Spring Book Award News
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: Book Awards, Booklists Leave a comment »Several book awards have been announced recently. Here is an up-to-date list of the winners of a wide variety of book awards. More awards will be announced soon; I’ll update this list this summer. Brenda
Award Winning Fiction and Non-Fiction, 2012-2013
Christian Fiction Awards
Christy Awards, 2012
Contemporary: Tatlock, Ann. Promises to Keep.
Contemporary Romance: Kendig, Ronie. Wolfsbane.
Contemporary Series: Clark, Mindy Stars & Leslie Gould. The Amish Midwife.
Historical: Austin, Lynn. Wonderland Creek.
Historical Romance: Klassen, Julie. The Maid of Fairbourne Hall.
Suspense: James, Steven. The Queen.
Visionary: Stengle, Ann Elisabeth. Veiled Rose.
First Novel: Yttrup, Ginny. Words.
Horror Awards
Bram Stoker Awards, 2011
Best Novel: McKinney, Joe. Flesh Eaters.
Best First Novel: Bird, Allyson. Isis Unbound.
Literary Awards
Carnegie Medal, 2012: Enright, Anne. The Forgotten Waltz.
Man Booker Prize, 2012: Mantel, Hilary. Bring Up the Bodies.
National Book Award for Fiction, 2012: Erdrich, Louise. The Round House.
National Book Award for Non-Fiction, 2012: Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Nobel Prize for Literature, 2012: Mo Yan
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2013: Johnson, Adam. The Orphan Master’s Son.
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, 2013: Kings, Gilbert. Devil in the Grove
(for more Pulitzer awards, visit the Pulitzer website.)
Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2012: Miller, Madeline. The Song of Achilles.
Mystery Awards
Agatha Awards, 2012
Best Novel: Penny, Louise. The Beautiful Mystery.
Best First Novel: Boyer, Susan M. Lowcountry Boil.
Anthony Awards, 2012
Best Novel: Penny, Louise. A Trick of the Light.
Best First Novel: Henry, Sara. Learning to Swim.
Best Paperback Original: Hyzy, Julie. Buffalo West Wing.
Edgar Allan Poe Awards, 2013
Best Novel: Lehane, Dennis. Live by Night.
Best First Novel: Pavone, Chris. The Expats.
Best Paperback Original: Winters, Ben H. The Last Policeman.
Best Fact Crime: French, Paul. Midnight in Peking.
Romance Awards
Rita Awards, 2012
Best First Book: Jones, Darynda. First Grave on the Right.
Contemporary Series Romance: Morgan, Sarah. Doukakis’s Apprentice.
Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure: Dees, Cindy. Soldier’s Last Stand.
Contemporary Single Title Romance: Lowe, Fiona. Boomerang Bride.
Historical Romance: Bourne, Joanna. The Black Hawk.
Inspirational Romance: Miller, Serena. The Measure of Katie Calloway.
Novel with Strong Romantic Elements: O’Neal, Barbara. How To Bake a Perfect Life.
Paranormal Romance: Harrison, Thea. Dragon Bound .
Regency Historical Romance: Dare, Tessa. A Night to Surrender.
Romance Novella: Linden, Caroline. I Love the Earl.
Romantic Suspense: Robb, J.D. New York To Dallas.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Awards
Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2013
Beckett, Chris. Dark Eden.
Hugo Awards, 2012
Novel: Walton, Jo. Among Others.
Novella: Johnson, Kij. “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”, in Asimov’s, Sept./Oct. 2011.
Novelette: Anders, Charlie Jane. “Six Months, Three Days”, on Tor.com.
Best Short Story: Liu, Ken. “The Paper Menagerie”, in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2011.
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, 2012: E. Lily Yu.
Nebula Awards, 2011
Novel: Walton, Jo. Among Others.
Novella: Johnson, Kij. “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2011.
Novelette: Ryman, Geoff “What We Found,” in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011.
World Fantasy Award, 2012
Novel: Tidhar, Lavie. Osama.
Novella: Parker, K.J. “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong” in Subterranean Press, Winter 2011.
Western Awards
Spur Awards, 2012
Best Western Long Novel. Harrigan, Stephen. Remember Ben Clayton.
Best Original Paperback Novel: Boggs, Johnny. West Texas Kill.
Best Western Short Novel: Boggs, Johnny. Legacy of a Lawman.
Best First Novel: Mims, Meg. Double Crossing.
Bring Up the Bodies
Posted: April 5, 2013 Filed under: Book Awards, Book Reviews | Tags: England, historical fiction Leave a comment »
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall won a major literary award and is a memorable, rewarding book to read. Its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, might be even better. Shorter by 120 pages, it’s certainly a faster read. Both novels are about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, and both won the Man Booker Prize for best novel in English by a writer from Great Britain or the Commonwealth. Even though it’s shorter, Bring Up the Bodies has more about Cromwell’s earlier life and family, including his father the blacksmith. The storytelling is magnificent and the book is quite readable, something I don’t expect in a literary award-winning novel. I don’t know how it would be to read it without having read Wolf Hall first, but if your time is limited, jump in. When the book opens in 1535, Thomas Cromwell is secretary to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn is queen, and her daughter Elizabeth is a toddler. Anne becomes pregnant, and hopes for an heir for Henry VIII. Anne’s predecessor Katherine is in failing health. The reader knows that Elizabeth will later become queen, and that Anne Boleyn’s life will be cut short, but Mantel still makes the story absorbing, poignant, and occasionally suspenseful. Thomas Cromwell is still good company, looking to the future of his son Gregory, nephew Richard, and protégé Rafe, while doing his best for king and country. It becomes clear that Henry is also looking ahead, and hoping that quiet Jane Seymour is part of his future. A third book, The Mirror and the Light, is planned.
Brenda
Fall Book News: Recent Award Winners and Finalists
Posted: October 12, 2012 Filed under: Book Awards Leave a comment »So many book awards and finalists have been announced this fall that I’m grouping them all together. Readers will find literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, mystery, science fiction and fantasy, and books for children and young adults.
I know I’ll be looking at these lists for ideas for future book discussions.
Brenda
ANTHONY AWARDS, 2012 [Mystery]
BEST NOVEL:
Penny, Louise. A Trick of the Light.
BEST FIRST NOVEL:
Henry, Sara J. Learning to Swim.
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL:
Hyzy, Julie. Buffalo West Wing
BEST SHORT STORY:
Cameron, Dana. “Disarming” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June, 2011)
HUGO AWARDS, 2012 [Science Fiction and Fantasy]
BEST NOVEL:
Among Others, Jo Walton
BEST NOVELLA:
‘‘The Man Who Bridged the Mist’’, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 10-11/11)
BEST NOVELETTE:
‘‘Six Months, Three Days’’, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com 6/8/11)
BEST SHORT STORY:
‘‘The Paper Menagerie’’, Ken Liu (F&SF 3-4/11)
JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER: E. Lily Yu
MAN BOOKER PRIZE, 2012 SHORTLIST:
The winner will be announced October 16, 2012.
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists
Deborah Levy, Swimming Home
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies
Alison Moore, The Lighthouse
Will Self, Umbrella
Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis
NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS – 2012 FINALISTS
Winners to be Announced November 14, 2012
FICTION:
Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her
Dave Eggers, A Hologram for the King
Louise Erdrich, The Round House
Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds
NONFICTION:
Anne Applebaum, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956
Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4
Domingo Martinez, The Boy Kings of Texas
Anthony Shadid, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
POETRY:
David Ferry, Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations
Cynthia Huntington, Heavenly Bodies
Tim Seibles, Fast Animal
Alan Shapiro, Night of the Republic
Susan Wheeler, Meme
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE:
William Alexander, Goblin Secrets
Carrie Arcos, Out of Reach
Patricia McCormick, Never Fall Down
Eliot Schrefer, Endangered
Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, 2012:
Mo Yan
Mo Yan is the first Chinese writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. We will add several of his books (in translation) to our collection. Several titles by Mo Yan are available now for interlibrary loan.
Award-Winning Cookbooks
Posted: August 9, 2012 Filed under: Book Awards, Booklists | Tags: cooking Leave a comment »2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards
Book Talk tends to feature reviews and booklists of fiction and narrative non-fiction books, so I thought it was time to highlight another big part of our library’s collection: cookbooks. Here is a list of some of the best cookbooks published in 2011:
Cookbook of the Year:
Modernist Cuisine
by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet
[We do not own this 6 volume, $625 set, but have ordered the 2 volume Modernist Cuisine at Home, to be published in October, 2012.]
Cookbook Hall of Fame:
Home Cooking and More Home Cooking
by Laurie Colwin
[We don’t own these classic cookbooks from 1988 and 1993, but they are available for interlibrary loan from libraries in our area.]
American Cooking:
A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen
by Hugh Acheson
Baking and Dessert:
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home
by Jeni Britton Bauer
Beverage:
Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, & Formulas
by Brad Thomas Parsons
[Available for interlibrary loan]
Cooking from a Professional Point of View:
Modernist Cuisine
by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet
General Cooking:
Ruhlman’s Twenty
by Michael Ruhlman
Focus on Health:
Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen
by Heidi Swanson
International:
The Food of Morocco
by Paula Wolfert
Reference and Scholarship:
Turning the Tables: Restaurants and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880-1920
by Andrew P. Haley
[Available for interlibrary loan from several college libraries in Illinois]
Single Subject:
All About Roasting
by Molly Stevens
Writing and Literature:
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
by Gabrielle Hamilton
Book Awards and Controversy
Posted: April 19, 2012 Filed under: Book Awards, Booklists 1 Comment »Pulitzer Prizes were awarded this week, but no award was given for fiction, for the first time since 1977. No explanation was offered beyond the statement, “The three books were fully considered, but in the end, none mustered the mandatory majority for granting a prize, so no prize was awarded.”
The lack of award has generated a lot of controversy, especially as many people will assume the Pulitzer board decided that none of the books deserved the prize, rather than that they were deadlocked. A three member jury, headed this year by Susan Larson, read 300 novels and presented the board with three finalists. On National Public Radio, Susan said “We were all shocked. We were angry, and we were very disappointed. This is a lot of work.” She also stated that “I think we all would have been happy if any one of these books had been selected.”
Read one or more of the finalists, and decide for yourself if the judges were stumped or disappointed. The three finalists are:
Pale King, by David Foster Wallace
Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson
The 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was awarded to: A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan.
Other 2012 Pulitzer Awards:
History - Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, by Manning Marable
Biography - George F. Kennan: An American Life, by John Lewis Gaddis
Poetry - Life on Mars, by Tracy K. Smith
General Nonfiction - The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt
In other award news, finalists for two other prizes have been announced. The Orange Prize, which started in 1996, is dedicated to excellence in fiction written in English by women. The 2011 Orange prize was awarded to
The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obrecht.
The 2012 Orange Prize short list is:
Half Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan.
The Forgotten Waltz, by Anne Enright.
Painter of Silence, by Georgina Harding. This book will be published in the United States in September, 2012.
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller.
Foreign Bodies, by Cynthia Ozick.
State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett.
Nominees for the Hugo awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy are:
Best Novel
Among Others by Jo Walton
A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Deadline by Mira Grant
Embassytown by China Miéville
Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
Best Novella
“Countdown” by Mira Grant (Orbit)
“The Ice Owl” by Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction November/December 2011)
“Kiss Me Twice” by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s June 2011)
“The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s September/October 2011)
“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” by Ken Liu (Panverse 3)
“Silently and Very Fast” by Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)
Best Novelette
“The Copenhagen Interpretation” by Paul Cornell (Asimov’s July 2011)
“Fields of Gold” by Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
“Ray of Light” by Brad R. Torgersen (Analog December 2011)
“Six Months, Three Days” by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)
“What We Found” by Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2011)
Best Short Story
“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld April 2011)
“The Homecoming” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s April/May 2011)
“Movement” by Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s March 2011)
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction March/April 2011)
“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue” by John Scalzi (Tor.com)
Brenda
Award-Winning Mysteries
Posted: October 8, 2011 Filed under: Book Awards | Tags: mystery Leave a comment »The 2011 Anthony Awards were awarded at Bouchercon in St. Louis last month. The Anthony winners are voted on by all the mystery fans and authors attending the conference. The winners are:
Best Novel: Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny
Best First Novel: Damage Done, by Hilary Davidson
Best Paperback Original: Expiration Date, by Duane Swierczynski
Brenda
Nobel Prize for Literature announced
Posted: October 6, 2011 Filed under: Book Awards Leave a comment »The 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Tomas Transtromer of Sweden, a poet. Your library doesn’t own any books of his poetry yet, but we probably will soon. Visit the author’s website here for more information and a sample of his poetry.
Brenda
