Nonsuch Book

book blogger appreciation week

 

Well, here on the last day to register and more than a little uncomfortable about this self-nomination process, I have decided to register for the same category for which I was short-listed last year. Only because I met so many lovely people and their blogs last year during BBAW, and want that same experience this year. So many new blogs out there right now, and the week's celebrations are a great way to find the ones that have escaped you.

Best Written Book Blog

• Moo Pak by Gabriel Josipovici
• Sodom and Gomorrah by Marcel Proust
• Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
• The Waves by Virginia Woolf
• The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

For more information on Book Blogger Appreciation Week, visit the dedicated site here. And you still have a few hours to register for the event. If you can (gulp) force yourself to publicly pat yourself on the back.

book blogger appreciation week: not easily moved

It has come to my attention that the shortlists for blog awards have just been published on the Book Blogger Appreciation Week site. And Nonsuch Book was shortlisted for Best Writing. Despite the frequency with which I publish sentence fragments and sentences that begin with a conjunction. I am not easily moved when it comes to awards and the like, but people... Thank you so much! This is fantastic especially given the company in which I find myself:

• Caravana de recuerdos 
• Chasing Ray 
• Collecting Children's Books 
• Steph Su Reads  

Pop on over and vote for all your friends. It will be tough to choose in many instances, but will only add to the fun of the event. Many thanks to all that served on panels for the selection process!

2009 pulitzer for fiction: olive kitteridge

Loved this book. Was the first book I finished in 2009, and I reviewed it here in January. And am happy to see it won the Pulitzer for fiction this afternoon.

"For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Awarded to “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout (Random House), a collection of 13 short stories set in small-town Maine that packs a cumulative emotional wallop, bound together by polished prose and by Olive, the title character, blunt, flawed and fascinating."  

And the finalists: 

"Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "The Plague of Doves" by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins), a haunting novel that explores racial discord, loss of land and changing fortunes in a corner of North Dakota where Native Americans and whites share a tangled history; and "All Souls" by Christine Schutt (Harcourt), a memorable novel that focuses on the senior class at an exclusive all-girl Manhattan prep school where a beloved student battles a rare cancer, fiercely honest, carefully observed and subtly rendered."

Prizes can be over-rated but if it turns people's attention to a book over some other entertainment then more power to all those accolades in the literary world. I have read neither of the finalists but will do so now. The anxiety of influence or the quest for the next great read?

What book did you think or hoped would wind up with today's fiction prize?

no newbery controversy here

The librarians let loose the screams this morning at the ALA conference in Denver as Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book was announced the winner of this year's Newbery Award. The Newbery has been under assault in the press of late for honoring books that are inaccessible to a large number of readers. In times of shrinking library budgets and sharply increased library usage, librarians have been particularly vocal about there being no wiggle room in the collection development plan for books kids won't read - Newbery medal upon their cover or not. Last year's Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, was brilliant but lengthy with themes more attractive to adults than children. Gaiman's Newbery winner is also read by adults and children alike but in far greater numbers. The author's extreme popularity will certainly mute some of the critics questioning the relevancy of the award system. And the happy news for kiddie librarians? Gaiman's other books are an easy sell to many children, and next month's movie tie-in with the release of Coraline could potentially create a little Gaiman reading frenzy among the short set. Kids fighting over books at the library? Music to my ears!

Curious about the other awards presented this morning? Publishers Weekly summed them up quickly online and you will be able to check out video later today at the ALA site.

premio dardos award

Wow. I had to create a new category under which to post this award from Claire at Kiss A Cloud. It may live an eternity of solitude in its award category box, but in my state of yippee right now, can't worry about that. So what is this lovely all about?

The Premio Dardos Award aims to acknowledge the values that every blogger shows in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.

The rules: Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment.

• Cornflower because her prose is lovely and distinct in the occasional white noise of blogland and because we love so many of the same books
• The Penguin Blog from the UK because, even though it is the blog of a commercial venture, they love book cover design as much as me and are full of great book suggestions 
• The Elegant Variation because I feel smarter just reading it 
• Tales From the Reading Room because she still writes an excellent essay in a world of brief 
• Save Ophelia because Lena is just about the nicest person you could meet in the blog world and has fantastic and diverse taste in literature 
• Ready When You Are, C.B. because I love Short Story Sunday and the fact that you feel you know him as you read his blog 
• Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? because that banner is priceless and there is little overlap in our reading choices so always something new 
• Ex Libris because it was one of the first blogs I really enjoyed and because of the amazing challenge stamina displayed here 
• dovegreyreader because she writes great reviews of great books and her photos take me through great cyber travel 
• Chekhov's Mistress because he has enviable design skills, an enviable big brain, and an amazing link list. His seriously literary hip reading list makes the perverse me want to see a photo of him shopping the hoi polloi reading selections at the neighborhood Target. Not really. OK, yes really.
• Bookslut because snarky works for me
• A Work in Progress because this woman can read (astonishing volume) and really knows her mysteries.  
• A Striped Armchair for the mile long list of reasons that everyone else enjoys about this blog plus a great sense of blogging community. 
• A Different Stripe because, although another commercial effort, deals up some great stuff that I see nowhere else.
• 1morechapter because of those awesome lists, challenge stamina, great reviews, and that distinctive book background.    

Many of these have already won this award I think, but I wanted to include them anyway as they are my favorites. Thank you all for such inspired blogging.