Weekly Wrap Up 14 – 20 April 2020 + Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Prediction

Hello readers!

I am blessedly on vacation! It’s a beautiful, sunny week so far and I’m happy to spend time relaxing and reading on the balcony, trying out new recipes and petting the cat. It’s been a productive reading week, with finally finishing The Mirror and the Light (review to come!) and being able to finish Red at the Bone in one day, so now I’ve read 7 of 16 longlisted books for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, DNF-ed 1, won’t read 2, and I’m 1/3 or so into another one. Not so many left to read – it’s pretty exciting to be moving forward!

The shortlisted books for the WP comes out tomorrow! I have failed miserably in reading the books for it on time, but I have no regrets. This year’s longlist was not very exciting to me and I am glad I decided not to read the entire list, but rather focus on the books that actually interested me. I’ve read many reviews, and feel quite confident in predicting which books will make it to the shortlist.

My prediction for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 Shortlist is:

 

1. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
2. How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
   
3. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
   
4. Actress by Anne Enright 
5. Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell
6. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
   

I think it’s not an exciting list, but the entire longlist was at best lackluster, so… *shrug* I don’t feel particularly guilty for guessing at a rather boring list (but a good one! I loved all those books, except for Hamnet, which I haven’t read yet. It’s just that there’s so little variety and NEW things).

Other bloggers’ predictions:

Callum McLaughlin – Reading the Women’s Prize Longlist | Wrap Up, Wish list & Shortlist Predictions

Laura Tisdall – Predictions for the Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist, 2020

Gil Reads Books – Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020: Reflections and Shortlist Predictions

All these posts are amazing, definitely check them out! I’m not-so-surprised to see that a few of the books are making it to every prediction so far. They’re really good: The Mirror and the Light, Girl, Woman, Other and How We Disappeared seem to be pretty solid contenders!

Weekly Wrap Up

The King of Crows by Libba Bray / Goodreads Ongoing

I kind of can’t believe I’m still reading this! I swear I really like it, I just don’t seem to find much time for audiobooks – I prefer doing my chores listening to a podcast or a Youtube video, somehow the shorter reads just suit me better for the task. But I will try!

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel / Goodreads 4 stars, Review to come

I am done! Can’t believe it took me so long to read it, but here we are. I adored this. Getting immersed into the intrigue, scheming and backstabbing of Cromwell’s world was quite a ride, and I loved this book.

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes / Goodreads Ongoing 

Okay, I am REALLY enjoying this. Which is completely unexpected, because I thought it would be much like Silence of the Girls – a good read, but ultimately not for me and feeling a bit like a chore. But no – this is exactly what I thought I was getting into when I started Silence of the Girls, and is such a delight.

Beach Read by Emily Henry / Goodreads Ongoing

I started this last week and so far it’s fun! I have seen some reviews saying that this is an amazing read, not only fluff but also bringing lots of character depth, so I look forward to picking it up again once I’m done with A Thousand Ships!

What did you read this week?