 Hi everyone, a big welcome or welcome back to my channel. It is that time of the year again, people, women's prize time, and this year we have doubled the women's prize action. I was 2024, saw the launch of the women's prize for non-fiction, as well as the women's prize for fiction. It was a moment. Today I thought we could just chat all things, women's prize, my thoughts on both of the long lists. We'll talk about my reading plans, the books I'm most excited for, any disappointments as well. I would love to hear your guys' thoughts on both of these lists. Please do chat to me about them down below. Are you a big women's prize fan? If so, how do you feel about the launch of the non-fiction list? Will you be following? Do you care? I'm definitely let me know which books you're most excited to read on the list. So starting with the non-fiction list. The long list of 16 books was announced in February. The short list was just announced. It focuses on narrative non-fiction and it is open to all women writers around the globe who were published in the UK in English last year. The prize is said to showcase women's experience across a range of fields, promoting excellence in writing, robust research, accessibility, and originality in narrative voice. So generally, I am excited about the launch of this prize. I think having such an established, influential, well-loved women's prize, highlighting non-fiction as well, is really great. I think it could be really powerful. I'm definitely here for it. This year's list in particular, I do have mixed feelings about. There are certainly some books on here that have caught my eye, that I will be reading. There are also a lot of books on here that I feel pretty meh about. Call me cynical, but this list does somewhat feel as though it's leaning towards being a bit of a box ticking exercise. The prize is set out to showcase women's experience across a range of fields, and it truly did hit all of the fields that you would expect it to. I honestly feel like so many book prizes are doing this nowadays, and it's tricky. I totally understand that we want to cover a broad range of topics we want to represent and appeal to a whole range of readers, but it does sometimes feel as though the decision making for these lists is more based around these reasons, rather than picking the most excellent 16 books. Call me out in the comments if you disagree. So to the list, we have three books in particular that I am interested in and that I will hopefully be reading soon. The first is Intervals by Marianne Brooker, published by the incomparable Fitzcarraldo editions. As soon as I saw a Fitzcarraldo book on the list, it went straight to the top of mind. This is a memoir exploring the author's experience with her mother's diagnosis of MS and her ultimately choosing to die on her own terms. It apparently raises essential questions about choice and interdependence and the nature of care. This is a topic I'm highly interested in. It's a topic I think about a lot, so I'm really interested in this one. Next we have Matricence by Lucy Jones, published by Alan Lane. From an acclaimed journalist, this is said to be a radical examination of the transition into motherhood. A psychological, physiological, social, and philosophical examination highlighting the profound and enduring changes that aren't often brought to light. There are a lot of books exploring this topic at the moment. On the surface, this one definitely interests me. I like the sound of it coming at the topic from various different angles. Finally from this list, we have A Flat Place by Noreen Massoud, published by Hamish Hamilton. This is another memoir in which the author undertakes a pilgrimage around the flat landscapes of Britain, seeking solace and belonging as she tries to heal the bare haunted expanse that has been left behind by her childhood trauma. The premise of this one really intrigues me. I'm seeing so many good things about it, and it's also been receiving critical acclaim on other book lists too. So that's my two cents on the non-fiction prize. I'm genuinely really interested to hear about the people's thoughts on the list. Are you going to be working your way through it? Please let me know. And now for the fiction. This year's long list was announced a couple of weeks ago. It's always a fun time, it's always exciting seeing what has been picked. Inevitably I end up feeling really excited about a few perplexed and indifferent about quite a lot, and also pissed off that some of my recent favourites didn't make the cut. This year my general thoughts were... that. I think this year's list has come as quite a surprise to a lot of people. I had my own predictions, I watched a lot of other prediction videos, and the vast majority of the books on this list were not predicted by anyone. On this list I have read one book. A couple were already on my radar to potentially read soon, and now another couple have caught my eye. So I've already read The Wren, The Wren by Anne Onright. I love Anne Onright, she is masterful, a true women's prize darling. I read this book by her earlier in the year. It isn't my favourite novel by her by any stretch, but I'm not surprised to see it on the list. As for the other books that I'm excited to read, first up we have Western Lane by Chetna Maru, published by Picador. This is a coming-of-age novel about a young girl who is a squash player, yes, who is coached by her father when her mother passes away. It is a debut that is said to explore grief and sisterhood and the immigrant experience. Something about this one has just really intrigued me. Next up is Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan, published by Vintage. This is set in the 1990s on a London estate when a young girl is found dead, and all fingers point towards a reclusive Irish family with protagonist Carmel at the heart of it. I love the sound of this one, I love the sound of the focal point, the secret shrouded family. Hoping this one is going to be really good. I'm also interested in, and then she fell by Alicia Elliott. Delighted to see a book by Atlantic Books on the list. I love this indie publisher. It follows a new young mum who has a charming husband, a wealthy, gorgeous neighbourhood, you know the drill, when strange things start to occur. This is supposed to be darkly funny. It is infused with Native American myths and legends. It sounds great and very me. And lastly, we have Enter Ghost by Isabella Hamad, published by Vintage. This is one I have been hearing quite a lot of buzz about. It follows a female protagonist who returns to her homeland Palestine after a disastrous love affair where she joins a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. This one is getting amazing reviews, so I'm quite excited to try it myself and see how I find it. So those are my reading plans for the list. Of course, I must mention a couple of books that aren't on the list that should have been. Firstly, Breakdown by Claire Sweeney, a short introspective, flowy novel set in Dublin following a middle-aged, middle-class woman as she spontaneously walks away from her life. Secondly, Learned by Heart by Emma Donahue, a sweeping 1800s historical novel, a fictionalised account of Ann Lister as she experiences her first love while attending a manor school in York. Okay, I think I will leave it there. Those are my thoughts and plans for this year's Women's Prize lists. I will of course keep you updated with my reading as I go. I also put out more regular reading updates on Twitter if you don't follow me there and would like to. There's always a link in the description box. Please do chat to me down below, let me know all of your thoughts. How strong are the lists? What are you going to read? Thank you so much for watching, everyone. I really do appreciate it. I hope you're all well and enjoying the start of Spring. I will hopefully see you very soon in another video. Bye.