Honestly, none of those are on my radar, in fact I’ve never heard of any of them. This usually happens to me, but I’m open to reading something/someone new.
Unfortunately, I have read NONE of these books.
Glad to see the judges don’t read a book when they identify it’s poorly written, but have to admit I am more than a little surprised that publishers sometimes submit a book that is poorly written. This makes me appreciate all the work that goes into making Book Browse the great resource that it is!
The only one I’ve read is The Guardian and the Thief. It’s honestly the only one I had heard much about. I did enjoy it. I find it odd when these books get listed for awards before they are even published.
I, too, find it unsettling that books are nominated and/or awarded before they’re published. The “power” resides in the book award panel. How are panelists selected and by whom?
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I agree with you, @NanK and @Cheri_Mcelroy. Seems kinda backwards, doesn’t it? But it takes so long to get a book to press after it’s finished that I suppose publishers have a good feel for a book’s reception well before it hits the shelves. Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly posted their reviews of A Guardian and a Thief in July. (Look for the BookBrowse review in the November 19 issue by yours truly. 
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Loathe as I am to add more books to an overburdened (will I live long enough to read these) list I’ve just added Palaver and The Antidote. I’d not heard of Palaver, but I was already considering The Antidote. I read Swamplandia long ago, and enjoyed the weird characters who inhabited the novel.