Goodreads announced the winners of their Choice Awards based on online voting in 20 categories. Winners include titles from Matt Haig, Brit Bennett, and Kiley Reid, all excerpted and available for download now in our Buzz Books 2020 samplers. (Haig beat Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People by only 5 votes.) Here are the category winners, sorted by vote totals: The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett (Historical Fiction, 102,626 votes) House of Earth and Blood, by Sarah J. Maas (Fantasy, 95,084 votes) Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Horror, 85,626 votes) A Promised Land, by Barack Obama (Memoir & Autobiography, 81,284 votes) The Guest List, […]
Archives for December 2020
More Best Of: Apple Books, Chicago Tribune
Apple Books announced their best books of the year: The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett 28 Summers, by Elin Hilderbrand Long Bright River, by Liz Moore Deep State, by Chris Hauty The Last Flight, by Julie Clark Reborn Yesterday, by Tessa Bailey The Roommate, by Rosie Danan The City We Became, by N. K. Jemisin Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke We Are Not Free, by Traci Chee Silver Arrow, by Lev Grossman The Velvet Rope Economy, by Nelson D. Schwartz Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, by Philippa Perry My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, by […]
People, Etc.
Anthony LaSasso has joined Steerforth Press as publicity director. He was most recently at Sterling Publishing. Jennifer Udden has left New Leaf Literary & Media to do freelance editing. Lydia Zoells has been promoted to assistant editor at MCD/Farrar, Straus. Evelyn M. Duffy, longtime researcher for Bob Woodward, is launching a her own Washington D.C.-based editing and coaching firm for nonfiction writers in 2021. Duffy has edited and coached other journalists on their books, and worked on the drafting, reporting, editing, production and marketing for Woodward’s six books since 2007. Forthcoming Bob Woodward and Robert Costa are co-writing a book […]
Barnes & Noble Has Eliminated Almost A Third of Staff
The WSJ looks at Barnes & Noble’s turnaround efforts, focusing on the standard James Daunt storyline. Deep in the piece is the news: If December sales are good, then BN’s sales will be down 20 percent for the year. “In recent months” the company laid off about 5,000 employees, “the majority of whom worked part time.” Compared to April 2019, the chain has eliminated 7,500 jobs, now employing about 16,500 people. Half of the New York-based corporate staff has been eliminated, approximately 125 people. The story also notes that prior to the pandemic, Daunt had a weekly lunch with independent […]
Briefs
People Katherine Jacobs has joined Zonderkidz as senior acquisitions editor. She was most recently at Roaring Brook Press. Ruoxi Chen has been promoted to editor at Tom Doherty Associates. Best Of Barnes & Noble’s 2020 Book of the Year is Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders. Awards Raven Leilani‘s Luster won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Camilla Townsend won the 2020 Cundill History Prize for Fifth Sun (Oxford University Press).
The First of the Best of the Best Books of 2020
It’s time for the first installment of our signature aggregation of lists from all over that yield solid, consensus lists of the very best books of the year. With about 30 “votes” counted so far, this year shows close competition for “book of the year” honors — and experience indicates that the early leaders generally prevail at the end. If Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste prevails in the final count it would quite unusual, since the consensus “book of the year” is almost always a work of fiction. For now, here’s where the overall list (combining fiction and nonfiction) stands: The Very […]