Archive for the ‘awards’ Category
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
The £20,000 BBC Samuel Johnson Non-Fiction Prize was awarded recently in London to none other than Philip Hoare for Leviathan, or The Whale.
From the prize website:
In Leviathan, Philip Hoare seeks to locate and identify his life-long obsession with this mythical creature of the sea. From his childhood fascination with the gigantic models of London’s Natural History Museum to adult encounters with the wild animals themselves, Philip Hoare has been obsessed with whales. Leviathan is a gripping voyage of discovery into the heart of this obsession and Moby-Dick, the book that inspired it. Travelling around the globe and taking the reader deep into the whale’s domain, Philip Hoare sheds light on our perennial fascination with whales, whose nature remains tantalizingly undiscovered.
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Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
More science fiction news this morning, Cory Doctorow and Ian MacLeod were announced as the joint winners of the John W. Campbell award for the best science fiction novel of the year. It was Doctorow’s Little Brother and MacLeod’s Song of Time which won them the honors.
It’s only the third time that the balloting has resulted in a tie the other two being in 1974, Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and Robert Merle’s Malevil tied. In 2002, Jack Williamson’s Terraforming Earth and Robert Charles Wilson’s The Chronoliths tied.
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Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
The 2009 Locus awards for the best science fiction books were announced yesterday. You can see the whole list of winners at their website but here are the highlights
Sci fi novel: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Fantasy novel: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
First novel: Singularity’s Ring by Paul Melko
YA book: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Novella: Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
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Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Congratulations to Tim Winton, whose novel Breath is the winner of this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award.
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Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Announced just now, Michael Thomas’ book Man Gone Down has been awarded the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - one of the richest literary prizes available at 100,000 euros.
The judges had this to say about the novel:
We never know his name. But the African-American protagonist of Michael Thomas’ masterful debut, Man Gone Down, will stay with readers for a long time. He lingers because this extraordinary novel comes to us from a writer of enthralling voice and startling insight. Tuned urgently to the way we live now, the winner of the International Dublin IMPAC Prize 2009 is a novel brilliant in its scope and energy, and deeply moving in its human warmth
This marks the first time that an American has won the award
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Thursday, June 11th, 2009
An IT director Farahad Zama’s has been awarded the Melissa Nathan award for comedy romance, beating out an five other shortlisted authors, all female.
The Guardian reports that Zama is the first man to win the award and that he wrote this, his debut, novel in 300 word chunks on his 40 minute commute to work.
The Novel The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is, as Zama discribes it, “not a typical chick lit book. It’s set in India, and deals with reasonably serious topics – but at heart it is a romantic novel.”
This is the second year that the Melissa Nathan award has been given, it comes with a £5,000 prize, is the only award in the UK for comedy romance, and is awarded in memory of Melissa Nathan - a bestselling athor who died of cancer in 2006.
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
Congratulations to Edward L. Ferman (editor and publisher), Michael Whelan (artist), Frank R. Paul (artist) and Connie Willis (author) on being the 2009 inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
The four join the ranks of such celebrated names as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Jules Verne, and many many more.
I’m happy to see Connie Willis in there, finally -I think The Doomsday Book is among the finest pieces of science fiction ever written. It’s an excellent book.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame is found at the EMP/SFM (Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum) in Seattle, which, if you’ve never attended, is a pretty cool and fascinating way to spend a half day or so (no fewer than three hours - last time I went I rushed, and was pretty disappointed).
Posted in AbeBooks, awards, books, fantasy, prize, science fiction | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
Anthony Browne, author and illustrator of such books as Willy the Chimp, Gorilla and Zoo has been named Britain’s sixth laureate for children. 
Browne intends to use his two year appointment as laureate to promote illustrated books which he feels are undervalued - “I’ve heard parents say, ‘oh you don’t want to get a book like that, come and get a proper book’. I think it’s a terrible shame that picture books and pictures in general (are viewed in this way),” Browne commented to Reuters.
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Marilynne Robinson has won this years Orange Prize for Fiction, for her third novel, Home; a companion novel to her Pulitzer Prize winning effort Gilead.
If you’re looking for a nice little momento I suggest a signed copy, as there is a decent chance they will only go up in value from here onward.
The £30,000 prize, which is given to the best work of English-language fiction by a female author, was awarded earlier today in London.
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Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
On May 19 student jurors chose Canadian author, Mélanie Watt’s Chester’s Back! as the picture book category winner of the 2009 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards.
As a tribute, Tales for Tots this week looks back at the first Chester book (published in 2007).
Chester is really a story within a story. Chester, an egomaniacal cat (go figure), attempts to take over Mélanie Watt’s tale of a mouse that lives in the country. (I guess he succeeds since the book is called Chester. ) The two battle for control as Chester scribbles his own ideas down in red marker. The mouse exclaims that he can’t work under such conditions and Watts brings out her ultimate weapon - you’ll have to read the book to find out what that is! :)
Chester is a clever book, full of humor, gentle sarcasm and an entertaining battle-of-the-wills. Both parents and cat-people will relate to the difficulties Watts faces throughout the story. :) Watt’s illustrations are priceless (I especially love the wet cat image!) and there’s lots of “little things” that can be seen outside of the main images.
I highly recommend Chester and I can’t wait to take a look at Chester’s Back!
Posted in Canada, author, awards, books, children's book, humor, illustration, reading, review | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Not to be confused with the Man Booker Prize, the International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author whose work has contributed to fiction on the world stage.
Alice Munro is the third recipient of this prize, previous winners were Ismail Kadaré in 2005 and Chinua Achebe in 2007.
We were all quite excited to hear this news, since Alice Munro is Canadian (like us) and has close ties to Victoria (where AbeBooks HQ is located).
Back in 1951 Alice married James Munro and the couple moved west and had some children. In 1966 they opened Munro’s Books, a Victoria landmark and one of the nicest bookstores you will find in Canada.
So a big congratulations to Alice Munro, I’m sure she will enjoy the £60,000 prize.
Posted in Canada, author, awards, prize | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Australian author Christos Tsiolkas has won the £10,000 Commonwealth writers’ prize for his controversial novel about the consequences of hitting someone else’s child. The Slap is also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award. God forgive me, but I have wanted to belt a large number of other people’s children in my six-year career as a father.
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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
David Herbert Donald, historian of the Civil War and American South revered by peers for his expertise on Abraham 
Lincoln died of heart failure on Sunday, May 17, 2009. He was 88 years old.
Donald who first published a book on the 16th President of the United States 50 years ago, leaves behind a legacy of books on Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, a single-volume biography, was released in 1996 and became so popular that presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole both claimed to be reading it.
Donald won the Pulitzer Prize twice - first for Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War and then for Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe.
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Thursday, May 14th, 2009
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Zen Ties by Jon J Muth
Each year in conjunction with Children’s Book Week, the Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only child chosen book awards program in the U.S., are announced. This year, from March 16 to May 3, more than 220,000 children voted for their favourite books and last night the winners were announced. Drum roll please . . .
The children have spoken and the winners are:
Kindergarten to Grade 2 Book of the Year
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems
Grades 3 to 4 Book of the Year
Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams
Grades 5 to 6 Book of the Year
Thirteen by Lauren Myracle
Teen Choice
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Author of the Year
Stephenie Meyer
Illustrator of the Year
Jon J Muth (Zen Ties)
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