On the nightstand: The 13 reads longlisted for the prestigious 2020 Booker Prize

The 13 titles longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize were announced on Tuesday.

First awarded in 1969, the Booker Prize is recognised as the leading prize for quality literary fiction written in English.

This year's shortlist was selected from 162 novels published in the UK or Ireland, and features *djembe roll* Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga's third book in her Tambudzai Trilogy, This Mournable Body.

Acknowledging the denouements of trilogies doesn't end there. Historical fiction author Hilary Mantel's final title in her Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror & The Light, also made the list. Mantel has been awarded the Booker Prize twice for the previous novels in the trilogy, Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012). 

The complete list of novels longlisted for the Booker Prize are:

1. The New Wilderness by Diane Cook

2. This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga

3. Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

4. Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze

5. The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel

6. Apeirogon by Colum McCann

7. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

8. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

9. Real Life by Brandon Taylor   

10. Redhead by The Side of The Road by Anne Tyler

11. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

12. Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward

13. How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang.

The shortlist — of six books — will be announced on September 15. 

The announcement of last year's winners caused a literary furor as the prize was jointly awarded to Margaret Atwood (The Testaments) and Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other) — a first in Booker history.

As for whether the same will hold true for 2020? Only November can tell.

• This article was originally published by the Sunday Times Books. Read more content like this at the Sunday Times website.