As we recover from one family-focused holiday and are poised on the precipice of even more family time, it seems especially appropriate that Patrica Lockwood’s Priestdaddy was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor last night. Lockwood’s memoir of her move back, with husband in tow, to her childhood home in the rectory of her father-turned-priest […]
Being a very talented writer does not necessarily mean that talent also spills forth into the fictional bedroom. As seen from the current shortlist of the 2018 Bad Sex in Fiction Prize, even Haruki Murakami can be shortsighted when it comes to the biological facts. His nominated passage may be too hot for daytime reading […]
The Chicago Public Library has announced their Best Books of 2018, chosen by our very own Chicago librarians. To follow are their choices for the ten best adult titles of the year—including the three finalists for this year’s Andrew Carnegie Award for Fiction—linked to their Booklist reviews when available. For a complete list of their favorite titles for adults, kids, […]
As an Englishman once said, “And now for something completely different.” The Fortieth Annual Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year has been announced with great revelry and Joy of Waterboiling, by Christina Scheffenacker, has taken the prize! The title itself has even offered up the new meme-like acronym JOW. The winner simmered in shortlist controversy as the […]
Last night, the National Book Foundation announced the winners of this year’s National Book Awards. This is the first year that the new award category for Translated Literature was given. To follow are this year’s winners, linked to Booklist reviews when available. For a full list of finalists, click here. Fiction The Friend, by Sigrid […]
On Friday, November 2, at the annual Brooklyn Classic fundraising event, the winners of the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize accepted their awards for excellence in fiction/poetry and nonfiction. The award comes with a $5,000 prize. The winners were originally announced on October 22. Nominations were selected from librarians in all 59 libraries in the BPL […]
The 2018 World Fantasy Convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland over the weekend, where the winners of the World Fantasy Awards were announced. This year’s awards were marked by a tie in the novel category. Winners are listed below, linked to their Booklist review when available: Novel The Changeling, by Victor LaValle (tie) Jade City, by Fonda Lee […]
There are book titles that are literal: 1984, The Old Man and the Sea, Gulliver’s Travels. There are book titles that are odd: The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, A Confederacy of Dunces. Then there are the book titles that are literally odd. The Bookseller has announced the shortlist for the Diagram Prize awarding the Oddest Book Title of the Year, […]
The shortlist for the eighth Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction has just been announced! Check it out to see which titles are still under consideration for the American Library Association’s only single-title medal given to books for adults. The two medal winners will be announced at the RUSA Book and Media Awards, sponsored by NoveList, in Seattle on Sunday, […]
Milkman, by Anna Burns was just announced as the winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize. The novel takes place in an unnamed city following the life of Middle Sister who just wants to blend in and absolutely does not want her encounter with the milkman to be known. Set against the backdrop of the […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
Encouraging Middle-Schoolers to Choose Books
There’s been a lot of discussion among the librarians I know about what to do with middle-schoolers: they just don’t seem to read as much as they used to. I know that here in Chicago, we have a unique perspective on this situation, since our schools run K–8. In my former school system in Maryland […]
Getting Started with the Global Read Aloud
The 2017 Global Read Aloud kicked off yesterday, and I’m here to help. Author and educator Pernille Ripp founded the program as a way to connect students and teachers from different locales around the topics of books. (Think One Book One School or One Book One City, but on a global scale.) Each year, Ripp […]
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: Practice Recognizing Fake News
Cindy: There have been a number of YA fiction books with the title “Two Truths and a Lie,” but we’ve found a creative, informational book for middle-grade students that reinforces evaluating information for truth. Fake news, anyone? Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (2017) by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson is the first […]
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