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Celebrating the Big Jubilee Read

The Reading Agency and BBC Arts have teamed up for the Big Jubilee Read, and we’ve celebrated the books and authors on the list who are part of the Booker family.

The campaign emphasises reading for pleasure, and one book has been chosen for each year of the Queen’s reign, with the selected titles coming from across the Commonwealth.

Suzy Klein, head of arts and classical music TV at the BBC, said: “The list of 70 books - one for each year of Elizabeth II’s reign - is a real opportunity to discover stories from across continents and taking us through the decades, books that we might never have otherwise read, and reading authors whose work deserves a spotlight to be shone on it.”

There are 21 Booker Prize winning, shortlisted and longlisted novels on the list, and a total of 31 authors from the Booker family, including past judges as well as nominated writers.

Get to know the books and authors, and come back for exclusive archive material and interviews, as well as reading guides and more.

Discover more

Why those who dismiss V.S. Naipaul as a defender of colonialism should take a closer look at his writing

V.S. Naipaul was a complex and divisive figure, regarded by some as morally suspect and politically culpable – but it’s wrong to see him as an elegist for empire

A still from Schindler's List showing a girl in a red coat

'I knew where the good stuff was': Thomas Keneally on how he researched and wrote Schindler's Ark

In writing the semi-fictional Schindler’s Ark, winner of the 1982 Booker Prize, Thomas Keneally found himself in the unique position of both author and archivist, as he explains in this exclusive video interview

How Keri Hulme’s The Bone People changed the way we read now

Violent, disturbing, poetic, striking: The Bone People by Keri Hulme is one of the most divisive novels in Booker Prize history.

Anita Desai: 'I thought the book would seem ghostly now, but it's all coming around again'

As her deeply personal 1980 novel Clear Light of Day is chosen as part of the Big Jubilee Read, Anita Desai discusses how it resonated with readers and critics, and why its themes remain relevant today.

Girl, Woman, Other

Bernadine Evaristo’s witty, dynamic and utterly irresistible novel of our times

Shuggie Bain

Explore the backstory to Douglas Stuart’s blistering debut, which won last year’s Booker Prize

Chinua Achebe

The poet, critic and novelist Chinua Achebe came to prominence in 1958 with Things Fall Apart. By 1987 and Anthills of the Savannah, he was a venerated figure.

Wolf Hall

The first volume of Hilary Mantel’s superb trilogy about the dangerous court of Henry VIII

The Handmaid's Tale

Explore the background and lasting legacy of Margaret Atwood’s feminist dystopian classic

Watch videos

The moment Damon Galgut wins the 2021 Booker Prize.

Booker Prize-shortlisted author Anuk Arudpragasm reads from ‘A Passage North’.

The 2019 Booker Prize ceremony, where the prize was shared by Bernardine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood.

Watch the full Channel 4 broadcast of the controversial 1985 Booker Prize ceremony, including interviews with the shortlisted authors and the deeply divided judges.