The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

As usual, list the shortlisted books you have read in order of preference, best first. Numbering is optional. Use edit comment to update your lists. Note that these are personal opinions not predictions of what the judges will do.

These are the shortlisted books:

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (Granta Books)
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (Fourth Estate)
This Other Eden by Paul Harding (Hutchinson Heinemann)
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Oneworld Publications)
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (Picador)
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton)

League tables:

Shortlist rankings only

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 2.18, 1.19, 33, 15, 1.06
2, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 3.00, 2.04, 35, 10, 1.43
3, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 3.16, 2.25, 37, 7, 1.44
4, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 3.13, 2.33, 39, 9, 1.53
5, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 3.86, 2.97, 36, 1, 1.63
6, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 4.47, 3.64, 36, 3, 1.98

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 2.18, 79, 33, 15
2, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 3.00, 27, 35, 10
3, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 3.16, 12, 37, 7
4, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 3.13, 5, 39, 9
5, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 3.86, -39, 36, 1
6, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 4.47, -84, 36, 3

Including Longlist ratings:

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 2.21, 1.25, 42, 19, 1.22
2, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 2.83, 1.91, 47, 15, 1.53
3, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 2.84, 2.18, 57, 15, 1.55
4, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 3.09, 2.38, 53, 11, 1.65
5, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 3.76, 3.03, 51, 2, 1.79
6, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 4.05, 3.55, 57, 7, 2.13

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 2.21, 97, 42, 19
2, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 2.83, 46, 47, 15
3, This Other Eden by Paul Harding, 2.84, 24, 57, 15
4, Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein, 3.09, 5, 53, 11
5, If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, 3.76, -57, 51, 2
6, Western Lane by Chetna Maroo, 4.05, -115, 57, 7

1) This Other Eden
2) Study for Obedience
3) The Bee Sting
4) Prophet Song
5) If I Survive You
6) Western Lane

1. Study for Obedience
2. The Bee Sting
3. If I Survive You
4. Prophet Song
5. This Other Eden
6. Western Lane

1. The Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song
3. This Other Eden
4. Study for Obedience
5. If I Survive You
6. Western Lane

1) Study for Obedience

(5*)
1 Prophet Song
(4*)
2 Study for Obedience
3 This Other Eden
4 Western Lane
(3*)
5 If I Survive you
(2*)
6 The Bee Sting

1) Study for Obedience

1) Prophet Song
2) If I survive you
3) Study for Obedience
4) The Bee Sting
5) This Other Eden (*failed as an audio book. Will try later with a hardcopy)
6) Western Lane

1. Study for Obedience
2. If I survive you
3. This Other Eden
4. Western Lane
5. The Bee Sting
6. The Prophet Song

1. Western Lane
2. If I Survive You
3.
4. This Other Eden
5. Study for Obedience
6. The Bee Sting

1. Prophet Song
2. This Other Eden
3. The Bee Sting
4. If I Survive You
5. Study for Obedience
6. Western Lane

1. This Other Eden
2. If I survive you
3. Western lane

1. The Bee Sting (5-)
2. This Other Eden (4+)
3. Western Lane (4=)
4. Study for Obedience (3+)
5. If I Survive You (3+)
6. Prophet Song (3=)

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...
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...

1 Study for Obedience
3 Prophet Song

1. Study for Obedience
2. Prophet Song
3. If I Survive You
4. This Other Eden
5. The Bee Sting

1. Prophet Song - 5*
2. Study for Obedience - 5*
3. If I Survive You - 4.5*
4. This Other Eden - 4*
5. Western Lane - 3*
6. The Bee Sting - 2*

1. Prophet Song
2. The Bee Sting
3. If I Survive You
4. Western Lane
5. This Other Eden
6. Study for Obedience (which I will give another go)

1. The Bee Sting
2. Western Lane
3. This Other Eden
4. Study for Obedience

I'll get around to the other two before the announcement.

I'm surprised this is shortlisted although I did enjoy it. On to the other four.

1. This Other Eden
2. Study for Obedience
3. If I Survive You
4. Western Lane

I have no idea what the judges will pick so I've listed according to my personal preference.

1. Prophet Song
2. This Other Eden
3. Study for Obedience
4. The Bee Sting
5. If I survive You
6. Western Lane

1. Study for Obedience
2. The Bee Sting
3. If I Survive You
4. Western Lane
5. Prophet Song
6. This Other Eden

The ranking numbers are from the longlist, giving an idea of how I thought the list divided into two parts.

1. This Other Eden
2. Prophet Song
3. Study for Obedience

10. The Bee Sting
11. Western Lane
12. If I Survive You

1. Prophet Song
2. The Bee Sting
3. Western Lane
4. Study for Obedience
5. If I Survive You
6. This Other Eden

1. The Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song
3. This Other Eden
4. Western Lane
5. Study for Obedience
6. If I Survive You

1. Prophet Song
2. Study for Obedience
3. Bee Sting
4. This Other Eden
5. If I Survive You
6. Western Lane

1. Prophet Song
2. The Bee Sting
3. Western Lane
4. This Other Eden
5. Study for Obedience
6. If I Survive You

1. The Prophet Song
2. This Other Eden
3. Study for Obedience
4. The Bee Sting
5. Western Lane
6. If I Survive You

1. Prophet Song
2. If I Survive You
3. This Other Eden
4. Study for Obedience
5. Western Lane
6. The Bee Sting

1. Prophet Song
2. Study for Obedience
3. This Other Eden
4. If I Survive You
5. The Bee Sting
6. Western Lane

1. The Bee Sting (10/10)
2. Study for Obedience (8/10)
3. If I Survive You (7/10)
4. This Other Eden (7/10)
5. Western Lane (6/10)
6. Prophet Song (5/10)

1. Western Lane
2. Prophet Song
3. This Other Eden
4. The Bee Sting
5. If I Survive You
6. Study for Obedience

1. Prophet Song
2 This Other Eden
3. If I Survive You
4. The Bee Sting
5. Study for Obedience
6. Western Lane

My new rankings:

The Bee Sting
This Other Eden
Study for Obedience
If I Survive You
Western Lane

I haven’t read Prophet Song yet.

1. This Other Eden
2. The Bee Sting
3. Study for Obedience
4. Prophet Song
5. Western Lane
6. If I survive You

1) The Bee Sting
2) Prophet song
3) If I survive you
4) Western Lane
5) This Other Eden
6) Study for Obedience

1. This Other Eden
2. Prophet Song
3. Study for Obedience
4. The Bee Sting
5. If I Survive You
6. Western Lane

1. Study for Obedience
2, The Bee Sting
3. This Other Eden
4. If I Survive You
5. Western Lane


I have not read Prophet Song.

1. Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song
3. if I survive you
4. this other eden
5. study for obedience
6. western lane

1. Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song
3. Study for Obedience
4. If I Survive You
5. Western Lane
6. This Other Eden

Now that I finished the Prophet Song and had time to reflect on the books, my rankings are:

This Other Eden - poetic and human, love the link to a real story
The Bee Sting - loved the different voices but too long
Prophet Song - distracting but unique writing style
Study for obedience - most original, psychological story
Western Land - quite ordinary

1. The Bee Sting
2. Prophet Song


3. Western Lane
4. If I Survive You
5. This Other Eden
6. Study for Obedience