I read 163 novels and these are the six best: Mary Beard on judging the Booker prize

I found being a Booker judge hugely rewarding.

All the works on our shortlist will change how you see the world • This year’s Booker prize shortlist As a Booker judge, I think I have worked harder than I have ever done before.

Reading 163 novels in six months, making careful assessments, being ready to argue for your judgment, going back to check you haven’t got it wrong … in some ways it took more energy than actually writing a book.

But it was also hugely rewarding and fun.

I shall never forget the discussions in our regular judging meetings, and the pleasure of discovering how we had sometimes reached almost exactly the same view of a book, and sometimes dramatically diverged.

There were no big newsworthy squabbles, but a lot of discussion, a lot of listening and re-reading.

When each new batch of 30 or so novels arrived at home, through the spring, I plunged in and picked them out at random (only occasionally cheating by selecting a slim volume when I felt I needed to get my total up!) But so that you have more to go on, here is a quick guide to each of the books on the shortlist – in strictly alphabetical order.

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