Finalists Announced for Indie Choice Book Awards

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced the finalists for the 2009 Indies Choice Book Awards.  We wrote about these awards earlier, so let’s go straight to the list:

Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction)

• City of Thieves, by David Benioff
• The Given Day, by Dennis Lahane
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
• Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill
• People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
• Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri (just as I predicted)

All of these books are worth the time to read them, but I think Netherland is going to win.  It just won the Pen/Faulkner Award and what better way to predict the future than to look at the past.

Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction)

• American Buffalo, by Steven Rinella
• The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins
• Hurry Down Sunshine, by Michael Greenberg
• A Voyage Long and Strange, by Tony Horwitz
• What I Talk About when I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami
• The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell

I own The Forever War and A Voyage Long and Strange, I have The Wordy Shipmates on my “to buy” list, but unfortunately I have yet to read any of them.  So no prediction for this category. 

Best Author Discovery (Debut)

• Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
• Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
• The Story of Forgetting, by Stefan Merrill Block
• White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

This is a tough competition, not only are the books very good, White Tiger won the Man Book Prize, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle won a spot on Oprah’s Book Club and to give the award posthumously to Stieg Larsson certainly adds a dramatic touch.  On the theory that the past points to the future, White Tiger should win, but I haven’t heard a single negative comment about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, so I’m going to guess it’s the winner.

Best Young Adult Buzz Book (Fiction)

• Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
• The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
• Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
• Little Brother, by Cory Doictorow
• My Most Excellent Year, by Steve Kluger
• Savvy, by Ingrid Law

The Graveyard Book won the Newbery, so it’s hard not to think it could win again.  My daughter, a voracious reader, hasn’t heard of any them, I guess another trip to the bookstore is in order.

Best new Picture Book

• Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies
• Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo & Harry Bliss
• Monkey and Me, by Emily Gravett
• The Pout Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen & Dan Hanna
• Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox & Helen Oxenbury
• Wave, by Suzi Lee

My kids are too old for picture books, so I don’t read many anymore; however, competing against a book written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury is akin to being nominated for Best Actress with Merrill Streep.

Most Engaging Author

• Sherman Alexie
• Michael Chabon
• Ann Patchett
• John Scieszka
• David Sedaris
• Terry Tempest Williams

I previously wrote that Michael Chabon should win, and I still believe that, but David Sedaris must be a blast at a bookstore event.  I’ve only seen him in a large auditorium and my policy is to always go to the bathroom before one of his talks because I laugh so hard . . . well you get the point.

Picture Book Hall of Fame (top three votes are inducted)

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,by Judith Viorst & Ray Cruz
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault & Lois Ehlert
• Cordury, by Don Freeman
• Curious George, by H.A. Rey
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Wilems
• Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann
• The Little Engine that Could, by Peggy Rathmann
• Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
• Napping House, by Audrey Wood
• Stellaluna, by Janelle Cannon
• The Stor of Ferdinand the Bull, by Munro Leaf & Robert Lawson
• Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Only three of these?  Good luck!  I’d pick Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  I still have that book memorized; I read it to my son multiple times a day every day for at least a year.  I think The Little Engine That Could should win not only because it’s a great story, but it has become a cultural reference.  Most Americans know what you mean when you say “the little engine that could.”  My last pick is Where the Wild Things Are because it talks about scary things in a way that makes them less frightening, a true gift to children.

Which books do you think should win?  We’d love to hear, drop us a comment and let us know.