It's a long wait till October 10th, circa 2005.
That's when the hallowed Man Booker Award takes the literary world by storm or not quite - depending on who you are pitching for.
But it sure gets my excitement level up. Just like cricket buffs await the Ashes win, movie buffs await the Oscar wins, each year I wait with bated breath for the longlist, the shortlists and finally the winner, who takes it all.
Nothing special about this obsession really, except that sometimes I end up finding another marvellous read which I might have missed out on had it not been on one of these happening lists.
The longlist this year with Tash Aw in the reckoning came as a whiff of fresh air.
Tash had actually sent me a signed copy when his book came out, but our meeting was not to be - I'm still kicking myself in the foot for that one - it's a long story that I'll save for another time.
'The Harmony Silk Factory' made an impressive debut and made it to the longlist, pity though that it got ruled out of the shortlist. Similar story for Salman Rushdie's 'Shalimar the Clown'.
I haven't read the book yet, but if the recent Newsweek review is anything go by, its worth every minute of your time.
Some disappointment also for James Meek's fans. His book 'The People's Act of Love' isn't in the running any more. Similar story for biggies McEwan and Coetzee.
And so the short list is here and here's what it reads like:
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes: This is the hot favourite right now. And its all about unlikely worlds and lives that too in the 19th-century. Author Arthur Conan Doyle and solicitor George's lives are worlds and miles apart. But as the new century begins, a series of shocking events bring them together.
The Sea by John Banville: This is the story of Max Morden. He returns to the coastal town where he spent a holiday in his youth in order to escape a loss. But things take a twist as he becomes entangled in the lives of the seductive, unsettling Grace family.
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry: Tells the story of Willie and his regiment, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the divided loyalties felt by many Irish soldiers fighting in the Great War in the wake of the Easter Rising.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: It's about three students at a seemingly idyllic country boarding school. But why was the school really there? Some probing questions lead to other disturbing answers.
The Accidental by Ali Smith: Is the story of 12-year-old Astrid and her family. Their holiday is interrupted by the arrival of Amber, who turns up on the doorstep claiming her car has broken down and ends up staying.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith: Rembrandt scholar Howard Belsey has been married for 30 years to sometime activist Kiki. His eldest son falls for the daughter of a right-wing icon, and their two families, thrown together, enact a cultural and personal war against the background of real wars that they barely register.
Now the winner, not only walks with the £50,000 prize, but one of the world's most high-profile literary prizes also provides instant recognition.
Booker winners are known to move rapidly up the best seller charts worldwide and that also paves the way for regular appearances around the world at book festivals and at all events literary.
While Booker watchers keenly await the results, the critics have usually panned some of the choices in the past.
But then as we all know by now, awards whether in film or in writing are sometimes about so many other things than the sheer virtue of the writing itself.
Deepika Shetty is a Producer with Prime Time Morning and takes care of the book segment 'Off The Shelf' as well. | 
