The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced the Indie Choice Book Awards. Awards will be chosen in seven categories:
- Best Indie Buzz (fiction)
- Best Conversation Starter (nonfiction)
- Best Author Discovery (debut)
- Best Picture Book
- Best YA Buzz Book
- Most Engaging Author
- Picture Book Hall of Fame
The award “reflects the spirit of ABA member booksellers in the IndieBound movement and their dedication to handselling unique, thought-provoking, engaging fiction and nonfiction, children’s and YA titles.” The finalists for the first five categories will be chosen by a jury of booksellers from books listed in the previous years Indie Next List and then all members will be able to vote for the winner. The Most Engaging Author Award will go to an author who is great at readings and who has displayed a sense of how independent bookstores are important to their community. There could be up to three picture books inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame each year and there will not be a publication date limitation on that award. The winners will be announced at the BookExpo America in May.
Which book or author do you think should win? I love the Indie Next Lists, but they aren’t seared into my brain, so I’m going to give it my best shot without that limitation, in fact, since it’s a new award, without any publication limitation:
- Best Indie Buzz Book – I think Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri has a good shot, I would love to see America, America: A Novel by Ethan Canin win
- Best Conversation Starter – it doesn’t qualify because it was published years ago, but the nonfiction book that first came to my mind was Freakonomics by Steve D. Levit and Stephen J. Dubner
- Best Author Discovery – The Story of Edward Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski will probably win, but I’d love to Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson win
- Best Picture Book – My kids are older so I don’t read many anymore, but I loved Mr. Lincoln’s Boys by Staton Rabin, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
- Best YA Buzz Book – I’ll ask my daughter to comment with her suggestion, she’s the expert in this house. While I enjoyed Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer, I hope someone else wins
- Most Engaging Author – while I doubt he is on tour this year, I’ve been to two Michael Chabon author events and he was engaging, informative, personal, and I’ve talked about what he’s said about community long after I heard him
- Picture Book Hall of Fame – Time for Bed by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jane Dyer, it’s so beautiful it almost makes you want to have another child, almost
What are you suggestions for any of these awards? I’d love to hear them!
Tags: ABA, award, indiebound
Reply
Recent Articles
-
Wonderful Video of What Happens in a Bookstore at Night
I’ve been in a bit of a posting slump, but I’m working my way out and what better way to start the new year than with this lovely stop action video, “The Joy of Books,” about what happens in Type bookstore at night. I can’t wait to visit Toronto just to stop by Type Books to [...]
-
Scrambling For A Last Minute Gift? Head To Your Local Bookstore!
Farhad Manjoo ignited the latest round of ‘will the local bookstore survive’ with his “Don’t Support Your Local Bookstore” tirade on Slate. (I couldn’t fail to notice that while Salon promotes a campaign to support local bookstores, Slate is bashing them.) Numerous responses Manjoo were published, twitter feeds with special hashtags popped up, and even [...]
-
57th Street Books – Chicago, IL
57th Street, the actual street, is perfect for the meandering bookworm. We started with lunch at the graffiti clad Medici Restaurant. Famous for its burgers and scribbled upon walls and furnishings, we filled the time waiting for our food by adding our own “tags” to the table top. More importantly, within blocks there are three [...]
-
Essay Challenge Recap
I coming in just under the wire this year, this challenge must be completed today!! The Essay Challenge over at Books and Movies is the only one I joined this year, even so, I didn’t keep up with it the way I have the past two years. Not that I haven’t read essays all year [...]
-
Salon says “Support Your Local Bookstore!”
In the latest pitch to keep bookstores alive and well, or at least breathing, Salon.com gave credit to indies for finding and promoting the latest excellent book most of us don’t know: An independent bookstore brings a lot to a city or a town: a showroom for the latest literary releases, an auditorium where authors [...]
-
Small Business Saturday – Shop at Local Businesses on November 26th!
Actually shop at them as much as possible, they are the engine that drives your local economy. But, let’s give the little guys a leg up in the middle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Drop by a local business, chat with a real person, and contribute to your neighborhood economy by purchasing a Christmas [...]
-
Which authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?
Taking a riff from NPR’s story last week about which deceased composers Miles Hoffman would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, I pondered the same question for authors and asked quite a few friends. Here are the guidelines: which dead authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Which author would you invite to give a reading Thanksgiving [...]
-
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Opens Today
One of the pleasures of having a teenage daughter is the opportunity to share silly, girlly experiences. While I understand all of the criticism about the Twilght series, and agree with some, as I’ve written before, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Even more, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the sheer reading fun with my daughter. [...]
-
Abbey Books & Gifts – Valyermo, CA
I spent just over 24 hours last week at St. Andrews Abbey. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoy joining the monks in the Daily Office. For those of you new to that term (and that would’ve been me a couple of years ago), it’s the practice of pausing at several set times through out the [...]
-
Alexander Book Co. – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Book Co. is a traditional independent bookstore tucked around a corner in downtown San Francisco. Wedged between office towers and the Academy of Arts complex, it’s a cozy respite from steel, glass, and marble. The store even smells like good books waiting to be discovered. The first time I tried to visit the store, [...]
No comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2009/02/indie-choice-book-awards/trackback/