The Booker Shortlist is out. Read them all as soon as you can.

The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2017 has been announced, and it is already causing controversy.  There were some high-profile casualties: Zadie Smith's Swing Time fell by the wayside, as did Jon McGregor's subtle take on the mystery genre, Reservoir 13; the bookmakers' favourite, the much-heralded Underground Railroad was also rejected, causing a chief bookseller at Waterstones to describe it as one of the "greatest shocks" that he had witnessed in his lifetime.

Last year the prize was won by an American: Paul Beatty for his daring novel The Sellout; now, there are three more Americans on the list.  Was the Booker right to open the prize up to worldwide writers and the seeming dominance of American fiction, which has plenty of its own prizes?  Why don't you read '4321' (Paul Auster), Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders) and History of Wolves (Emily Fridlund) to find out? They will offer you some playful narration, multiple selves, a period in a limbo state between this world and the next, an experience of growing up in a failing religious cult, and much more.

Or why not try the work of a debut British novelist, 29-year-old Fiona Mozley who wrote Elmet on her phone during her daily commute?  Moshin Hamid is back after the success of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with his new novel, Exit West, and the celebrated Ali Smith (in the running for the fourth time) completes the line-up with her post-Brexit novel, Autumn.


You'll find them in the library, so why not check one out today? If you're someone who likes to add hardbacks to your book collection at bargain prices, why not check out The Book People's annual Booker Shortlist offer where they give you all six books for about £40?

The winner will be announced on October 17, just in time for you to spend the October Remedy deciding whether the judges got it right.