Community Corner

Five Book Picks From the National Book Awards

Port Jefferson librarian Monica Williams selection of books from the awards.

On Nov. 16 the National Book Foundation announced the winners of the 2011 National Book Awards. We asked Monica Williams to expland on her description and suggest five books from the National Book Awards past winners and nominees.

"Works nominated for the National Book Award tend be literary works that are not necessarily best sellers by popular authors," she said.

In fact, she explained that in 2003 Stephen King received a medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the board of the National Book Award. King said in an interview that in the past he and John Grisham had to buy tickets because, "that was the only way we were going to get in the door."

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Their higbrow reputation doesn't mean the National Book Awards are not without controversy.

"This year there was a serious mix-up within the list of finalists for the Young People’s literature award," she said. "One finalist was supposed to have been Fanny Billingley’s Chime, a fantasy novel about a motherless girl who is a witch."

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Over the phone made "Chime" sounded like "Shine," a totally different book by Lauren Myracle about a gay hate crime. At first the foundation decided to have six books in the running instead of the usual five but then reversed the decision and wanted to remove "Shine" fromt he list.

"Despite feeling 'gutted' Myracle decided to step down," Williams said. "Perhaps the Foundation should try email the next time?"

Here are Williams' suggestions for five books from past winners and nominees for the prize and her description of each.

Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin (2009 Winner for Fiction)

Set in 1974 in New York City, the glue that holds all the intersecting stories together is the feat of Philippe Petit who walked between the Twin Towers. The one act sets into motion the intersection of disparate lives and stories that become entwined into one complex whole.

Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007 Finalist for Young People’s Literature)

Combining incredible black and white drawings that incorporate cinematic effects into the illustrations, Selznick has created a picture book that appeals to both older children and adults. Hugo is a young orphan who lives in a Parisian train station. It was adapted into film directed by Martin Scorsese.

Joan Didion’s A Year Of Magical Thinking (2005 Finalist for Non Fiction)

After returning from a visit with their seriously ill daughter, Joan Didion’s husband, John Gregory Dunne, collapses and dies of a massive coronary. Didion and her husband were each other’s partners in the truest sense of the word for 40 years of marriage. Grief is a process and Didion writes honestly and compellingly of that first year when she learned to cope with his death and her daughter’s health issues.

Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City (2003 Finalist for Non Fiction)

A non fiction title that reads more like fiction, Erik Larson’s book is set at the Chicago World’s Fair (1893). Told in alternating voices, it details the work of Daniel Burnham, one of the architects of the fair, and that of Dr. Holmes, a serial killer.

Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic

This is the story of Japanese mail order brides who emigrate to join their husbands in California. They live their lives, bear children, and tell their stories. Sometimes it is one voice like a Greek chorus referring to itself as “we” while other times a single voice breaks out.

The winners of this year's National Book Awards are:

  • Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Fiction)
  • Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Young People's Literature)
  • The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt (Non Fiction)
  • Head Off and Split by Nikky Finney (Poetry)


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