The Greatest Books That Didn't Win the Booker Prize

Sometimes, we don't always get what we want in terms of winnings. Sometimes we're supporting a certain book and it doesn't win even after being shortlisted, and even when it is the favourite to win. Sometimes, we don't like the book that won the award and that's okay too. We don't always have to like everything, but sometimes they do go too far with it.

I really don't want to say that I would've rather have these books win the prize because then there would be no list. But I would really love for these books to have more recognition than they already do. Some of the time I think that after the Booker Prize Winner wins the award, the other books kind of get forgotten.

I would love for you to read some of these books if you can because they really don't deserve to be forgotten like they have. Of course there are hundreds of thousands of great books out there, and though the Booker Prize Winners are pretty great, the shortlisted books are pretty great too even though they didn't win.

This list is purely going to be about the shortlist, not the longlist, so sorry longlisters. I hope you enjoy this list of books that just missed out on a big win and I also hope you read some, keep them alive!

I'll mark my favourites with an (*) and talk about one or two that I really love intermittently.

20-11

20. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

19. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

18. Atonement by Ian McEwan

17. Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe*

One of my favourite novels of all time and one of my favourite movies of all time, I cannot for the life of me understand how this book didn't win the Booker Prize of its year. The book is about a transwoman in Ireland who, because she is an orphan, must look for her mother. She goes on wild adventures and, unfortunately, suffers horribly. Yet, she remains a mystic soul with an incredible sense of humour.

16. Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe

15. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

14. Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard

13. An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd

12. Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess

11. Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault

10-1

10. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul*

I remember reading this book and just sitting there thinking "My God..." This book is basically what we get when we blend something like a Marquez novel with Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It has all the incredible language and dark, fulfilling atmosphere of the two, and is quite possibly one of the best books to never win the Booker Prize.

9. The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall

8. Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller

7. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

6. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

5. Restoration by Rose Tremain

4. Arthur and George by Julian Barnes*

This is my personal favourite novel by Julian Barnes; don't argue with me, it is definitely his best piece of writing. I'm not going to lie, I read this book quite a few times before realising that it didn't win the Booker Prize. It is a brilliant novel of togetherness, human relationships, and the way in which we become connected and intertwined with each other. I'm too upset that this didn't win in its own year.

3. His Bloody Project by GM Burnet

2. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell*

Another one of my favourite books ever. This book is quite possibly one of my favourite books ever to re-read. I've re-read it around 30 times since the first time I read it in 2012, and seriously, you don't get much better than this one. About how people's lives are intertwined by something as small as a gunshot wound, a piece of music, a tattoo, etc., this book is a brilliant butterfly effect of human relationships.