Read novels to find conversation starters (includes Commonwealth Writers Prize regional winners)
March 25, 2008 11:40 am Prizes, What to Read, Why reading?I have been reading this years’ Booker shortlist, with a bookcrossing bookgroup. One of the books that I have enjoyed is Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People . It is the story of a town tormented by a chemical spill and the consequences for the town’s poor. The opinions of my virtual bookgroup can be read here. I thought the book was very powerful and I think it has broadened my reading experience. I suspect I wouldn’t have read it if it hadn’t have been for the list. IT si one of those novels written in a unique voice - difficult to start but rewarding to finish.
The novel is based around a real town that was devastated by chemical disaster, Khaufpur. Amazing as it sounds, I had never heard of this disaster at the time, and this book enabled me to learn a little about it. I find that lots of friends and family are quite interested in discussing the events in Khaufpur, and although the book doesn’t make me an expert, it gives me fresh conversational ammunition.
This week it was announced that Indra Sinha is the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Europe and South Asia. I think this prize is an excellent way to get to reading novels from different regions. The regional winners act as a short list for the overall prize. So here are the winners for 2008:
Africa
Best Book: Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman’s Game Peepal Tree Press
Best First Book: Sade Adeniran (Nigeria) Imagine This SW Books
Canada and Caribbean
Best Book: Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers
Best First Book: CS Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada
Europe and South Asia
Best Book: Indra Sinha (India) Animal’s People Simon and Schuster
Best First Book: Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) A Golden Age John Murray
South East Asia and South Pacific
Best Book: Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins
Best First Book: Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings University of Queensland Press
Related posts:
- Reviewing TIME Magazine’s 100 Novels
- Do you read books or blogs?
- The Big Read
- Try a crime wave: Recommendations of great crime novels by crime novellists
- Booker of Bookers 2008
