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#books #fiction #poetry #ya lit #reading #national book award #national book awards #nonficiton #yaThis week, we were thrilled to announce the Longlists for the 2019 National Book Awards. These titles in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature represent some of the best writing of the year. The Finalists will be announced October 8, all in the lead up to the 70th National Book Awards on November 20.
In the process of writing your book, what did you discover, what, if anything, surprised you?
Hanya Yanagihara (Fiction): One of the less-discussed perks (if one could call it that) of writing fiction is that affords you a perfectly good excuse to ask people all sorts of nosy questions about their jobs. Work – how it gives us an identity, how it gives our lives shape, how it can offer us a different way of seeing ourselves, and others to see us – is an important part of A LITTLE LIFE, and interviewing people (friends and friends of friends) about their careers in architecture, film, and the law was one of the book’s great pleasures. I was surprised, again and again, by my interviewees’ passion and eloquence and generosity, and fascinated by their descriptions of the various micro-societies in which they spent their working lives.
In the process of writing your book, what did you discover, what, if anything, surprised you?
Sy Montgomery (author of The Soul of an Octopus): In the process of writing this book, I was surprised at every turn: that octopuses taste with their skin. That most of their neurons are not in the brains, but in their arms. That their touch–one that many naturalists I admire found repulsive–was so soft, and that their suckers–dextrous enough to untie knots in surgical silk, and strong enough that just one sucker might lift 30 pounds–were capable of great tenderness. But what surprised me most was that a creature so unlike us was clearly capable of forming bonds with humans, and that my relationships with each individual octopus changed forever the way I understand what it means to think, to feel and to know.
Last week, we announced our the 40 books longlisted for the National Book Awards in Young People’s Literature, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction. Excited readers across the country joined us in celebrating these remarkable books, and here are some of our favorite online reactions.
Here are the 10 books longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award for Poetry!
All of me gets poured into those words on the page. I feel terror and joy. I feel hope and despair. I laugh a lot. I cry a lot. I hope that there is some kind of balance in myself and in the stories—life is hard and beautiful and strange.
Discover the ten poetry collections longlisted for the National Book Award!
alwaysbringabookwithyou
all-these-paperback-dreams
Barnes and Nobles is gonna start serving food and alcohol.
Everybody’s cracking jokes about how it’s a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the age of Amazon.
But you know what? Props to them. This is exactly what Blockbuster didn’t do. At no point was Blockbuster like “Hey, movie rentals aren’t the lucrative enterprise they once were. Perhaps it’s time we become known for our cheesy garlic bread.”
that’s a fantastic plan, honestly? i would 100% go sit at a bookshop, buy a glass of wine, and pick up the newest biography. 50/50 i’d decide to buy it after a couple chapters, and even if i don’t, that’s still money i spent at B&N!
They could host book clubs with food and drinks where one of the employees shares their experiences with a book of their choice and tries to convince the guests to buy it.
Barnes and noble realizing the only reason people go to brick and mortar stores is for the experience and access to an enjoyable physical space they can socialize in (sure isnt for the price) and capitalizing on that is a stroke of genius and a really refreshing approach to the dilemma of competing with online stores
