NPR's ~200 reader picked best summer reads

Many of you told us you just can't wait until July 29 — when we unveil the results of the 100 Best Beach Books vote — to start reading. So here's the complete list of around 200 finalists, nominated by you and the NPR Books Board. Happy reading!

Have read 68 of the 200 = 34%! (as of 0809)

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Affinity by Sarah Waters
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
The Beach by Alex Garland
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Beginner's Greek by James Collins
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostyevsky

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
Compromising Positions by Susan Isaacs
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Divided Kingdom by Rupert Thomson
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Drifters by James Michener
Drop City by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Dune by Frank Herbert

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Epicure's Lament by Kate Christensen
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Frangipani by Celestine Vaite
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Barrows

The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Jaws by Peter Benchley
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
Lamb by Christopher Moore
The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn
The Last Girls by Lee Smith
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Light Years by James Salter
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Little Children by Tom Perrotta
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Lush Life by Richard Price

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy by Robert Leleux
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Money by Martin Amis
Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle
Pet Semetary by Stephen King
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

The Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Quincunx by Charles Palliser

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

Salty by Mark haskell Smith
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Shining by Stephen King
Shogun by James Clavell
Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
The Stand by Stephen King
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
Straight Man by Richard Russo
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Summer of '42 by Herman Raucher
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Triple Zeck: A Nero Wolfe Omnibus by Rex Stout
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Related NPR Stories

100 Best Beach Books Ever: Final Voting July 15, 2009

Nielsen BookData NZ Bookseller's Choice Award (2009)

Rita Angus: An Artist's Life by Jill Trevelyan, published by Te Papa Press, has won the 2009 Nielsen BookData NZ Bookseller's Choice Award, which is the title booksellers voted as the book they most enjoyed selling during the year.

Organizers described Rita Angus: An Artist's Life as "the first biography of this well-loved and significant New Zealand artist . . . a pioneer of modern painting during the 1930s and 1940s who went on to become one of New Zealand's leading 20th century artists." The book has more than 150 artworks and photographs.

Macavity Awards (1987-2008)

The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The award is given in four categories -- best novel, best first novel, best nonfiction, and best short story. In recent years a new award, the Sue Feder Historical Mystery, has been given in conjunction with the Macavity Awards.

Best Mystery Novel

* 2008 - What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman
* 2007 - The Virgin of Small Plains, Nancy Pickard
* 2006 - The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly
* 2005 - The Killing of the Tinkers, Ken Bruen
* 2004 - The House Sitter, Peter Lovesey
* 2003 - Winter and Night, S. J. Rozan
* 2002 - Folly, Laurie R. King
* 2001 - A Place of Execution, Val McDermid
* 2000 - The Flower Master, Sujata Massey
* 1999 - Blood Work, Michael Connelly
* 1998 - Dreaming of the Bones, Deborah Crombie
* 1997 - Bloodhounds, Peter Lovesey
* 1996 - Under the Beetle's Cellar, Mary Willis Walker
* 1995 - She Walks These Hills, Sharyn McCrumb
* 1994 - The Sculptress, Minette Walters
* 1993 - Bootlegger's Daughter, Margaret Maron
* 1992 - I.O.U., Nancy Pickard
* 1991 - If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O, Sharyn McCrumb
* 1990 - A Little Class on Murder, Carolyn Hart
* 1989 - A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman
* 1988 - Marriage is Murder, Nancy Pickard
* 1987 - A Taste for Death, P. D. James

Best First Mystery

* 2008 - In The Woods, Tana French
* 2007 - Mr. Clarinet, Nick Stone
* 2006 - Immoral, Brian Freeman
* 2005 - Dating Dead Men, Harley Jane Kozak
* 2004 - Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
* 2003 - In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming
* 2002 - Open Season, C. J. Box
* 2001 - A Conspiracy of Paper, David Liss
* 2000 - Inner City Blues, Paula L. Woods
* 1999 - Sympathy for the Devil, Jerrilyn Farmer
* 1998 - Dead Body Language, Penny Warner
* 1997 - Death in Little Tokyo, Dale Furutani
* 1996 - The Strange Files of Fremont Jones, Dianne Day
* 1995 - Do Unto Others, Jeff Abbott
* 1994 - Death Comes as Epiphany, Sharan Newman
* 1993 - Blanche on the Lam, Barbara Neely
* 1992 - (tie) Murder on the Iditarod Trail, Sue Henry
and Zero at the Bone, Mary Willis Walker
* 1991 - Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell
* 1990 - Grime and Punishment, Jill Churchill
* 1989 - The Killings at Badger's Drift, Caroline Graham
* 1988 - The Monkey's Raincoat, Robert Crais
* 1987 - (tie) The Ritual Bath, Faye Kellerman and A Case of Loyalties, Marilyn
Wallace


Sue Feder Historical Mystery

* 2008: Mistress of the Art of Death, Ariana Franklin
* 2007: Oh Danny Boy, Rhys Bowen (added#1 Murphy's Law)
* 2006: Pardonable Lies, Jacqueline Winspear (added#1 Maisie Dobbs)

Egon Hostovský Prize (1976-2000 incomplete)

In the United States, Egon Hostovský worked for Radio Free Europe but never stopped being a full-time Czech writer. He never mastered the English language and all his novels had to be translated from Czech which was one of the reasons he never became a star novelist in the United States. Meanwhile, Egon Hostovský's novels were banned in Czechoslovakia. One of his most important books, “Všeobecné spiknutí”, or “The Plot”, did get published in Prague in 1969, in the aftermath of the brief period of liberalization known as the Prague Spring. Egon Hostovský never visited his native country again, and died in New Jersey in 1973. A year later, his wife Regina established the Egon Hostovský Award, a literary prize for proscribed Czech writers which was awarded to such Czech authors as Ludvík Vaculík, Ivan Klíma, Egon Bondy and others.

Topol, Jáchym. Sister City Silver (2000)
The first novel by the young Czech poet and rock lyricist Jáchym Topol. Winner of the Egon Hostovský Prize as best Czech book of the year.

Berková, Alexandra. Magorie (1991)
won the Egon Hostovsky Prize as the best Czech book of the year.

Klíma, Ivan. My First Loves (1990)
won the Egon Hostovský Prize for best prose work of the year in 1990 (the first time it could be awarded in Prague)

Kresadlo, Jan (pseud for Vaclav Pinkava). GraveLarks (1984)
was published by Josef Škvorecký's emigre publishing house '68 publishers, and obtained the 1984 Egon Hostovský prize.

Grusa, Jiri. The Questionnaire: Or Prayer for a Town and a Friend. (1979)
The novel was the winner of the 1979 Egon Hostovsky Prize for best piece of Czech fiction published abroad.

Salivarová, Zdena. Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down (1976)
Awarded the Egon Hostovský Memorial Prize for best Czech fiction written in exile, 1976.

Rachel Carson Environment Book Award (2008-2009)

SA 072409: Andrew Nikiforuk's Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent has won the $10,000 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, presented by the Society of Environmental Journalists. Nikiforuk, the first Canadian to win the prize, will be honored during an awards ceremony in the Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club in Madison, Wis., on October 7, the first day of SEJ’s 19th annual conference.

From Society of Environmental Journalists:

1st Place:
Andrew Nikiforuk. Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent

Andrew Nikiforuk paints an alarming picture in northern Alberta, Canada: International oil companies clear cut huge swaths of boreal forest, rake off the boggy soil, scoop up giant shovelfuls of oil sands with the largest machines on earth and use copious amounts of boiling water to separate tarry bitumen from the sand so it can be turned into petroleum for your car in Kansas. The toxic residue that comes off the sands is stored behind gigantic dikes that leak, and downstream people and fish are sick. In his authoritative new book “Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent,” Nikiforuk illustrates how an industry born in the 1960s has already industrialized an area larger than Florida. Nikiforuk shows that government agencies kowtow to industry, and that its models for monitoring environmental degradation are dubious. He found credible voices that question the sustainability of an explosively growing industry whose lifeblood is fresh water, an industry with holding ponds that rival, by volume, some of the largest dams on the globe. Until the 1970s, Chipewyan and Cree Indians lived off this rich land with no gas, electricity, telephone or running water. Today, Alberta is becoming the Saudi Arabia of the West. Foreign nationals easily outnumber locals, and the labor and housing shortages make Fort McMurray one of the most expensive places to live in the world. As oil reserves dwindle worldwide, this book sheds frightening new light on the future of energy.

Honorable Mention (two, in alphabetized order by author’s last name):

David Michaels. Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health

Some books carry weight for the specific stories they tell. Others stand out for the clarity they bring to many, many stories. Doubt Is Their Product is one of the latter — a clarifying analysis of the strategies corporations, politicians and their allies use to defend dangerous products against damning science and common sense. Michaels focuses particularly on the tobacco industry, where the strategy of sowing doubt about clear science was first perfected, and on environmental hazards including asbestos, lead and vinyl chloride. But the strategies of doubt and confusion he exposes are prevalent in every scientific “debate,” from the human role in climate change to the reality of evolution. Writing as an epidemiologist, and from his personal experience as an Energy Department regulator for environment, safety and health in the Clinton Administration, Michaels brings a rare level of depth and credibility to his analysis. More important, he also offers direct, practical approaches to combating the problem of manufactured doubt in legal and policy decisions. Doubt Is Their Product will be a revelatory experience for anyone interested in the environment or in corporate regulation, and an invaluable tool for environmental journalists seeking to penetrate behind the veils of secrecy and obfuscation that surround so many environmental stories.

Nancy A. Nichols. Lake Effect: Two Sisters and a Town's Toxic Legacy

One problem with environmental books is that they are often difficult to read. The language is technical, the list of toxics is long, and the warnings are impersonal. If you put down the book for the above reasons, the message is lost. Nancy Nichols makes the book very personal with her history of childhood along the polluted shores of Lake Michigan with her sister Sue. We care about the list of toxics in the water because she convinces us that it lies behind the cancer that killed her sister and eventually turned her own body against her. We care about these two women and what happened to them because the author makes them real, not cardboard cutouts for us to cluck over and then forget. “I cried for my sister. I cried because I didn’t think I could have children. I cried because I was afraid that if I did have children I would die of ovarian cancer when they were little or that I would pass on this horrible disease to them, or both.” That’s hardly impersonal, and it sure isn’t technical language. And yet, Nichols’ skills as a journalist allow her to investigate the history of pollution in the lake, particularly as it affects her home town of Waukegan, Illinois. She kicks butt and names names, in both industry and government. It’s a powerful story about the devastating effect of chemicals in our environment, told in a way that makes us all care.

2008 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award
1st Place:
Callum Roberts. The Unnatural History of the Sea

Honorable Mention: 2008 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award
Alan Weisman.The World Without Us

Honorable Mention: 2008 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award
Peter Heller. The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals

New PEN/Pinter Prize

from SA 072209:
Awards: New PEN/Pinter Prize
Honoring a "British writer who shows exemplary 'engagement with the times,'" the new PEN/Pinter prize, named in honor of the late Harold Pinter, will be given annually by English PEN "to reward a writer who casts an 'unflinching, unswerving' gaze upon the world, and who shows a 'fierce intellectual determination . . . to define the real truth of our lives and our societies,'" the Guardian reported.

The winner will receive £1,000 (US$1,645), and £1,000 will be given "to an imprisoned writer of conscience of their choice, selected in consultation with English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee," according to the Guardian. The initial prize, to be presented on October 14 at the British Library, will be judged by Pinter's widow, Antonia Fraser, Tom Stoppard, English PEN president Lisa Appignanesi, broadcaster Mark Lawson and National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner.

Sapir Prize of Israel

The Sapir Prize of Israel is a prestigious annual literary award awarded for a work of fine literature. The prize is awarded by Mifal Hapayis (Israel's state lottery), and is a part of the organization's cultural initiatives. It carries the name of Pinhas Sapir, the late Israeli Minister of Finance, and was first awarded in 2000.

From Complete Review 070309:
Sapir Prize fiasco

They've been trying their darnedest to make the Sapir Prize the Israeli equivalent of the Man Booker Prize, but they keep failing miserably. As I mentioned a few months back, many of the major Israeli authors (David Grossman, Meir Shalev, Aharon Appelfeld, A.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz) do not submit their works for consideration, which already waters things down. Now they're having problems giving it to anyone .....
They did find a winner this year recently -- 'The House of Dajani', by Alon Hilu (see his official site) -- but now, as for example The Jerusalem Post reports, Winner of prestigious Sapir Prize forced to give it back:

Alon Hilu, winner of this year's prestigious Sapir Prize for literature, will be forced to give back the NIS 150,000 award after the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel raised concerns of a conflict of interest between him and one of the judges, former Meretz leader Yossi Sarid.

See also Maya Sela's appropriately question-mark-filled report at Haaretz, Nat'l lotto revokes Sapir Prize due to conflict of interest.
Surely it's time to close this thing down and start over.

(Updated - 5 July): Indeed, it doesn't look like their attempt to re-judge the prize will work out well: as Maya Sela reports in Haaretz, a lot of Authors withdraw from book contest amid dispute.

British Fantasy Award - August Derleth

Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards. The current award categories are Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Short Story, Best Small Press, Best Artist, Best Anthology, Best Collection, and the Karl Edward Wagner Award is given at the discretion of the BFS committee.

Best Novel (The August Derleth Fantasy Award)

1972
Michael Moorcock, The Knight of the Swords

1973
Michael Moorcock, The King of the Swords

1974
Poul Anderson, Hrolf Kraki’s Saga

1975
Michael Moorcock, The Sword and the Stallion

1976
Michael Moorcock, The Hollow Lands

1977
Gordon Dickson, The Dragon and The George

1978
Piers Antony, A Spell for Chameleon

1979
Stephen Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever

1980
Tanith Lee, Death’s Master

1981
Ramsey Campbell, To Wake The Dead

1982
Stephen King, Cujo

1983
Gene Wolfe, Sword of the Lictor

1984
Peter Straub, Floating Dragon

1985
Ramsey Campbell, Incarnate

1986
TED Kline, The Ceremonies

1987
Stephen King, It

1988
Ramsey Campbell, The Hungry Moon

1989
Ramsey Campbell, The Influence

1990
Dan Simmons, Carrion Comfort

1991
Ramsey Campbell, Midnight Sun

1992
Jonathan Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum

1993
Graham Joyce, Dark Sister

1994
Ramsey Campbell, The Long Lost

1995
Michael Marshall Smith, Only Forward

1996
Graham Joyce, Requiem

1997
Graham Joyce, The Tooth Fairy

1998
Chaz Brenchley, Tower of the King's Daughter

1999
Stephen King, Bag of Bones

2000
Graham Joyce, Indigo

2001
China Mieville, Perdido Street Station

2002
Simon Clark, The Night of the Triffids

2003
China Mieville, The Scar

2004
* Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler -- (winner)
* Felaheen, Jon Courtenay Grimwood
* Lost boy lost girl, Peter Straub
* Nobody True, James Herbert
* The Poison Master, Liz Williams
* Vampyrrhic Rites, Simon Clark

2005
Stephen King, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower --winner!
Christopher Fowler, Full Dark House
* Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, Clive Barker
* The Queen of Sinister, Mark Chadbourn
* Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke
* The Water Room, Christopher Fowler

2006
Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys

2007
Tim Lebbon, Dusk

2008
Ramsey Campbell, The Grin of the Dark (PS Publishing)

Bard Fiction Prize

The Bard Fiction Prize

is awarded to a promising, emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. In addition to the monetary award, the winner receives an appointment as writer in residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.

2009 Bard Fiction Prize Recipient:
Fiona Maazel

The creation of the Bard Fiction Prize, presented each October, continues Bard's long-standing position as a center for creative, groundbreaking literary work by both faculty and students. From Saul Bellow, William Gaddis, Mary McCarthy, and Ralph Ellison to John Ashbery, Philip Roth, William Weaver, and Chinua Achebe, Bard's literature faculty, past and present, represents some of the most important American writers of our time. The prize is intended to encourage and support young writers of fiction to pursue their creative goals and provide an opportunity to work in a fertile and intellectual environment.

Previous Winners:

• Fiona Maazel, 2009
• Salvador Plascencia, 2008
• Peter Orner, 2007
• Edie Meidav, 2006
• Paul La Farge, 2005
• Monique Truong, 2004
• Emily Barton, 2003
• Nathan Englander, 2002

Branford Boase Award (2000-2009)

The Traitor Game by B.R. Collins, edited by Emma Matthewson of Bloomsbury, won the Branford Boase Award for authors and their editors. The Branford Boase Award was set up to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist.

On the Branford Boase website, the novel was described as "a powerful debut that explores the way boys create friendships and how fragile these relationships can be. Encompassing issues of bullying, homosexuality and peer pressure, The Traitor Game never pulls its punches. Set in two worlds it mixes the contemporary teen 'issue' novel with a traditional fantasy story. Both worlds may be different but the actions, emotions and eventual betrayals within them are very much the same."

"It would have made Henrietta Branford and Wendy Boase enormously proud to see what they cared for so much being fostered so well," said chair of the judges Julia Eccleshare. "B. R. Collins and Emma Matthewson are excellent winners to add to this tradition in this tenth anniversary year."

2009 Shortlist:
The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt
The Traitor Game by B. R. Collins
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Bloodline by Katy Moran
Between Two Seas by Marie-Louise Jensen
Flood Child originally published as Reavers' Ransom by Emily Diamand

2008 Winner
Jenny Downham - Before I Die

The Other 2008 Nominees
Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine, -- Highly Commended
Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
Nathan Fox, Dangerous Times by L Brittney
Waves by Sharon Dogar
The Door of No Return by Sarah Mussi

2007 Winner
Siobhan Dowd - A Swift Pure Cry

The Other 2007 Nominees Gideon the Cutpurse
[and others which wouldn't copy]

2006 Winner
Frances Hardinge - Fly By Night

2005 Winner
Meg Rosoff - How I Live Now

2004 Winner
Mal Peet - Keeper

2003 Winner
Kevin Brooks - Martyn Pig

The Other 2003 Nominees
Massive by Julia Bell
Ice Boy by Patricia Elliott
The Firing by Richard MacSween
Frank and the Black Hamster of Narkiz by Livi Michael
The Quigleys by Simon Mason
Feather Boy by Nicky Singer

2002 Winner
Sally Prue - Cold Tom

The Other 2002 Nominees
Jessica Haggerthwaite – witch dispatcher by Emma Barnes
The Beat Goes On by Adelen Minchin
(Un)arranged Marriage by Bali Rai
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

2001 Winner
Marcus Sedgwick - Floodland

The Other 2001 Nominees
Thanis by Hazel Riley
Wind Singer by William Nicholson

2000 Winner
Katherine Roberts - Song Quest

The Other 2000 Nominees
Hunting Gumnor by Stephen Pots
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
Can we keep it, Dad? by Gus Clarke
Troublemakers by Paul May
The Giant Goldfish Robbery by Richard Kidd
Sharp Stuff by Dominic Barker

Book Sense Book of the Year (2004-2008)

The Book Sense Book of the Year is an American Literary Award inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) rededicated the award (previously known as the ABBY) in recognition of a new era in bookselling, as well as the important role the Book Sense Picks List has played for independent booksellers in discovering and spreading the word about books of quality to all stores, and readers, nationwide. Throughout the year, Book Sense independent booksellers from across the country nominate for inclusion in the monthly Book Sense Picks the books that they most enjoyed handselling to their customers. The books on each list represent a combined national and local staff pick selection of booksellers' favorites from more than 1,200 independent bookstores with Book Sense.

2008 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

2008 Adult Fiction Winner
* A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2008 Adult Fiction Honor Books
* The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
* Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
* Away by Amy Bloom
* Run by Ann Patchett

2008 Adult Nonfiction Winner
* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

2008 Adult Nonfiction Honor Books
* The World Without Us: by Alan Weisman
* Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin
* The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam
* The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

2008 Children's Literature Winner
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
2008 Children's Literature Honor Books
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
* Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
* Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

2008 Children's Illustrated Winner
* Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems

2008 Children's Illustrated Honor Books
* Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss-Glasser (Illus.)
* Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long, David Shannon (Illus.)
* The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
* Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney

2007 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

[have been removed from Wikipedia]

2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

2006 Adult Fiction Winner
* The Historian: A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova

2006 Adult Fiction Honor Books
* Kafka on the Shore: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
* The March: A Novel by E.L. Doctorow
* Saturday: A Novel by Ian McEwan
* Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel by Lisa See

2006 Adult Nonfiction Winner
* Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

2006 Adult Nonfiction Honor Books
* The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (Scribner/S&S)
* The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr
* Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan
* The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer

2006 Children's Literature Winner
* Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

2006 Children's Literature Honor Books
* A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
* Eldest: Inheritance, Book 2 by Christopher Paolini
* Flush by Carl Hiaasen
* The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

2006 Children's Illustrated Winner
* Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth

2006 Children's Illustrated Honor Books
* Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Harry Bliss
* Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
* Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
* Seen Art? By Jon Scieszka; illustrated by Lane Smith

2005 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

2005 Adult Fiction Winner
* Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

2005 Adult Fiction Honor Books
* Eventide by Kent Haruf
* The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
* The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
* The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2005 Adult Nonfiction Winner
* Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson

2005 Adult Nonfiction Honor Books
* Candyfreak by Steve Almond
* The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, Robert Mankoff (Ed.)
* Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs
* Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett

2005 Children's Literature Winner
* Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist

2005 Children's Literature Honor Books
* Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
* Ida B ... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan
* Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
* The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

2005 Children's Illustrated Winner
* Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin

2005 Children's Illustrated Honor Books
* Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henke
* Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
* Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
* Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards

2004 Adult Fiction Winner
* The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

2004 Adult Fiction Honor Books
* The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
* The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
* Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
* The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2004 Adult Nonfiction Winner
* Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

2004 Adult Nonfiction Honor Books

* The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
* Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley
* Michelangelo & The Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
* Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

2004 Children's Literature Winner
* Eragon: The Inheritance, Book I by Christopher Paolini

2004 Children's Literature Honor Books
* Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (Book 3) by Eoin Colfer
* Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
* The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
* The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo; illus. by Timothy Basil Ering

2004 Children's Illustrated Winner
* How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long; illus. by David Shannon

2004 Children's Illustrated Honor Books
* Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French; illus. by Bruce Whatley
* Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin; illus. by Harry Bliss
* Old Turtle and the Broken Truth by Douglas Wood; illus. by Jon J. Muth
* Olivia ... and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer

2004 Paperback Winner
* The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

2004 Paperback Honor Books
* Atonement by Ian McEwan
* The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
* Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
* Life of Pi by Yann Martel

John W. Campbell Award for the best science fiction novel (2009)

Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Ian MacLeod’s Song of Time shared the John W. Campbell Award for the best science fiction novel of the year. James Gunn, director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, announced the co-winners, along with the recipient of this year's Theodore Sturgeon Award for the best short science fiction: James Alan Gardner’s "The Ray Gun: A Love Story."

The authors, who will accept their awards at KU July 10, will be featured at the Campbell Conference July 11-12, where they will open a discussion about what’s new in publishing and its effect on writing and reading.

Rittenhouse Award 2009

Charles (Chuck) S. Hutchinson Jr. has won the 2009 Jack D. Rittenhouse Award, which is given by Publishers Association of the West to honor "individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the book community in the West."

PubWest Board president Todd Berger said that the winner's "wide-ranging, 50-year career as a regional sales manager, editor-in-chief, founder of two publishing companies, and publishing consultant fits perfectly with the spirit of the award."

Hutchinson has worked for Geoscience Press, Harbinger House, Van Nostrand Reinhold, Ross Publishing Co., Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Reinhold Book Corporation and Burgess Publishing Company. PubWest said that "two of his most notable publishing programs" have been in collaboration with series editors: the Community Development/Environmental Design Series with series editor Richard. P. Dober, Belmont, Mass. (45 books published); and the Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series with series editor Dr. R. W. Fairbridge, Columbia University (16 volumes published).

The award will be presented on November 14 during PubWest's annual National Publishing Conference and Book Industry Trade Show, to be held this year in Tucson, Ariz.

David Gemmell Legend prize

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski has won the David Gemmell Legend prize. The Guardian reported that the award, which "is intended to restore fantasy to its proper place in the literary pantheon," was given to the Polish author who "outsells Stephen King in Poland, but his fantasy novels, set in a world where the races of dwarves, elves, gnomes and humans are on the verge of war with each other, have only recently been translated into English." More than 10,000 fans from 75 countries voted for the prize.

Reading the West: The MPIBA's New Regional Program

Like some of the other regional booksellers associations, the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association has begun a program that highlights books about and by authors in its region. Called Reading the West, the program will focus on two titles a month, starting this month. The June Reading the West titles are The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (Holt Books for Young Readers) and Madewell Brown by Rick Collignon (Unbridled Books).

Titles are chosen by an MPIBA board committee based on bookseller and publisher suggestions.

Newbery, Caldecott Honors and More ALA awards 2006

The ALA announced its major book awards yesterday (01/23/06) at the midwinter conference in San Antonio:

The John Newbery Medal, for "the most outstanding contribution to children's literature," went to Lynne Rae Perkins for Criss Cross.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal for "the most distinguished American picture book for children," was awarded to Chris Raschka, illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window written by Norton Juster.

The four Newbery Honors titles were:

• Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
  
• Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott
  
• Whittington by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
  

The Caldecott Honors winners:

• Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman
  
• Rosa illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Nikki Giovanni
  
• Song of the Waterboatman and Other Pond Poems illustrated by Beckie Prange, written by Joyce Sidman
  
• Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
  

The Michael L. Printz Award for "excellence in literature written for young adults" went to Looking for Alaska by John Green (Dutton).

The Coretta Scott King Author Award for an African American author of "outstanding books for children and young adults" went to Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue by Julius Lester.

The Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award was won by Rosa, a Caldecott Honors book (see above).

The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award went to Jimi & Me by Jaime Adoff

The Pura Belpre Illustrator Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose "children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience" was won by Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Hear illustrated by Raul Colon, written by Pat Mora.

The Pura Belpre Author Award went to The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales.

The Schneider Family Book Award for "books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience" went to:

• (ages 10 and below) Dad, Jackie, and Me by Myron Uhlberg, illustrated by Colin Bootman
  
• (ages 11-13) Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco
  
• (ages 13-18) Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp
  

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for "the most distinguished beginning reader book" was won by Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Sucie Stevenson.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award for "lifetime achievement in writing for young adults" went to Jacqueline Woodson, author of, among other titles, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, Lena, From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun, If You Come Softly and Miracle's Boys.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for "most distinguished informational book for children" went to Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker.

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video was won by Michael Sporn, of Michael Sporn Animation, and Paul Gagne and Melissa Reilly, of Weston Woods Studios, producers of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, based on the book by Mordicai Gerstein.

The Mildred L. Batchelder Award for "an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and published in the U.S." went to Arthur A. Levine Books for Innocent Soldier, originally published in German in 2002 as Der Russländer, by Josef Holub and translated by Michael Hofmann.