Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Hello! I’m Bob, and as part of my project to read all of the shortlisted books from across the Booker Prize’s history, here are my favourites from the 2000s.

There are plenty of great books I could have included, but I had to draw the line somewhere!

Enjoy, and let me know your favourites!


Contents:

00:00 Introduction and Context
03:19 Ian McEwan- Atonement (2001)
06:29 Carol Shields- Unless (2002)
08:22 William Trevor- The Story of Lucy Gault (2002)
10:27 Sarah Waters- Fingersmith (2003)
12:37 Monica Ali- Brick Lane (2003)
15:17 Zoë Heller- Notes on a Scandal (2003)
17:46 Gerard Woodward- I’ll Go To Bed At Noon (2004)
20:02 Kazuo Ishiguro- Never Let Me Go (2005)
21:56 Zadie Smith- On Beauty (2005)
23:48 Ali Smith- The Accidental (2005)
26:39 Ian McEwan- On Chesil Beach (2007)
29:57 JM Coetzee- Summertime (2009)
32:55 End Chatter and Discussion


Honourable Mentions:

Julian Barnes- Arthur and George
Sebastian Barry- A Long Long Way
Mohsin Hamid- The Reluctant Fundamentalist
MJ Hyland- Carry Me Down
Kazuo Ishiguro- When We Were Orphans