2009 American Library Association READING LIST COUNCIL AWARDS

2009 READING LIST COUNCIL AWARDS - for the best in genre fiction in eight genre categories:

ADRENALINE: "Blue Heaven" by C.J. Box
Shortlist: "The Dirty Secrets Club" by Meg Gardiner; "Hold Tight" by Harlan Coben; "L.A. Outlaws" by T. Jefferson Parker; and "Rules of Deception" by Christopher Reich;

FANTASY: "Veil of Gold" by Kim Wilkins
Shortlist: "The House of the Stag" by Kage Baker; "Ink and Steel" by Elizabeth Bear; "Shadowbridge" by Gregory Frost; and "Small Favor" by Jim Butcher;

HISTORICAL FICTION:"The Steel Wave" by Jeff Shaara
Shortlist: "Dreamers of the Day" by Mary Doria Russell; "The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane; "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows; and "The Whiskey Rebels" by David Liss;

HORROR: "Sharp Teeth" by Toby Barlow
Shortlist: "Coffin County" by Gary A. Braunbeck; "Infected" by Scott Sigler; "The Killing Circle" by Andrew Pyper; and "The Wolfman" by Nicholas Pekearo;

MYSTERY: "The Garden of Evil" by David Hewson; shortlist: "The Black Tower" by Louis Bayard; "The Calling" by Inger Ash Wolfe; "The Cruelest Month" by Louise Penny; and "Vienna Blood" by Frank Tallis;

ROMANCE: "The Spymaster's Lady" by Joanna Bourne
Shortlist: "My Lord and Spymaster" by Joanna Bourne; "Private Arrangements" by Sherry Thomas; "The Seduction of the Crimson Rose" by Lauren Willig; and "Your Scandalous Ways" by Loretta Chase;

SCIENCE FICTION: "Hunter's Run" by George R.R. Martin
Shortlist: "The Automatic Detective" by A. Lee Martinez: "City at the End of Time" by Greg Bear; "Matter" by Iain M. Banks; and "A World Too Near" by Kay Kenyon;

WOMEN'S FICTION: "Every Last Cuckoo" by Kate Maloy
Shortlist: "Belong to Me" by Marisa de los Santos; "Certain Girls" by Jennifer Weiner; "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen; and "Thank You for All Things" by Sandra Kring.

Winner of 2009 ALA Notable Books Council Book Award Announced

My book award committee met and we have selected our choices for the 2009 American Library Association CODES Notable Books Council Book Award.

* denotes my personal favorites.

The Notable Book Award is makes available to the nation’s readers a list of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for the adult reader.

The 2009 winners are:


FICTION

Alameddine, Rabih. The Hakawati Knopf 9780307266798

Aslam, Nadeem. The Wasted Vigil Knopf 9780307268426

Bausch, Richard. Peace Knopf 9780307268334

*Benioff, David. City of Thieves: A Novel Viking 9780670018703

Erdrich, Louise. The Plague of Doves HarperCollins 9780060515126

Galchen, Rivka. Atmospheric Disturbances Farrar Straus & Giroux 9780374200114

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed Earth Knopf 9780307265739

*Millhauser, Steven. Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories Knopf 9780307267566

Sheers, Owen. Resistance Doubleday/Nan A. Talese 9780385522106

Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge Random House 9781400062089

Talarigo, Jeff. The Ginseng Hunter Doubleday/Nan A. Talese 9780385517393


NONFICTION

Coll, Steve. The Bin-Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Penguin Press 9781594201646

Faust, Drew Gilpin. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Knopf 9780375404047

*Filkins, Dexter. The Forever War Knopf Publishing Group 9780307266392

Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth. Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 Norton 9780393062441

Gordon-Reed, Annette. The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family Norton 9780393064773

Harris, Mark. Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood Penguin 9781594201523

Horwitz, Tony. A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World Holt 9780805076035

*Mayer, Jane The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Doubleday 9780385526395

Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Penguin 9781594201455

Taylor, Nick. American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work Bantam 9780553802351

Vanderbilt, Tom. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) Knopf 9780307264787

Wickersham, Joan . The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order Harcourt 9780151014903

POETRY

Hirsch, Edward Special Orders: Poems Knopf 9780307266811

*Tate, James Ghost Soldiers: Poems Ecco 9780061436949


The winner(s) was selected by the Notable Books Council, whose members include Patricia L. Gregory, chair, Saint Louis University; Alicia Ahlvers, Kansas City Public Library; Susie Brown, Shaker Heights Public Library; A. Issac Pulver, Saratoga Springs Public Library; Andrea Slonosky; Sandra Ballasch, University of Iowa Libraries; Malynda Dalton, Texas A&M International University; Julie Elliott, Indiana University South Bend; Nancy Pearl; Nonny Schlotzhauer, Pennsylvania State University; Lise Snyder, UCLA College Library; Valerie Morgan Taylor, Lewisville Community Library and Booklist consultant Brad Hooper.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. For more information, visit www.ala.org/rusa

From my trip to the Slammer

https://www.joinmda.org/2009southkclu/aliciaahlvers/

The Embrace by Mark Doty

You weren't well or really ill yet either;
just a little tired, your handsomeness
tinged by grief or anticipation, which brought
to your face a thoughtful, deepening grace.

I didn't for a moment doubt you were dead.
I knew that to be true still, even in the dream.
You'd been out--at work maybe?--
having a good day, almost energetic.

We seemed to be moving from some old house
where we'd lived, boxes everywhere, things
in disarray: that was the story of my dream,
but even asleep I was shocked out of the narrative

by your face, the physical fact of your face:
inches from mine, smooth-shaven, loving, alert.
Why so difficult, remembering the actual look
of you? Without a photograph, without strain?

So when I saw your unguarded, reliable face,
your unmistakable gaze opening all the warmth
and clarity of you--warm brown tea--we held
each other for the time the dream allowed.

Bless you. You came back, so I could see you
once more, plainly, so I could rest against you
without thinking this happiness lessened anything,
without thinking you were alive again.

From poets.org Mark Doty

Free e-book Friday

Until January 15th, you can download a free copy of Suze Orman’s new book from Oprah’s web site.

NOTABLE AUTHORS WHO DIED IN 2008

Forrest J. Ackerman
Science fiction editor and critic

Robert Lynn Asprin
Author of the humorous fantasy series MythAdventures
and beloved fixture in science fiction fandom

Eliot Asinof
Novelist best known for the non-fiction work Eight Men Out

Clive Barnes
Theater, dance, and art critic

Andrew Britton
Author of the Ryan Kealey suspense novels

William Buchan
Pioneer author of spy fiction

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Conservative commentator, founder of the National Review,
and author of political essays, memoirs, and thrillers

Algis Budrys
Science fiction writer and editor

George Carlin
Irreverent comedian and political commentator

George C. Chesbro
Author of several mystery and spy thrillers, best known for the Robert "Mongo" Frederickson private eye novels

Arthur C. Clarke
Science fiction novelist and futurist
best known for 2001 and Childhood's End

Myron Cope
Award-winning sportswriter

C. R. Corwin
Author of the Morgue Mama mystery series

Michael Crichton
Author of numerous speculative thrillers such as Jurassic Park, and creator of the television series ER

James Crumley
Prolific mystery author, including the Milo Milodragovitch
and the C. W. Sughrue series

Thomas M. Disch
Multiple award-winning science fiction novelist and critic

Julius Fast
Author of mysteries and popular non-fiction

Elaine Flinn
Author of the mystery series featuring antique dealer Molly Doyle

Leo Frankowski
Writer of military science fiction,
including the Conrad Stargard series

George MacDonald Fraser
Best known for the series of historical romps
featuring unrepentant rogue Harry Flashman

Simon Gray
Novelist and playwright

Elizabeth Guest
Author of contemporary and paranormal romances

Gary Gygax
Co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons and
writer of many books on role-playing games

Oakley Hall
Novelist and author of the Ambrose Bierce mystery series

Jon Hassler
Novelist of small-town life in Minnesota

Tony Hillerman
Prolific mystery novelist, best known for the Joe Leaphorn
and Jim Chee series set on the Navajo reservation

Edward D. Hoch
Prolific mystery author, especially short stories

Russell Warren Howe
True-crime, thriller, and spy novelist

Joe Hyams
Political journalist and celebrity biographer

Donald James
Writer of thrillers and television scripts

Janet Kagan
Hugo-award winning science fiction and fantasy author

William C. Knott
Wrote westerns under numerous pseudonyms

Ralph Kovel
Creator of the immensely popular price guides
for collectibles and antiques

John Leonard
Literary editor and pop culture critic

Jack Lynch
Author of the Peter Bragg private eye series

Arthur Lyons
Editor and author of the Jacob Asch private eye series

Steven Marlowe
Author of historical fiction and mysteries

Gregory McDonald
Mystery and suspense writer, best known for the Fletch series

Conor Cruise O'Brien
Irish politician, intellectual, and historian

Meg O'Brien
Authored the Jessica James mysteries

Audrey Peterson
Wrote mystery novels and criticism

Harold Pinter
Poet, playwright, essayist and critic

Dorothy Porter
Prize-winning poet and author of verse novels

Julian Rathbone
Wrote historical fiction and numerous mystery series

Alain Robbe-Grillet
Noted French experimental novelist and
"anti-literary" fiction writer

Jerry Rodriguez
Playwright and mystery writer

Tim Russert
Newsman, political analyst, and author of
such memoirs as Big Russ and Me

Benjamin Schutz
Author of crime procedurals and
the Leo Haggerty private-eye series

Edward Sheehan
Freelance journalist and novelist

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Nobel Prize-winning novelist and critic of the Soviet Union

Studs Terkel
Author of popular social histories and consummate interviewer

Margaret Truman (Daniel)
Daughter of President Harry Truman and prolific author
of the Capital Crimes murder mysteries

Tasha Tudor
Caldecott-winning illustrator and author of
classic children's books

W. T. Tyler
Author of spy novels and thrillers

Peter Vansittart
Prolific historical novelist

David Foster Wallace
Innovative novelist, essayist, and journalist,
best known for his novel Infinite Jest

Hillary Waugh
Pioneering writer of police procedurals and hardboiled suspense

Janwillem van de Wetering
Author of numerous mystery novels and short stories, including the Grijpstra and de Gier series

Donald Westlake
Writer of many mysteries and thrillers,
including the Dortmunder comic capers, who also
wrote under many pseudonyms, especially Richard Stark

Phyllis Whitney
Beloved author of many historical, romance, and
gothic novels for teens and adults

Helen Yglesias
Feminist writer and novelist

list compiled by Fiction_L

Free e-book Friday

From Leo Babauta at Zen Habits

Merry Christmas everyone! As a gift, I’d like to share with
you my companion to The Power of Less — a free ebook called “THRIVING
ON LESS: Simplifying in a Tough Economy“.

Go here to download the ebook for
free. (Please note: click on the link to go to the download page — don’t
click “save as” to save the ebook.)