The Essential Booker Prize Reading List
As we celebrate the 2026 International Booker Prize win of Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shūang- zǐ along with the nomination of John of John by Douglas Stuart and The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley for the Booker longlist, here’s a peek at our Booker-blessed books from the past few years.
On the 2026 Booker Prize Longlist
John of John
by Douglas Stuart
‘You finish the novel feeling emotionally enriched and slightly bereft at leaving its characters behind’ - The Sunday Times
'This book is special' - Colm Tóibín
'Brilliant and rare' - Ann Patchett
John of John follows John-Calum Macleod as he returns home to the Isle of Harris broke and empty-handed after art school. Back on the family croft, he finds himself torn between his traditional Presbyterian weaver father and his Glaswegian grandmother, all while seeking his own place in a tight-knit Scottish community. A heart-wrenching story of a young man returning home to an entangled string of expectations from his family.
The Palm House
by Gwendoline Riley
‘This goes straight onto my list of favourite modern novels’ – The Times
‘Mesmerising . . . confirms Riley as one of Britain’s best’ – The Telegraph
‘A slim, impeccably controlled story that contains multitudes’ – The Guardian
The Palm House follows the deep friendship between Laura and Putnam as they navigate personal loss, career upheavals, and the quiet weight of their pasts in London. Sharp, witty, and deeply poignant, Gwendoline Riley’s novel explores how two people attempt to pull each other back as life begins to unravel.
2026 International Booker Prize Winner
Taiwan Travelogue
by Yáng Shuāng- zǐ
'With sumptuous food writing, laugh-out-loud dialogue and metafictional twists, this novel was impossible to put down. Taiwan Travelogue pulls off an incredible double act: it succeeds as both a delicious romance and an incisive postcolonial novel’
The International Booker Prize 2026 judges
On the 2024 Longlist
JAMES
A 'Book of the Year' in The Observer, The Times & Sunday Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Spectator, New Statesman, Independent, TLS, The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, i newspaper, The Economist, The Irish Times, The New York Times, TIME and The New Yorker
'Who should read this book? Every single person in the country' – Ann Patchett
'My favourite novel this year' – Salman Rushdie
Headshot
by Rita Bullwinkel
A Book of the Year for the New York Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Times, NPR, Elle and Vulture*
One of Barack Obama's Favourite Reads of Summer 2024
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction Best Debut
‘Explosive’ Guardian
‘An absolute knock-out . . . Excellent’ Daily Telegraph
‘An ambitious, exciting debut. You emerge from it sweaty, pummelled and ready for your next fight’ Times
The Booker Backlist!
A look at our Booker-blessed books from the past few years
