We Have a Decision!

Our Shadow Panel picks their 2025 International Booker winner...

The final step in our reading journey together was entrusted to the reliable number sense of Paul Fulcher this year. We sent in our final rankings individually to him, and he worked out our winner. He responded to the panel yesterday with this information:

“I have everyone's votes in and we have a fairly clear winner from the votes (although Small Boat was leading until the last 2 votes came in)

• 1st On a Calculation of Volume I 57 pts

• 2nd Solenoid 49pts

• 3rd Small Boat 48pts

• 4th A Leopard Skin Hat 31 pts

• 5th Hunchback 24pts

• 6th There's a Monster Behind the Door 15pts

Four people picked On the Calculation of Volume as 1st choice (others had it 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th)

Small Boat and Solenoid were each nominated by 2 people as their 1st choice.

Rest - as the scores show - were nowhere really.”

For those of you looking at the list and thinking, “Hey, that’s not the shortlist,” please remember that it is our shortlist. The unofficial choices of our reading group.

We spent some time together this morning on Zoom to celebrate the winner, and for some, to mourn the loss of a favorite. Second readings of our list changed some opinions and cemented initial impressions for others. But as is true of our experience each year, the exercise brought us stimulating conversations about the longlist that landed in our laps. A tremendous amount of fun was had. Okay, I shouldn’t speak for everyone. I had a tremendous amount of fun. Even though the official judges forgot to include We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris.

But ahead of the official decision, we are calling On a Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland the winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize.