The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Usual rules - list the longlisted books you have read or at least started in order of preference, best first, and optionally number them to predict where they will finish in your list of 6. Please do not rank books you have not read any of. One comment per person, please use edit comment to update your lists as you go. General chat here may be deleted.

These are the 6 shortlisted books from which the shortlist will be selected:

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking)
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape)
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Jonathan Cape)
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Sceptre)
James by Percival Everett (Macmillan)
Held by Anne Michaels (Bloomsbury)

FINAL LEAGUE TABLES

(i) Shortlist Rankings Only

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, James by Percival Everett, 2.41, 1.60, 44, 14, 1.32
2, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, 2.90, 1.97, 39, 10, 1.35
3, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 3.30, 2.50, 43, 5, 1.63
4, Held by Anne Michaels, 3.63, 2.80, 43, 7, 1.83
5, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, 3.78, 2.93, 40, 5, 1.75
6, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, 4.15, 3.24, 39, 4, 1.88

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, James by Percival Everett, 2.41, 80, 44, 14
2, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, 2.90, 40, 39, 10
3, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 3.30, 5, 43, 5
4, Held by Anne Michaels, 3.63, -28, 43, 7
5, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, 3.78, -36, 40, 5
6, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, 4.15, -61, 39, 4

(ii) Including longlist rankings

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, James by Percival Everett, 2.14, 1.42, 63, 27, 1.35
2, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, 2.98, 2.17, 49, 10, 1.50
3, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 3.10, 2.66, 62, 10, 1.86
4, Held by Anne Michaels, 3.35, 2.77, 60, 10, 1.91
5, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, 3.71, 2.87, 45, 6, 1.77
6, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, 3.94, 3.26, 52, 4, 2.00

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, James by Percival Everett, 2.14, 116, 63, 27
2, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, 2.98, 31, 49, 10
3, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 3.10, -2, 62, 10
4, Held by Anne Michaels, 3.35, -33, 60, 10
5, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, 3.71, -38, 45, 6
6, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, 3.94, -74, 52, 4

1 Held
2 Orbital
3 Stone Yard Devotional
4 James
5 Creation Lake
6 The Safekeep

1. Held (4.5*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2. James (4*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3. The Safekeep (3.5*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4. Stone Yard Devotional (3.5*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5. Creation Lake (3*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
6. Orbital (2.5*) - Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. James
3. Orbital
4. The Safekeep
5. Held
6. Creation Lake

1. Creation Lake (4)
2. Held (3.5)
3. The Safekeep (3.5)
4. Orbital (3.25)
5.
6. James (DNF)

1. Orbital
2. Held
3. James
4. Creation Lake
5. The Safekeep
6.

1. James
2. Creation Lake
3. Orbital
4. Held
5.
6. The Safekeep (DNF)

1.Stone Yard Devotional
2 Held
3 Orbital
4.James
5 Creation Lake
6 The Safekeep

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1. Held
2. Orbital
3. James
4. Stone Yard Devotional
5. Creation Lake (Would not have read had it not been on the longlist; would certainly not have read twice!)
6. The Safekeep (just blah for me, not at all original)

I think James or Creation Lake will win, but I wish Held would be the winner.

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. Orbital
3. Creation Lake
4. James

James 5 *
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Held - 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Creation Lake - 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Stone Yard Devotional – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Orbital - 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Safe Keep – 3.5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1. James, Percival Everett
2. Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner
3. Held, Anne Michaels
4. Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood
5. The Safekeep, Yael van der Wouden
6. Orbital, Samantha Harvey

1. James - 4.5*
My Review
2. Creation Lake - 4*
My Review
3. Stone Yard Devotional - 4*
My Review
4. Orbital - 4*
My Review
5. Held - 3.5*
My Review
6. The Safekeep - 2*
My Review

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. Orbital
3. Held*
4. Creation Lake
5. James
6. The Safekeep

* I struggled with the audio book the first time around and just wasn't sold. Since it made the short list, I am going to give it another try, so maybe the rating will change. (Or not.)

1. Creation Lake
2. James
3. Held
4. Orbital
5. The Safekeep

1 Held
2 Orbital
3 Stone Yard Devotional
4 The Safekeep
5 Creation Lake
6 James

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. James
3. The Safekeep
4. Orbital
5. Creation Lake
6. Held

1 .Orbital
2. Stone Yard Devotional
3. James
4. The Safekeep
5. Creation Lake
6. Held DNF

1. James
2. Creation Lake
3. Orbital
4. Stone Yard Devotional
5. The Safekeep
6. Held

1. Held
2. James
3.
4.
5. Orbital
6.

1, Creation Lake
2, James

1. The Safekeep
2. James
3. Held

1. Orbital
2. Creation Lake
3. James
4. Held
5. The Safekeep
6. Stone Yard Devotional

1. James
2. Orbital
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Creation Lake
5. Held
6. The Safekeep

1. The Safekeep
2. James
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Orbital
5. Creation Lake
6. Held

1. James
2. Orbital
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. The Safekeep
5. Held
6. Creation Lake

1.
2.
3. Held
4. Orbital
5.
6. Stone Yard Devotional

1. James
2. Held

1 Stone Yard Devotional
2 Held
3 Orbital

1. Orbital
2. James
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. The Safekeep
5. Held
6. Creation Lake

1. James
2. Orbital

3. Creation Lake (started interesting but lost its way, I skimmed the ending)
4. Held (confusing)
5. The Safekeep (disliked all the characters. Could have done without the pear, pips and all, line)
6. Stone Yard Devotional (boring, nuns and mice, that's all I can remember)

This was a bad year for me. Would be happy for James or Orbital to win. I didn't like the other 4.

1) James
2) Held
3) The Safekeep
4)
5) Stone Yard Devotional
6) Orbital

1. The Safekeep
2. Stone Yard Devotional
3. James
4. Held
5. Orbital
6. Creation Lake

1. James
2. The Safe Keep
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Creation Lake
5. Held
6. Orbital

I am about 3/4s through Safekeep and have finished the others, so believe I can safely do my rating of the short list. I would have no problem with any of the first five on my list winning, although I do think James is a bit too US-centric to be the Booker winner.

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. James
3. Orbital
4. Creation Lake
5. Held

6. The Safekeep

1. Creation Lake
2. Orbital
3. James
4. the Safekeep
5. Stone Yard Devotional

DNF: Held

I'm surprised by this as I was pretty sure I'd not like Creation Lake because I loathed the Mars Room. Also was sceptical about Orbital. Will give Held another chance with the audiobook.

1. James
2. Orbital (I think this will win)
3. The Safekeep
4. Stone yard Devotional
5. Creation Lake
6. Held

Honestly though, all 6 books are on the same level for me.

1. The Safekeep
2. Stone Yard Devotional
3. Held
4. James
5. Orbital
6. Creation Lake

1. Held
2. James
3. The Safekeep
4. Creation Lake

1. James
2. Stone Yard Devotional
3. Orbital
4. The Safekeep
5. Creation Lake
6. Held

.

1.
2. The Safekeep (4+)
3. Stone Yard Devotional (4+)
4.
5.
6. James (2+)

Just finished rereading all six, and have shifted my rankings of these since reading the longlist:

1. James
2. Held
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Creation Lake
5. Orbital
6. The Safekeep

I am not impressed by any. I listened to Creation Lake on Audible and it was boring - I think it was because of the narrator’s voice which is the author. I assume reading it would have been better. With that said, my rankings are:

1. Orbital - upbeat and original
2. James - at times insightful and ironic, at times boring
3. Creation Lake - curious story
4. Held - interesting concept
5. Stone Yard Devotional - just boring

I didn’t read The Safekeep

1. Stone Yard Devotional
2. Orbital

1. Stone Yard Devotional- I just found myself very moved by this.
2. James- I was a bit so-so when I read it but I found that it has stayed with me.
3. Creation Lake- competent; this is second novel that I have read by the author and I've enjoyed both
4. The Safekeep-
5. Held- perhaps less competent than Orbital but the bits that were well done were quite memorable.
6. Orbital- also competent but tried every bit of my patience and kind of forgettable

Overall, this shortlist has been rather lacklustre to me.

1. Held
2. James
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Orbital
5. The Safekeep
6. Creation Lake

(I'm not particularly excited about any of these winning this year.)

1. Stone Yard Devotional by a mile
2. James
3. The Safekeep
4. Creation Lake
And then much much further down the list
5. Orbital
6. Held

1. James
2. Orbital
3. Stone Yard Devotional
4. Creation lake
5. The Safekeep
6. Held

1. Creation Lake
2. Stone Yard Devotional
3. Held
4. Orbital
5. James
6. The Safekeep