List of the Day: National Book Critics Circle Award

First awarded in 1976, the National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote the finest books and reviews published in English.

The main awards fall into six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Memoir/Autobiography, Biography, and Criticism. Awards are not given to titles that have been previously published in English, such as re-issues and paperback editions.

This is the list of fiction winners. Those I have read are in red. Those currently on my TBR shelf are in blue.

2010 A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

2009 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here)

2008 2666 by Robert Bolano

2007 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

2005 The March by E.L. Doctorow

2004 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (reviewed here)

2003 The Known World by Edward P. Jones

2002 Atonement by Ian McEwan

2001 Austerlitz by Winfried Georg Sebald

2000 Being Dead by Jim Crace

1999 Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

1998 The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro

1997 The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

1996 Women in Their Beds by Gina Berriault

1995 Mrs. Ted Bliss by Stanley Elkin

1994 The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

1993 A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

1992 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac Mccarthy (reviewed here)

1991 A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

1990 Rabbit at Rest by John Updike

1989 Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow

1988 The Middleman and Other Stories by Bharati Mukherjee

1987 The Counterlife by Philip Roth

1986 Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price

1985 The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

1984 Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

1983 Ironweed by William Kennedy

1982 George Mills by Stanley Elkin

1981 Rabbit is Rich by John Updike

1980 The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard

1979 The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan

1978 The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (reviewed here)

1977 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

1976 October Light by John C Gardner

NOTE

Last updated on September 22, 2011.

OTHERS READING THE BOOKS ON THIS LIST

(If you would like to be listed here, please leave a comment with links to your progress reports or reviews and I will add them here.)

Challenge Progress: The Sunshine Smackdown -- Battle of the Prizes

We have a couple of reviews to add to the Battle of the Prizes Challenge list. First, Caitlin at Chaotic Compendiums posted her review of Pulitzer winner Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Caitlin has now finished her National winner (Sophie's Choice, which she reviewed here) and her Pulitzer winner. She only has her "double dipper" to go and she will be the first to complete the challenge. Second, I finished my Pulitzer choice, Advise and Consent by Allen Drury. My review is posted here. Finally, as a little extra, I also reviewed March, the 2006 Pulitzer winner by Geraldine Brooks. That review is here.

Internet Review of Books

The June issue of the Internet Review of Books is up now. It is chock-o-block full of great reviews -- non-fiction and fiction -- plus a lively essay on how to get kids to read during their summer vacation. I am very pleased that IRB included my review of Basil's Dream by Christine Hale. The IRB version is longer than the version I posted here on Rose City Reader. Please browse the June issue. It really is good. And, for those interested, the IRB is looking for new reviewers.

Mailbox Monday

Only two books actually arrived in my mailbox last week, but I scored at the Rose City Used Book Fair. Since Mailbox Monday asks, "What books came to your house last week?" I will include them all. Here's the list: The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt by Rulka Langer (an upcoming reissue of this "war through a woman's eyes" WWII memoir) The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott (a novel about the Bosnian war) The Mansion by William Faulkner (a first edition not in particularly good shape) Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner (a first edition in very good shape) Selected Short Stories by John O'Hara (a Modern Library edition with a pristine dust jacket -- cool!) Ricochet River by Robin Cody (a first edition of an Oregon classic) Chantecler by Edmond Rostand (a 1910 play about a rooster, from what I can tell -- I bought it for the terrific rooster on the cover and wish I could find a picture)

Niche Reading

Another late post for Booking Through Thursday -- maybe someday I will get the hang of this. This week's theme was "niche" reading:

There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.) But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that. What niche books do YOU read?

This one is a double dipper for me. There are two types of books that I love to collect and read that are off the beaten track compared to my usual literary fiction. The first type is vintage cocktail books. I also like modern books about vintage cocktails, but my favorites are the old books: The Mixer's Manual by Patrick Gavin Duffy (this has a great cover, although it is hard to see in this picture) Trader Vic's Bartender Guide (1948 edition) (mine is missing its cover, so not interesting to look at) Esquire's Handbook for Hosts (1949 edition) Esquire Party Book (1965 edition) These books inspire me. The second type of niche book I enjoy is needlepoint books -- the fancy kind with glossy pictures. I have only made one pillow out of these books in 20 years, but I love looking at them and have a fantasy that I will make all the projects I bookmark. At one pillow every 20 years, I'll have to live to be 680 to finish them all. My favorites are: Beth Russell's Traditional Needlepoint Beth Russell's William Morris Needlepoint And for sheer entertainment value: Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men