National Book Award Finalists are Named

Thursday, October 11th, 2012

Oh happy day for book lovers. Yesterday, the National Book Award finalists for 2012 were named. I can’t wait to hear who wins. One of the finalists is a dear old friend. So I’m rooting for Patricia McCormick to win for her brilliant young adult novel called Never Fall Down.

If you’re looking for something to read–and you’re into well-drawn characters and achingly beautiful prose–check out the book finalists below. These picks are great for literary lovers*

*And if you’re more into stuff by Emily Giffin and Jenny Lawson, you totally rock, too.

National Book Awards 2012
Fiction
This is How You Lose Her
by Junot Diaz

A Hologram for a King
by David Eggers

The Round House
by Louise Erdrich*
*love seeing women in this male-dominated category

The Yellow Birds
byKevin Powers

Nonfiction
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1945-1956
by Anne Applebaum

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo*
*love

The Boy Kings of Texas
by Domingo Martinez

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East
by Anthony Shadid

Young People’s Literature
Goblin Secrets
by William Alexander

Out of Reach
by Carrie Arcos

Never Fall Down
by Patricia McCormick

Endangered
by Elliot Schrefer

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the Worlds Most Dangerous Weapon
by Steve Sheinkin

Poetry
Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations
by David Ferry

Heavenly Bodies
by Cynthia Huntington

Fast Animal
by Tim Seibles

Night of the Republic
by Alan Shapiro

Meme
by Susan Wheeler

Have you read any of these books? Which one are you most likely to pick up?