The Booker Prize long-list 2019 of 13 books was published yesterday and the question is, as always, where to start, if at all…We’ve reviewed a few of them and thought we’d share our views. The big unknown – although entirely unsurprising – entry is The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s much-anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, out in September. The Booker judges, bound by strict non-disclosure agreements, can’t say a word about what happens in the book, so we’ll have to take their word for it.

Other heavy-hitters made it as well such as Salman Rushdie and his new novel Quichotte, inspired by, you guessed it, Don Quixote, due to be published in August. Set in contemporary America, a salesman falls in love with a TV star. Expect a critique of current day US. Jeanette Winterson’s Frankisstein, another re-interpretation (a trend that seems to persist; are authors running out of ideas?), this time of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Lanny by Max Porter made it as well. A book about the disappearance of a little boy which we’re read and liked, although not as much as his debut Grief is the Thing With Feathers. Eco-dystopian novel The Wall by John Lanchester made us think, which can’t be a bad thing. Whether or not it will win, is another matter.

Of the remaining eight we thought three-time nominated Deborah Levy’s The Man Who Saw Everything looked interesting, although we have to wait until August to find out. We certainly loved Hot Milk  Perhaps it’s her turn this time?

Here’s the rest of the pack. Which one will you pick?

• Kevin Barry – Night Boat To Tangier
• Oyinkan Braithwaite – My Sister, The Serial Killer
• Lucy Ellmann – Ducks, Newburyport
• Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other
• Chigozie Obioma – An Orchestra Of Minorities
• Elif Shafak – 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World