Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

A few weeks ago, I looked at the best received biographies and memoirs of 2011. This week, let’s examine other narrative nonfiction. These results come from the All-the-Best-Books Compilation (ABBC) that you can download in full from my other blogging home, Williamsburg Regional Library’s Blogging for a Good Book, where we’ve just posted version 3.0, [...]

Let’s continue looking at the top vote-getters in the 2011 ABBC, today examining the speculative fiction category. I’ll focus on the top four, perhaps returning to this category at a later date, as it seems to be receiving more attention than ever in this year’s best-of-the-year lists and awards. As usual, the latest full ABBC [...]

Facilitators looking to add some international flavor to their reading groups should have a look at the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. This prestigious award will be presented at the annual Jaipur Literature Festival. The award’s short list was announced last October and on January 21, the second annual prize will be given in [...]

I just discovered a Canadian book award that I think I’ll be following closely from now on. The ReLit Award recognizes the best new work in three categories, Fiction, Poetry, and Short Story, released by independent publishers. The award was founded by Kenneth J. Harvey, a biblio-Renaissance man, and the prize is given at the [...]

I’ve posted the link to the first edition of my 2011 All the Best Books Compilation (ABBC). This is my fourth year of compiling all of those different best books lists and awards into one convenient sortable spreadsheet where you can see how many different mentions each book received from over 150 authoritative sources. The [...]

I’ve begun my annual task of collecting all of the best-of-the-year lists and awards into one sortable spreadsheet. This is my fourth year compiling this massive labor of love-hate, and I almost chose to let it go this year, but once the lists started to come out, I just couldn’t resist. The analytical side of me loves [...]

The October selection for my library book group was Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann.  This 2009 novel has won a number of prizes, including the National Book Award.  Set in New York City, it takes as its central motif the famous 1974 tightrope walk of Philippe Petit between the World Trade Center [...]

Which will make it onto your reading group lists next year? The National Book Award Finalists for 2011 were announced yesterday in Portland, OR and while there are some surprising omissions, there are also some surprising nominations. Click through any of the above links for the full lists of nominations in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and [...]

I finally found time for Aravind Adiga’s 2008 Booker-Prize-winning first novel, The White Tiger, and it’s easy to see why the book received so much praise. Books with unreliable narrators make for fascinating group discussions, and Balram Halwai, the titular White Tiger, is one of the most cagy cats you’ll ever encounter. Born into poverty [...]

The Children’s Book Council of Australia recently named the winner in the Picture Book category, Hamlet by Melbourne artist Nicki Greenberg. It’s a graphic novel based on the Shakespeare play. Yet the author is encouraging parents to review her graphic novel before giving it to very young children. It may be a picture book, Greenberg [...]

Every book group selection doesn’t have to be serious or depressing or controversial (i.e, an “Oprah” book). I just stumbled upon a new award for literature and I’m finding some funny and discussable titles to consider for next year. The award is called the Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. The winner was announced on [...]

THIS is the book party I want to go to next year. The Minnesota Book Awards. I blogged about these awards and the short list of nominees some weeks ago and this past Saturday, April 16, the big awards were announced at a biblio-blow out. Here’s a list of all the winners, but the big [...]

My compilation of awards and best-books-of-the-year selections is complete. This year’s Megalist includes 175 different sources which suggested 2,279 titles as one of the best books of 2010. Visit my other blogging home at Blogging for a Good Book to download the full spreadsheet. I’ll wrap up my coverage here at Book Group Buzz by [...]

William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie will probably never lose their crowns as two of England’s most favorite authors. But the Costa Book Awards is making sure there are others waiting in the wings. The Costa Book Awards began as the Whitbread Literary Awards in 1971 but changed over in 2006 when Costa Coffee took over [...]

I’m waiting for one final source which traditionally concludes my compilation of the best books of the year in a single “megalist” spreadsheet. Next week I’ll post the final results and wrap-ups of speculative fiction and the highest overall vote getters. In the meanwhile, let’s take a look at the best reviewed books in some [...]

I thought I’d share this slideshow list (boy I hate that format, though) of the National Book Critics Circle Award winner highlights from the last 30+ years, courtesy of the Huffington Post. Might be useful if you’re looking for book selections. You can also read the full list at the NBCCA site.

In previous posts, I’ve highlighted the most lauded books (as compiled from my best-of-2010 Megalist) from general fiction, narrative nonfiction, and biographies and memoirs. Today, let’s look at the 2010 works of historical fiction that have received the most praise. I have a broad interpretation of most genres, but the historical era in all of [...]

There’s a new prize in town: The Independent Booksellers Choice Awards. It’s debuting in 2011 and the first winners will be named during Book Expo America in May. Only independent bookstore staff are eligible to vote/nominate in the three rounds of voting. The first round is the Long List with voting through the month of [...]

Last week I listed the top ten other narrative nonfiction titles in my 2010 Megalist. Today, let’s take a look at the biographies and memoirs that have received the most mentions in best-of-the-year lists and awards. 1. Just Kids, by Patti Smith (34 votes to date) We know them as a rock goddess and a [...]

I pay close attention to national and international book awards, but I’m also interested in state book awards. These awards are the ones that find those sleeper titles that become book group favorites through word of mouth. Last week the short list for the Minnesota Book Awards were announced. The winners will be revealed on [...]