Booker prize 2025: the six shortlisted books, reviewed by experts

By Sojin Lim, Reader in Asia Pacific Studies, Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies, University of Lancashire
Adam Roberts, Head of Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Jenni Ramone, Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Global Literatures, Nottingham Trent University
Ruvani Ranasinha, Professor of Global Literatures, King's College London
Stevie Marsden, Lecturer in Publishing, Edinburgh Napier University
Tory Young, Associate Professor in Department of English Literature, Anglia Ruskin University

From 150 titles to a longlist of 13, six novels have been shortlisted for the 2025 Booker prize. Our academics review the finalists ahead of the announcement of the winner on November 10.

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits

Middle-aged Tom waits 12 years to keep his promise to leave his unfaithful wife when their youngest child starts college, then embarks on a roadtrip across an American landscape both vivid and commonplace.

Tom recounts the journey and his memories, his voice…

Read complete article

~	Not just dreams, but rights: Social justice in focus at Doha summit

~	Canadian universities must do more to ensure their branded clothing isn’t made in sweatshops

~	Hidradenitis suppurativa: the painful skin condition that can hide in plain sight

~	Children’s books feature tidy nuclear families – but the animal kingdom tells a different story

~	Why even pro-climate action organisations may pull in different directions

~	Vaping might seem safer than smoking but your heart could tell a different story

~	Three reasons why so many economists disagree with Donald Trump’s tariffs

~	How to cook the perfect pasta – we used particle accelerators and reactors to discover the key

~	Rural Devon cuisine has a rich history – from the origins of cream teas to squab pie

~	What if the path to ending fossil fuels looked like the fight to end slavery?