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Winner of the National Book Award
Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather | Jincy Willett
19 posts | 8 read | 5 to read
Winner of the National Book Award, the long-awaited novel from the author of the acclaimed collection, Jenny and the Jaws of Life, is an unusual and wonderful novel that is somehow able to be at once bleak and hilarious, light-hearted and profound. It's the story of two sisters. Abigail Mather is a woman of enormous appetites, sexual and otherwise. Her fraternal twin Dorcas couldn't be more different: she gave up on sex without once trying it, and she lives a controlled, dignified life of the mind. Though Abigail exasperates Dorcas, the two love each other; in fact, they complete each other. They are an odd pair, set down in an odd Rhode Island town, where everyone has a story to tell, and writers, both published and unpublished, carom off each other like billiard balls. What is it that makes the two women targets for the new man in town, the charming schlockmeister Conrad Lowe, tall, whippet-thin and predatory? In Abigail and Dorcas he sees a new and tantalizing challenge. Not the mere conquest of Abigail, with her easy reputation, but a longer and more sinister game. A game that will lead to betrayal, shame and, ultimately, murder. In her darkly comic and unsettling first novel, Jincy Willett proves that she is a true find: that rare writer who can explore the shadowy side of human nature with the lightest of touches.
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Hooked_on_books
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The National Book Awards were announced tonight and here are the winners (in the categories I follow)! I‘m delighted with the NF winner and I certainly can‘t argue about Everett getting his due (though a part of me wanted to see My Friends take it). The translated pick is the only one I haven‘t read yet, as it only came out last week, so I‘m looking forward to seeing what I think.

AmyG Happy to see James won. Excellent book. 4d
45 likes1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
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And the final NBA longlist is out, fiction! I really don‘t know what to think about it, since I thought All Fours was absolute garbage, but I‘m so happy to see James and My Friends, as I thought both were terrific. I‘ve also read Martyr, which I didn‘t love, but I know a lot of people did. I‘m curious to dive into the other six.

BarbaraBB I read those four too (and loved All Fours!). Of the remaining books I want to read Rejection and The Most for sure! 2mo
peaKnit Agree on All Fours! But loved James! 2mo
32 likes2 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Today‘s National Book Award longlist is the one I was most excited for: Nonfiction. I‘ve read Knife but none of the rest of these. I‘m a little disappointed to see neither the superb Challenger nor anything related to Gaza on here, but am looking forward to digging into this list.

ChaoticMissAdventures The only one I have read and one I absolutely adore is Hanif Abdurraqib's. I don't care a thing about basketball or Ohio but I was enthralled by this. His writing is gorgeous, and every essay reminds you that he won the MacArthur genius award for a reason. Highly recommend, and if you haven't read his They Can't Kill Us yet, read that one too! 2mo
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Hooked_on_books @ChaoticMissAdventures That‘s good to know. I‘ve only ever heard people gush about him and I tried They Can‘t Kill Us years ago and just couldn‘t get into it. I intend to at least try every book on this list, so if I like his even half as much as you did, I‘ll be in good shape! 2mo
Hooked_on_books @Megabooks I think Unshrinking is the one on this list I‘m most intrigued by. I put in my hold already! 2mo
BarbaraBB Can‘t wait for the fiction longlist! 2mo
squirrelbrain These all sound fabulous. You‘ll have to let me know which you like / love and I‘ll use my Libro.fm credits for them. 2mo
37 likes7 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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It‘s here, it‘s here, my favorite week of the year! The National Book Awards longlists are being released this week. First up is translated literature! I‘ve only even heard of one of these and am a little annoyed that one won‘t be released until after the awards in November. 🙄 But I‘m excited to dig into this list! The list for young people‘s books is also out today.

BarbaraBB Wow, I haven‘t heard of any of these books and of the authors I‘ve only ever read Fernando Vallejo. 3mo
vlwelser I have the bunny one and pink slime on my radar. I should get my act together and actually read them. 2mo
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Hooked_on_books
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The 2023 National Book Award winners are in! These are the 3 categories I have been following. The fiction and translated winners are both my second choices, so I‘m pretty pleased with those. And the nonfiction choice is an excellent book. Now I get to start waiting for next year‘s lists! 😂

BarbaraBB Thanks for sharing. I haven‘t read any of them. Hopefully they‘ll be on the ToB longlist! 12mo
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Hooked_on_books
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Congrats to all the 2022 National Book Award winners! I read and didn‘t love the YA winner, but I‘m not unhappy with any of these choices. The best part? Four of the five are women! 🥳

ChaoticMissAdventures I always think I am doing well reading and keeping up with books. Then these awards come out and I have only head of one (bought All My Rage, but haven't read it yet) and it just makes me realize how big the publishing world is. Never getting to all these books! 2y
51 likes1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
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Today‘s the big day! These are the 5 finalists for the National Book Award for fiction. I enjoyed the top 3, thought the Mathews was ok, and hated the Jones. My vote goes to Hajji Hotak, but I‘d be happy to see any of the top 3 win.

Cinfhen Ohhhh, thanks for the reminder!! 2y
BarbaraBB I only read two but loved them both. I haven‘t read your favorite but certainly will - I hope some of them will pop up in the #ToB23! 2y
Hooked_on_books @BarbaraBB Any idea when they‘ll release the TOB long list? I‘ve been hunting for it but not finding it. It was already out at this time last year, so I‘m frankly getting a little worried. 2y
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BarbaraBB Me too! Half november normally so I hope it‘ll be any day now! 2y
Megabooks I‘m rooting for the short stories or the rabbit hutch. 🤞🏻 it‘s not birdcatcher 🙄 2y
Megabooks The Rabbit Hutch won!!! @BarbaraBB 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 2y
BarbaraBB @Megabooks Wow! My favorite! 2y
Hooked_on_books @BarbaraBB @Megabooks A worthy winner! And I‘m SO glad The Birdcatcher didn‘t win! 2y
48 likes8 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Today‘s the big day! These are the 5 finalists in nonfiction for the National Book Award and all are good books, well worth reading. My favorite two are the top two and my vote goes to George Floyd, which is phenomenal. But, frankly, I won‘t be unhappy with any of these winning.

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Hooked_on_books
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And the grand paboo of this lists is up, fiction! I‘m mystified, as I haven‘t even heard of most of these! Not sure if I love that or if it drives me crazy. I do own one of these, and I‘m certainly looking forward to researching the rest!

Librariana It was one of my birthday purchases! 2y
jlhammar I really want to read Shutter! 2y
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BarbaraBB I don‘t know any of them, but I can‘t wait to check them out! 2y
Hooked_on_books @Librariana I‘ve finally been able to sit down and start researching these books, and that one sounds fascinating! 2y
Megabooks Same! I‘ve only read one and haven‘t heard of half of them. That isn‘t usually the case for me. 2y
Hooked_on_books @Megabooks I have now researched them all and many of them sound fascinating, so I‘m excited to start digging in. Eight of them are debuts! 2y
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Hooked_on_books
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The nonfiction list is out! This is the one I was most excited for and frankly…I‘m a bit underwhelmed. I‘ve read South to America, and it was good, but I‘m frustrated to see a book on here about Ted Kennedy when I‘ve read two absolutely amazing nonfiction books recently, An Immense World and Eating to Extinction, that are not here. What gives, NBA committee?

squirrelbrain Well, if you‘re disappointed it must be bad. 😞 I don‘t think I‘ve even heard of any of these… 🤷‍♀️ 2y
SamAnne Hmmmm. 2y
Megabooks The Invisible Kingdom was very good! 2y
Megabooks But yeah, not very excited about the Kennedy bio. 👎🏻 2y
36 likes4 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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I know many of you follow the Booker closely, but I‘ve found the NBA lists usually hew closer to my taste. I get super excited to see the lists every year, especially for fiction, nonfiction, and translated lit. The list reveals started today, with TL up first! I tried the Tokarczuk a few months ago and it wasn‘t for me, and I have The Employees and Scattered. Of the others, I‘m most excited for Jawbone. I can‘t wait for NF tomorrow!

ChaoticMissAdventures I have only read one and I enjoyed it,.but don't think I understood it - 2y
vivastory I have heard very interesting things about Jawbone. I think it'd be a wonderful book for the fall season 2y
Ruthiella I didn‘t even know about this prize! I have Employees on my library holds list! 2y
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Cinfhen Thanks for sharing ♥️I bailed on this one….it was wayyyy too daunting 2y
squirrelbrain Don‘t show me more lists! Actually, do…. 😁 I haven‘t read any of these and Books of Jacob is HUGE! 2y
Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain Ha ha, I‘ll be posting the nonfiction and fiction lists when they pop up! Get your TBR ready! 😈 2y
Hooked_on_books @Ruthiella They added translated lit a couple years ago. I‘m so glad they did—I‘ve read some great books because of it. 2y
charl08 Yay a booklist! Thanks for posting. 2y
jlhammar Oh, fun! I hadn't noticed that the NBA 2022 longlist announcements started. Thanks for the heads-up! I own Books of Jacob, but haven't tackled it yet. I've heard good things about the Fosse Septology and am intrigued by the Tawada. 2y
BarbaraBB Thanks for posting. I just bought the Tswana because @vivastory wrote so lovingly about it! 2y
vivastory @BarbaraBB I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it! 2y
Megabooks Riverhead is sending me this and I am so excited!! 2y
Hooked_on_books @Megabooks I read her first book (or the first translated one, anyway) and wasn‘t a fan. I‘ve been hesitant to try her again since. But I‘ve read the three categories I posted for the last 2 prize years and was planning to do the same again, so I better get willing to try her again! 2y
44 likes13 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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I have finished reading the 2021 NBA fiction longlist and starred the five books I would have put on the shortlist (the five upper ones are the actual shortlist). If I could pick 6, Abundance would be in there as well. I think Matrix would be my winner, but I‘m delighted Hell of a Book won. I have no idea what Zorrie and The Souvenir Museum are doing on this list. 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Suet624
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Enjoying watching the National Book Awards live on YouTube. Anyone else watching?

(Photo is the library in Hardwick, Vermont)

BarbaraBB Is it snowing already? Beautiful pic! (edited) 3y
Cathythoughts Gorgeous pic 💫 3y
Suet624 @BarbaraBB just a tiny bit of snow so far. This photo was from last year. 3y
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Mitch
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Yeah ! More good books! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

https://www.nationalbook.org/national-book-awards/submissions/

Hooked_on_books Last year‘s fiction winner notwithstanding, this is my favorite book award. I find it really aligns well with my taste in multiple categories. I can‘t wait to see the long lists! 5y
Mitch @Hooked_on_books me too👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 5y
60 likes2 comments
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wanderinglynn
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A lot of fascinating books on the National Book Award finalists lists. My TBR just got a lot longer.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768004308/here-are-the-finalists-for-the-2019-nat...

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8little_paws
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So starting this year there will be a 5th category for translated literature!? I'm excited for this and also nervous for the tbr damage it will inflict.

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LiteraryinPA
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Mehso-so

If you‘re like me, you haven‘t heard a lot about the author Jincy Willett. This is the second book of hers that I‘ve read, and my overwhelming advice to you is READ THE OTHER ONE. I absolutely loved Amy Falls Down. This one was still quirky with dark humor but it lacked the heart of the other one. I don‘t really recommend it, especially as your introduction to this original and creative writer.

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Megara
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No voting for me! I haven‘t read a single 2017 book. 😐

Also, add me on GoodReads, Littens!
/lovemegara

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8little_paws
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5/10 on the national book awards non-fiction longlist. Half there!