The Pen American Center announced its longlist for their 2015 literary awards and we were very happy to see several National Book Award and 5 Under 35 Honorees on the list.
The finalists for the National Book Critics Circle awards were announced and several National Book Award Finalist books made the list. The works of John Lahr, Roz Chast, Marilynne Robinson, and Rabih Alameddine were all nominated and Claudia Rankine became the first National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist nominated in two categories: criticism and poetry.
In addition, Phil Klay, who won the National Book Award for his short-story collection Redeployment, will be awarded the John Leonard prize for the best debut book.
Books inform my books. Whenever I get stuck, I begin to read fiendishly. Some scene, a sentence, a turn of phrase, will spark a fire.
So lovely.
An Unnecessary Woman is a Finalist for the National Book Award. You can learn more about its author, Rabih Alameddine, and his remarkable character, Aaliya, here.
Congratulations to Rabih Alameddine (AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN) and all the other authors who made the shortlist for the National Book Award! And thank you for allowing readers to “let the wall crumble just a bit.”
cc: nationalbook
Rabih Alameddine hears the news that An Unnecessary Woman has been Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction. (Via @AragiAuthorNews)
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
