doors
7. This Other Eden
8. Old God’s Time
9. If I Survive You
10. How to Build a Boat
11. Study for Obedience
12. Western Lane
13. In Ascension

.
.
1. The Bee Sting (5-)
2. Old God's Time (4+)
3. How to Build a Boat (4+)
4. Pearl (4+)
5. This Other Eden (4=)
6. Western Lane (4=)
----
7. Study for Obedience (3+)
8. All the Little Bird-Hearts (3+)
9. A Spell of Good Things (3+)
10. If I Survive You (3+)
11. The House of Doors (3=)
12. Prophet Song (3=)
13. In Ascension (3-)

1. The House of Doors
2. Western Lane
3. Old God's Time
4. This Other Eden

1. This Other Eden
2. Prophet Song
3. Study for Obedience
4. A Spell of Good Things
5. In Ascension
6. Old God's Time
7. The House of Doors
8. Pearl
9. All the Little Bird-Hearts
10. The Bee Sting
11. Western Lane
12. If I Survive You
13. How to Build a Boat

1. Study for Obedience
2. A Spell of Good Things
3. Pearl
4. If I Survive You
5. In Ascension
6. The House of Doors
7. This Other Eden

Placeholder for my own list. I’m looking forward to trying to read them all!

1. Prophet Song (5*)
2. This Other Eden (5*)
3. All The Little Bird-Hearts (4*)
4. Study For Obedience (4*)
5. The House Of Doors (4*)
6. The Bee Sting (4*)
7. Old God’s Time (4*)
8. In Ascension (4*)
9. Pearl. (3*)
10. How To Build A Boat. (3*)
11. If I Survive You. (2*)
12. Western Lane. (2*)

12. Pearl
13. This Other Eden

5. Old God's Time


13. If I Survive You (DNF)

1.
2.
3. In Ascension
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

2. Old God's Time
3. House of Doors
4. This Other Eden
5. Pearl
6. The Bee Sting


9. If I Survive You
10. How to Build a Boat
11. A Spell of Good Things
12. Western Lane

1. In Ascension - 5*
2. Prophet Song - 5*
3. Study for Obedience - 5*
4. If I Survive You - 4.5*
5. All the Little Bird-Hearts - 4*
6. Old God's Time - 4*
7. Pearl - 4*
8. The House of Doors - 4*
9. This Other Eden - 4*
10. Western Lane - 3*
11. A Spell of Good Things - 3*
12. How to Build a Boat - 3*
13. The Bee Sting - 2*

Can't say I will manage them all.


1.
2. Old God's time - 5*
3. This Other Eden - 4*
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. How to build a boat - 3*
11.
12.
13.

Next up -
reply | flag

1.Study for Obedience
3. Prophet Song

Placeholder for my list. I have the Adébáyọ̀, Barry and Eng to start with at the moment.

1. The House of Doors
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Old God's Time
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

1. The House of Doors
2. Old God's Time
3.
4. The Bee Sting
5. Pearl
6. In Ascension

7. This Other Eden
8.
9. If I survive You
10. Study for Obedience
11. A Spell of Good Things
12. Western Lane
13.

The order of the top six may move around once I get to read Prophet Song

I’ve never done these dynamic rankings before, but I’m going to give it a shot this year since I’m committed to reading as much as I can before the shortlist is announced.

1) Prophet Song
2) A Spell of Good Things
3) The House of Doors
4) Pearl
5) If I Survive You
6) The Bee Sting
7) All the Little Bird-Hearts
8) Old God’s Time
9) This Other Eden
10) In Ascension
11) Study for Obedience
12) Western Lane
13) How to Build a Boat

1. Prophet Song
2. This Other Eden
3. A Spell of Good Things
4. Study for Obedience
5. Western Lane
6. How to Build a Boat

1.
2. In Ascension
3.
4.
5.
6. The House of Doors
7.
8.
9.
10. Western Lane
11. If I Survive You
12.
13.

1.
2.
3. The House of Doors 4*
4.
5.
6. All the Little Bird Hearts 3*
7. Pearl 3*
8. The Bee Sting 3*
9.
10.
11. Study for Obedience 2*
12. Western Lane 2*
13.

1. Old God's Time
2. Study for Obedience
3. The Bee Sting
4. In Ascension
5. House of Doors
6. Pearl
7. A Spell of Good Things
8. If I Survive You
9. Prophet Song
10. Western lane
11. How to Build a Boat
12. All the Little Bird-Hearts
13. This Other Eden

1. Old God’s Time
2. A Spell of Good Things
3. How to Build a Boat

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. In Ascension (3*)
---
7. All the Little Bird-Hearts (3*)
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. How to Build a Boat (2*)
13.

1. The Bee Sting (10/10, my review)
2. Old God's Time (9/10)
3.
4. Study for Obedience (my review)
5. Pearl (8/10, my review)
6.
----
7.
8. The House of Doors (6/10, my review)
9.
10.
11. Prophet Song
12.
13.

01)
02) Old God's Time
03) Study for Obedience
04) This Other Eden
05) The Bee Sting
06) If I Survive You
--------------------------------
07)
08) A Spell of Good Things
09) Western Lane
10)
11) How to Build a Boat
12) All the Little Bird-Hearts
13)

1. In Ascension
2.Western Lane
3. A Spell of Good Things

1.) The House of Doors
2.) In Ascension
3.) This Other Eden
4.) All the Little Bird-Hearts
5.) A Spell of Good Things
6.) The Bee Sting
7.) Western Lane
8.) If I Survive You
9.) Old God's Time
10.) Pearl

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. This Other Eden
6. If I Survive You
7. Pearl
8. In Ascension
9.
10.
11.
12. Western Lane
13.

1.
2. The House of Doors
3. The Bee Sting
4. In Ascension
5. Old God's Time
6. This Other Eden
7. Western Lane
8. Study for Obedience
9. Pearl
10. All the Little Bird-Hearts
11. If I Survive You
12. How to Build a Boat
13.

1 This Other Eden
2 Prophet Song
3 House of Doors
4 A Spell of Good Things
5 Old God's Time
6 Study For Obedience
7 Pearl
8 Western Lane
9 If I Survive You
10 The Bee Sting
11 All The Little Bird Hearts
12 How To Build A Boat
13 In Ascension

1. The Bee Sting
2. Study for Obedience
3. In Ascension
4. House of Doors
5. Old God's Time
6. Western Lane
7. Pearl
8. This Other Eden
9. Prophet Song
10. If survive You
11. A Spell of Good Things
12. All The Little Birds
13. How To Build A Boat

 
 
1.
2. The Bee Sting
3.
4. The House of Doors
5.
6.
7. Old God's Time
8. Western Lane
9. This Other Eden
10.
11.
12.
13.

1. If I Survive You
2. In Ascension
3. A Spell of Good Things
4. All the Little Bird-Hearts
5. Western Lane
6. Pearl
7. Study for Obedience
8. How to Build a Boat

1) The Bee Sting
2) Pearl
3) Old God’s Time
4) Prophet Song
5) This Other Eden
6) The House of Doors
7) A Spell of Good Things
8) All the Little Bird-Hearts
9) If I survive You
10) How to Build a Boat
11) Study For Obedience
12) Western Lane
13)

Currently reading 'The Bee Sting'

1)
2) Prophet Song
3) This Other Eden
4) The Bee Sting
5)
6) The House of Doors
…………………………………..
7)
8)
9)
10) All the Little Bird-Hearts
11) In Ascension
12) A Spell of Good Things
13)

I hope to read 9 of the longlist so will limit my list to that number

1.
2. Pearl
3. This Other Eden
4.
5. In Ascension
6.
7. Western Lane
8.
9. If I Survive You

So far:
1. House of Doors (4)
2. Pearl (4)
3. This Other Eden (4)
4. Old God's Time (4)
5. In Ascension*
6. If I Survive You (3)
7. Western Lane (3)

*Currently Reading

1. Western Lane
2. In Ascension
3. The House of Doors
4. If I Survive You
5. Study for Obedience
6. Old God's Time
7. This Other Eden
8. Pearl
9. Prophet Song
10. A Spell of Good Things
11. How to Build a Boat

I've begun, at least:

1. A Spell of Good Things
2. Western Lane

1 Prophet Song
2 In Ascension
3 This Other Eden
4 Pearl
5 Study for Obedience
6 The Bee Sting
7 The House of Doors
8 Old God's Time
9 If I Survive You
10 Western Lane
11 All The Little Bird-Hearts
12 How to Build a Boat
13 A Spell of Good Things