I know you’ll want to jump right into the predictions, but the ‘Booker math’ part looking at the last 10 years of longlists is my favourite part!

'i made a spreadsheet' is potentially my favourite phrase

Your videos are informative and you are so well prepared! I can clearly see that you put hours into preparing this and I appreciate it. You are thorough and clever. Your videos are my favourite BookTube videos.

I very much appreciate your spreadsheet work here 👏👏

Great video and loved that you've gone out on a (phantom?) limb with some of your choices, rather than the ones everyone is picking - a few of which had escaped my radar. This will be my 11th year in a row reading the entire longlist (assuming I make it!), and I always love the speculations. ICYMI, there was a previous book about Mary Toft by Dexter Palmer a few years back, which I read - a wild story indeed! Cheers.

This is excellent. Thank you!

Loved the degustation of maths, heuristics and surfacing biases in your predictions and admired the themes where the books slotted in. Thanks!

I love the research you did for this, Ben. I can't even imagine inputting the data from past prizes like you did and not only creating a spreadsheet, but analyzing it as you did. I'd pretty much rather be dead. But I'm so glad you're on this planet to do it for me. :) I love your picks, too. I'm hoping for a bit more diverstiy - maybe Australia/New Zealand and the Caribbean. But that Rabbit Dream book was pre-ordered quickly. Sounds amazing.

Fab work Ben, thanx so much for all that hard work - a privilege to watch. I'm halfway through Huck Finn (a reread) and will go straight to James. Hope lots of your predictions make it to the other list.

Very interesting list! I was able to learn about a few I hadn't heard of at all - I'm excited to see what you're right on.

Hi Ben. The only problem with watching other KZfaqrs channels is that it only increases the tbr. So many books and so little time! Happy reading to you.

Great video. I love the way you group them 😊 I hadn't heard of The Fertile Earth but it sounds right up my street!

Awesome prediction!! Thank you so much!!!

I can’t wait!!

You’ve upped your game this year Ben! Spreadsheets have come out to play! Love it.

The research for this! 🤩 Well done, Ben! Love your excitement about this! I hope you get at least six spot on 💪

Thanks, Ben🌷Great list!📚📚📚📚I usually select some books from the longlist, but I wait to hear what booktubers think about them first. I look forward to your reaction on July 30 and and to your reviews!😊📚

Ah! Exciting. This is a brilliant list. I’m predicting you’ve got no more than 4/12 correct 😂

Ah, I hope so many of these are on the list as I just want to read them.. Especially The Coast Road, Lost Love Songs and The Fertile Earth - so many good choices Ben!

Appreciate the analysis! Phantom Limb sounds really interesting.

Love a good spreadsheet. We can only hope they produce as interesting a list as you have. I’m hoping to read as many as I can get through my library etc. just picked up The Road to the Country and Martyr as possibilities 😅

I love this speculation stage as well. I'm hoping to see James and Blackouts on the list. Orbital is on my July TBR and I have Night Alphabet waiting, too. I usually read at least half of the long list every year. Great video!

That's an exceptionally well considered list. I'm behind in my reading this year, so I'm not sure how much I will read on the longlist this year but I'll be looking out for everyone's content.

The predictions are more fun than the prize itself. Really enjoyed this.

Some solid guesses! Would be thrilled to see many of the mentioned books on the list. Definitely gonna try to read as many as possible from the longlist if I can get my hands on them within a reasonable price

I read an ARC of the Messud. Beautiful, but so heartbreaking. I had to follow it with some P.G. Wodehouse.

I was waiting for you to mention The Night Alphabet, would have been surprised if you did not place it. I really liked it as well and think it would be an interesting addition to the long (and short?) list! Great video, appre4ciate all the work that must have gone into making this

My goodness, you put a lot of work into creating these predictions - quite impressive indeed. Given that I've not been looking at many lists this year, I hadn't heard of many of these books. However, I'm hoping your predictions prove correct because they sound fantastic.

Your approach reminded me of playing fantasy football. You pick out your players from teams that have recently done well and have themselves scored a lot of fantasy points. Then you also need to pick out some that you are taking more of a chance with, because of budget. Then come match day, and there are some big surprises. Some big players might be benched, or they don't perform. Some more unknown players from smaller teams suddenly scores two. So your list reminds me of how I feel about my fantasy team at the very start of the season: it's well researched and logical, and there's a small chance that I've hit the jackpot and get all the points, but I know that most likely there will be some surprises and some disappointments. 😅

Hurrah for spreadsheets!!!

Amazing!! I love the categories, you put in so much hard work and effort, thank you for sharing all of this with people like me who usually have absolutely zero idea what will be nominated for the Longlist. I do think James and possibly Caledonian Road will make it, currently reading CR. I'm also going to say My Friends will be nominated, I do hope so. Ah gosh I hated The Night Alphabet, sorry to disagree about a book you love so much but I just couldn't stand it. I know I'm massively in the minority though. I plan on trying to read as much of the Longlist as possible. I read it all last year and really enjoyed getting swept up in all the excitement ✨

I'm reading Orbital and am loving it! I would love to have accidentally read a future Booker Prize nom

Sounds good. I haven't read it yet, but it seems like Martyr! is getting a lot of praise this year. Seems like a Booker-y prize nomination. Haven't heard of Mary and the Rabbit Dream until now. That just soared to the top of my tbr lol.

Messud, O'Hagan and Persaud's going on the tbr regardless! Thanks Ben! 😁

5 in common! I felt for sure I would be the only one picking The Coast Road in my prediction video, I hope we're right on that one. Now if you'll excuse me, I urgently have to find a copy of that book about the rabbits.

I hope that the Booker Prize longlist is as exciting as yours is. I think you’ve picked some real contenders. But, however it turns out, I will read along. (I thought it was great fun last year.)

I like your list a lot! I’ll be a bit surprised if Praiseworthy doesn’t make it, and to a lesser degree Elif Shafak’s new one. On the other hand, I hope the jury surprises us. I agree that James seems more like a Pulitzer Prize winner…but on the other hand, it’s been such an achievement that I think it will be on the list. Yay for Orbital!

Great video. Hoping for the appearance of The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes

Yes to Booker Maths, always.

A second book about Mary Toft - I imagine she’d be delighted 😊. Did you read the previous one from 2019 titled Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen, by Dexter Palmer? Thanks for putting some interesting books on my radar!

Phantom Limb sounds so good .. and yes, I am Scottish 🙂

What a great list! The judges better get their sh!t together. 😉

Hello Ben, you mentioned The Rachel Incident... the ebook just £1 today! Might be in the Booker list

Another corker Ben. 🎉

I hope Hisham's "My Friends" wins

Invigorating and enlightening as ever. So many possibilities! Not that it really matters (although it kinda does) do any of the titles fall into the LBGTQ+ category? If you mentioned this in the descriptions, I apologize. If not, were there any runners-up that would qualify? Thanks. I'm remain impressed with your articulate erudition.

I follow so many ppl who follow the Booker prize, I'm going to dive in this year. I think a lot of the books won't be for me, but I'm going to read 25% of each book, and at that point give myself permission to dnf if I want to.

“Blurb appeal” 😂

I certainly want to read THIS entire list. I'll have to see the actual list before deciding whether to read the entire list.

Do you need to have read Huckleberry Finn in order to read James??

Already??? It feels like it was minutes ago

I really want James to be on the long list but I fear it's too American for the Booker

📚 🪱 💚

I love Lit fiction but I rarely like the Booker winners. Tooo depressing. From your descriptions of the books you picked I think you have a good chance of being right. They all sound so depressing! That said...I read James...LOVED IT!