I Love the Indie Choice Book Awards!

My favorite books awards are the Man Booker (I can’t think of a single winner that has disappointed me, okay, maybe one), the National Book Award (somewhat the American equivalent), and the Indie Choice Book Award.*  Why the Indie Choice Book Award?  My hobby is to visit independent bookstores and ask the bookseller what book she currently loves.  If I could visit all of the bookstores in the nation in one year (dream road trip!) and ask the same question, then pick the top answers for various genres, I’d come close to the nominees for the Indie Choice Awards.  The nominees are chosen by a jury of independent booksellers, then voted on by booksellers across the country who are members of the ABA.  These are the people I trust to guide my reading and the Indie Choice Awards distills their recommendations. These books are the best of the best, chosen by people who love books and working with readers.  How can you go wrong?  Here are this years choices:

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT FICTION

Border Songs, by Jim Lynch – Haven’t read, yet.

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin – Loved the quiet beauty of this book and how he used Pride and Prejudice as a model, brilliant.

The Children’s Book, by A.S. Byatt - I have heard a chorus of raves about this book, I’m going to read it this summer (yes, some of my reading is booked that far out).

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese – This has been a very popular book group choice.

Generosity: An Enhancement, by Richard Powers – I haven’t heard of it, which thrills me, can’t wait to learn more about it.

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel – Loved, loved, loved this book.

I’ve only read two of the books and I can’t decide between them!  Wolf Hall is a safe choice because it has already won the Man Booker.  The atmosphere of Brooklyn is intoxicating, so I’m going to predict it as the winner.  Note, I can’t vote because I don’t own a bookstore, but that doesn’t stop me for having an opinion.  Generally, very little stops me from having an opinion.

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT NONFICTION

Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin

Lit: A Memoir, by Mary Karr

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann

Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small

Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder

When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins

My non-fiction reading hit the skids last year, so many of these books are familiar to me, but I haven’t read them.  People have waited a long time for Lit and the New York Times named it one of the top ten books of 2009 (that’s another list I love).  However, nothing stops me from reading Gail Collins column in the NYT, it’s guaranteed to make me laugh.  I’m hoping Gail will win.

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT DEBUT

The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Piano Teacher, by Y.K. Lee

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larson

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

Who has any doubt the The Help will win?  I first heard about it from Haley at Between the Covers in Bend, OR.  I read it during a long drive (Keith was driving) that flew past as I was immersed in Stockett’s version of the South before the Civil Rights movement.

BOOK OF THE YEAR — YOUNG ADULT

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

Going Bovine, by Libba Bray

If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.)

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is the list my daughter waits for because she knows I’ll buy her every book she hasn’t read just to hear her opinion about them.  We both learned of The Hunger Games when it was nominated for the Indie Choice Award last year. We think Suzanne Collins was robbed last year when she didn’t win the award, so we’ll both be rooting for her.  Look for a post from Kelsey (if I can bribe her with books to write one) about the other options.

BOOK OF THE YEAR — MIDDLE READER

Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

A Season of Gifts, by Richard Peck

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

It feels like When You Reach Me is a slam dunk.  I keep forgetting that it’s a book for middle readers because adults loved it, my teenager loved it (the teenager is a harder sell, they’ve just advanced beyond middle reader books and are too “sophisticated” to look back) and, of course, it won the Newbery.  That being said, Claire and I read Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko years ago in our family book group and we loved it, so much so, I’m eager to read Al Capone Shines My Shoes.

BOOK OF THE YEAR — NEW PICTURE BOOK

All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon, Maria Frazee (illus.)

The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown

The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney

Listen to the Wind, by Greg Mortenson, Susan Roth (illus.)

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca

Otis, by Loren Long

Alas, these years are over for Claire and I, but if you’ve read any of these, let us know what you think!

MOST ENGAGING AUTHOR

(The author who is an in-store star as well as having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to the community.)

Isabel Allende

Laurie Halse Anderson

Libba Bray

Michael Chabon

Kate DiCamillo

Abraham Verghese

MICHAEL CHABON!  Hello?  Have you seen him?  Gorgeous, intelligent, funny and when I walked through the line with my son to get Summerland signed, he stopped everything and had a long chat with him about good books to read.  And if that isn’t enough, years ago he spoke at UCLA about over cautious parenting, it changed my view of many things.  Last July, that lecture appeared as an essay, READ IT.

PICTURE BOOK HALL OF FAME

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz

Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert

Corduroy, by Don Freeman

Curious George, by H.A. Rey

Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes

The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper

Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans

Napping House, by Audrey Wood

The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats

Stellaluna, by Janelle Cannon

The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson

Booksellers can vote for three.  If I was voting, I’d want to cast all three votes for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, I can still recite it, over ten years later.  In fact, it is the book I buy as a gift whenever a friend has a baby.  For some reason, the title escapes me and several times I’ve asked the bookseller, “I need the book:  A told B and B told C” and she knows which book I’m talking about, every time.

What do you think of the nominees?  Those of us who aren’t booksellers can’t vote, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

*I also love The Rooster, an award that is much more about the process than the winner, full of information and humor.