Not the Booker prize: your final judgment, please

There are seven good books to choose between this time, so you judges can start referring to ‘vintage years’ and ‘difficult decisions’ in your verdicts. Get voting!

Once again it’s time to vote for winner of the Not the Booker prize. Or almost time – first we need a quick recap of the books in the competition and the relevant rules.

My work is made harder this year, as there’s no opportunity to make jokes about the poor quality of any of the books on the list. There’s nothing as overblown and overlong as The Goldfinch, nothing as egregious as Cairo. Instead we have seven worthy titles, each offering an individual measure of ambition and interest. Which is rather dull to report on at this stage, but has made the last few months of reading an enjoyable and enriching process. Good old literature, eh?

Readers may vote for only one title at this stage – as before, changes of mind will be governed by clause four on indecision. A vote in support of one book at shortlist stage does not rule out a subsequent valid vote in support of a different book to win the Competition. Reviews may be written at any time before a vote is cast. Votes received on 12 October will not be counted.

Three readers will be selected by the Guardian to form a panel of judges from those readers who have made substantial contributions to the discussion of the shortlisted books. The process by which these readers are chosen is left studiously vague and is at the Guardian’s discretion. These judges undertake to read at least three of the six-book shortlist before the final judging meeting.

Continue reading...