“The Times’ book staff offers 50 picks in fiction and nonfiction, as well as asking its online columnists to weigh in with their choices in mysteries, science fiction, children’s and more.”LAT In London, the Sunday Times has also posted their books of the year package. They name Toni Morrison’s A MERCY as novel of the year.Times And in Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King lists his ten (or so) favorite reads and emphasizes the value that books deliver: “Books are still the best bang for your entertainment buck, and 2008 was a great year for reading. Below are my personal best for […]
Awards
January 2009 Indie Next List
Beat the Reaper: A Novel by Josh BazellSing Them Home by Stephanie KallosThe Little Giant of Aberdeen County: A Novel by Tiffany BakerTwo Rivers: A Novel by T. GreenwoodStill Alice: A Novel by Lisa GenovaThe Book of Unholy Mischief: A Novel by Elle NewmarkA Day and a Night and a Day: A Novel by Glen DuncanBone by Bone by Carol O’ConnellShelter Me by Juliette FayTinkers by Paul HardingCouch by Benjamin ParzybokNever Tell a Lie: A Novel of Suspense by Hallie EphronThe Piano Teacher: A Novel by Janice Y.K. LeeDaemon by Daniel SuarezMiles From Nowhere by Nami MunGoing to See the […]
Awards: Longlist for Best Translated Book of 2008
Open Letter has posted a list of 25 contenders for the best translated book of 2008 (into English), which makes a fine guide to recently-published literature from around the world. Ten finalists will be named in late January 27, with the winning titles announced on February 19th at a party at the Melville House offices.Open Letter
NYT's Top Ten–A Near-Sweep for Random; USAT Gift Picks
The paper has announced their ten best books of 2008, which looks a lot like a Knopf catalog: FictionDANGEROUS LAUGHTER, by Steven Millhauser (Knopf)A MERCY, by Toni Morrison (Knopf)UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf)NETHERLAND, by Joseph O’Neill (Pantheon)2666, by Roberto Bolano (FSG) NonfictionTHE FOREVER WAR, by Dexter Filkins (Knopf)NOTHING TO BE FRIGHTENED OF, by Julian Barnes (Knopf)THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING, by Drew Gilpin Faust (Knopf)THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS, by Patrick French (Knopf)THE DARK SIDE, by Jane Mayer (Doubleday) Separately, USA Today has a guide to holiday books in multiple categories. Among “bestsellers,” the top “critic’s pick” is Dennis […]
UK Prize for The Rest Is Noise
A prize a day keeps the blues away. This time last year Alex Ross’s THE REST IS NOISE was making multiple Top 10 lists in the US and now it is the “the clear and undisputed winner” of the Guardian First Book Prize in the UK. Guardian literary editor Claire Armitstead, said: “In some quarters this book has been seen as not having a popular appeal. Our prize – which, uniquely, relies on readers’ groups in the early stages of judging – proves that, on the contrary, there is a huge appetite among readers for clear, serious but accessible books.”Guardian
People and Awards: $1 Mil "American Nobel"; Telegraph Editor Let Go
Two historians–Princeton’s Peter Robert Lamont Brown and Romila Thapar, emeritus professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University–will share the Library of Congress’s $1 million Kluge Prize. The award “honors lifetime achievement in studies not covered by the Nobel, including history, philosophy, politics, anthropology, sociology, religion, criticism in the arts and humanities, and linguistics.” Brown, called among “the greatest historians of the last three centuries,” is best-known for his book The World of Late Antiquity (Norton) and The Rise of Western Christendom (Wiley-Blackwell), while Thapar’s A History of India (Penguin) and Early India (U.of California Press “were breakthrough works, replacing a static view […]