Chatty rant: Literary prizes

I failed mightily at making my point! I, too, love a good list and appreciate discovering books I otherwise wouldn't have known about. What I don't like is how books on these lists then come to dominate so many conversations.

I always enjoy a good rant. The BookTube Prize is probably the most democratic book prize.🤓 I enjoy the prize lists because they introduce me to books I would t have heard of. I rarely end up reading the winner.

It's so interesting to hear a different take on book prizes. It's no secret that I love championing the Women's Prize and the Carol Shields Prize, but that's because I recognize the importance of those prizes and the role they play in correcting a long history of women's writing going unrecognized. I've also noticed that these prizes don't claim to be putting forth the "best" books (though part of me thinks the WPs might have made that claim in years past), so we all need to retire that expectation. These days, we're seeing more lesser-known books as well as books from small publishers get longlisted, which is wonderful! These prizes can make an author's career or give an up-and-coming writer the financial security they need to write another book. [Note: The WP is 16 longlisted, 6 shortlisted. The CSP is 15 longlisted, 5 shortlisted. Given that the average person reads less than 13 books a year, 15 or 16 books is a "long" list. Hah!] I get why book prizes don't appeal to everyone, but I love how they cultivate conversation and the exchange of views on specific books. For a while, it feels like being part of the world's biggest book club. Really loved hearing your thoughts on this, Priscilla. Thanks for sharing!

I loved hearing your ideas on the prize lists and I agree with a lot of it. It is also really dependent on which books a publisher promotes and submits to the prizes, so of course there are tons of great books that aren't even considered. Personally, I wish they would wait longer after the long list to move on to short lists and winners so we had more time to read a few.

Lovely rant. You are sceptical about alternative prizes but I have found some great books through The Republic of Consciousness (small presses), Portico (North of England), Barbellion (disabled authors), Caine (African writers) and so on. There are so many books published, prizes are one way to find a way through the multitude.

Loved the rant! The only prize I really follow is the Booktube Prize which I love.

I actually agree with most of what you say here. I actually find more value in long lists and "best of" lists, especially if more than one person contributes to it.

I really like prize lists, long lists, all kinds of lists, etc. just to hear about books I might want to read. I always end up loving something that doesn't win but I feel like the winner if I find a couple of great books. That homecoming queen scandal actually did occur at my high school and it was a drama for the ages. I might mention James in my video today and you'll have to wade past it to get to the AMPS part. Deal with it! 😄

My hope is that at the end of the year I have a best of 2024 list that has 10 books that no one was really talking about! I'm half in jest. I do agree with you there are so many great books out there and at any moment in time the book tube community seems to be reading the same 10 - 20 books.

I'm so worried about the arts, and libraries and everything that connects with this government we have. It makes me so sad.

Hey Evening Reader! Good to see you. I still need to watch your last video. agree with @BookishTexan I enjoy the rant. You are so thoughtful in your rant. Makes a lot of sense. I have not jumped on the James bandwagon. I was the same way with the movie Forrest Gump. I had heard so much about it I was sick of it. I did watch it about 10 years after it came up but.... ugh. I image you saw Eric Karl Anderson's rant on Night Watch! Be well!

I don’t read brand new books or recent prize winners because I get all my books used! I’m going to restart my channel now that I’ve organized what I want to do in the next few months, so more irrelevant books to come!

A timely topic for me, as I just finished Percival Everett's Erasure. Reading is so personal and subjective. I listen to thoughts on some of the prizes, but don't really follow. As with reviews, if a book sounds interesting to me, I may note it, but often wait until the hype dies down to read it, and often don't read. The only book of Jayne Anne Phillips' that I have read is Lark and Termite, which I enjoyed. At some point, I will likely read Night Watch, the premise sounds interesting to me. Machine Dreams has been on my tbr for a while; thanks for the reminder.

I don't know if I would say five years to give it a think but I do think there should be some time between voting for winners. Sometimes I will watch a movie or read a book very quickly and I'm like I love it! But then a few days later I question things that made no sense in the book or movie and I'm questioning my initial opinion. Like awhile back I saw the movie everyone was talking about Past Lives and while it did hit me in the feels and I shed a tear or two which I NEVER do I think it played on my own personal nostalgia/unrequited love stories. But the following day I thought... sort of spoiler spoiler spoiler . . . . . I don't think they would have ever made it as a couple!! Under different circumstances maybe but in the long run they were just too different.

I’m not a competitive person so book prizes fall flat on me with the concept of one book being superior to all the others on a list. Frankly, I don’t care which book wins. However, I absolutely love that book prizes bring new titles and new authors to my attention, and for that reason, I follow numerous book prizes.

A thought-provoking discussion topic and I enjoyed hearing your thoughts!

I love book lists -- prize lists, best of the year, etc, because I'm always looking for something I may have missed. I do enjoy watching book tubers reviewing the same books & disagreeing. I think it's fun. I do agree that an arts tax is not a good idea -- probably one of the craziest ideas I've heard in a long time. Cheer up -- read what you like -- there's an endless supply of books out there!

Agree.... more time after a release to the public! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Pft... trying to tell us what's amazing before anyone we know has read the things🤔? I'm mood reading, too! Mine are big chunky mixes of fantasy and sci-fi!!! Epics... non of that romantasy... boring... YES, I want epic battles and a big bad that needs taking down... & a dragon or two would not be too much to ask for. But I'd settle for an animal companion or 3, a great cast, with young folk coming of age, and character growth, and multi-heros fighting for good, and honorable deeds, and side characters for comic relief, and a villainous villian who deserves a terrible end! There may be quests, there maybe journeys, through both beautiful and terrible lands... there may be may be laughter, and tears along the way... The nature of true fellowship in the face of a great foe! I may be planning to reread Lord of the Rings... 😂🤣😂 💙📖🥰📚☀️ Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I’ve decided against James just for that reason, and I had been looking forward to it. But that amount of popularity is an automatic deal breaker for me. Bring on the personal essays rant! 😂

Haha, let’s hope there’s a lot of angel wing flapping going on. Enjoyed the rant. I agree, winning a Pulitzer or Booker, etc. is no guarantee that each individual reader will enjoy the that title. Often winning boils down to whether the publisher has experience and resources for submitting their favored titles to the parties that be. If a book from a small press is read by and truly enjoyed by a reader influential within the publishing sphere there is a greater chance of it being reviewed by the judges. I enjoy reviewing book lists for various prizes or sales figures because it brings to my attention books I may not have heard about elsewhere. That 20% culture tax is very high. It will be especially hard on students and seniors who are on tight budgets. Always nice to see one of your videos pop up in the YT feed.