The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Another Man Booker nominee, and another great read. A very interesting book, made more so in that it is one side of a long conversation over a meal between the narrator, Changez, and the American he has joined for dinner. We only hear Changez speak, and much of the tale is his story of going to university in America and working in America before, and just after, 9/11. However, there are interludes, where Changez orders food or replies to the unheard question of the stranger.

It is a melancholy story, a bit bizarre in places, and sad ... and with an ending full of possibilities ... which leaves you wondering.

I have to confess that I have never really read many Booker Award shortlisted books before ... but this year, there has been an excellent selection!

• Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate)
• The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
• Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)

So far I have read the four in red ... I have been keen to read Animal's People for some time, and if the standard of the ones I have read is anything to go by, I need to read Darkmans as well!