Just being one of the finalists is reason for celebration! The National Book Critics Circle has announced this year’s awards finalists, who will be getting together this evening to celebrate. The list of nominated books is a nifty way to get some suggestions for your reading plans. The National Book Critics Circle, started in 1974, is a non-profit organization of about 700 active book reviewers dedicated to honoring quality writing. The annual awards (winners to be announced on March 6 this year) are of keen interest to publishing insiders, librarians, booksellers and readers looking for “good reads.”
And the finalists are…
FICTION: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz, In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates, and The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins.
NONFICTION: American Transcendentalism by Philip Gura, What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe, Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington, Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner, and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman.
Go to Critical Mass (the blog of the NBCC) for the complete list of nominees in all categories.