The James Tait Black Memorial Prize is one of the oldest literary prizes in Britain and is given by the University of Edinburgh. I am adding the shortlist for that prize, just the fiction portion of it, to my projects, beginning in 2010 as I have done with the others.
So, here are the books that I have challenged myself to read. The winners are indicated in red (or purple, if there is a link to my review). It helps that I have already read half a dozen of them. Depending on where you look for a list, there is some difference of opinion on the numbering of the years. I have chosen to follow the numbering that the prize itself uses.
Note: I decided to begin a different project and close this one out in August 2023. My plan is to continue to read the books I haven’t read yet but then not continue with the next year.
2010
Strangers by Anita Brookner
The Children’s Book by A. S. Byatt
Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Selected Works of T. S. Spivett by Reif Larsen
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2011
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
La Rochelle by Michael Nath
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
2012
Solace by Belinda McKeon
Snowdrops by A. D. Miller
You and Me by Padgett Powell
There but for the by Ali Smith
2013
The Panopticon by Jenny Fagan
The Big Music by Kirsty Gun
Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner
The Deadman’s Pedal by Alan Warren
2014
Harvest by Jim Crace
Benediction by Kent Haruf
The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner
All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
2015
Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas
2016
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
You Don’t Have to Live Like This by Benjamin Markovits
2017
A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
The Lesser Bohemians by Eimer McBride
The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan
2018
American War by Omar Al Akkad
White Tears by Hari Kunzru
First Love by Gwendolyn Riley
Attrib and Other Stories by Eley Williams
2019
Murmur by Will Eaves
Sight by Jessie Greengrass
Crudo by Olivia Laing
Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
2020
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman
Travelers by Helon Habila
Sudden Traveler by Sarah Hall
Girl by Edna O’Brien
2021
Alligator & Other Stories by Dima Alzayat
The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
LOTE by Shola von Reinholdt
2022
English Magic by Uschi Gatward
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
A Shock by Keith Ridgway
Memorial by Bryan Washington
2023
Bitter Orange Tree by Jokha Alharthi
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Bolla by Pajtim Statovci
After Sappho by Shelby Wynn Schwartz
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