BW2: Akutagawa Prize

Courtesy of Archipelago Books

In my meandering around Japan and checking out translated books, I stumbled upon the Japanese literary Award - the Akutagawa Prize which is currently sponsored by the Society for Promotion of Japanese Literature.  It was established in 1935 by author and editor Kan Kikuchi of the Bungeishunju magazine in honor of the author Akutagawa Ryunosuku.  The award is rewarded semi-annually.  

It is  considered the most prestigious, yet controversial award in Japan because many authors feel that the prize should only go to authors that write in the proper, classic Japanese style while others feel it should go to modern young authors who deal with more current events.  This past year, one of the judges who'd been on the panel 17 years actually resigned because he felt the quality of works submitted had been very poor.  Which undoubtedly was insulting to the current winner, Shin'ya Tinaka. 

The whole list of prizewinners is available on goodreads here with links to various books. Have fun exploring.

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History of the Medieval World Readalong - Chapter 2, pp 13 - 20

Seeking the Mandate of Heaven (China 313 - 402) 

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BW31: The Man Booker Prize Long List for 2013

The long list for The Man Booker Prize for 2013 has just been announced this past week and there are some very interesting books on the list, some of which I've already added to my wishlist.  The Booker Prize foundation is a registered charity sponsored by The Man Group, an alternate investment management business.  The prize is awarded to the best full length novel written by an author who is a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published in the United Kingdom for the first time in the year of the prize. The story must be written in English and can not be self published.

The nominees are:

A Tale for the Time Being by  Ruth Ozeki

Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson

Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw 

 

Harvest by Jim Crace

The Kills by Richard House 

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Luminaries by  Eleanor Catton 

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by  Eve Harris 

The Spinning Heart by  Donal Ryan 

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin 

TransAtlantic by Colum McCann 

Unexploded by Alison MacLeod 

We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo

The shortlist will be announced September 10, 2013 and the winner on October 15, 2013 and the prize to the winner is £50,000.

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BW28: Christy Awards

The Christy Awards, named in honor of Catherine Marshall's most famous novel Christy, are given for excellence in Christian fiction:

The Christy Award is designed to:

• Nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview.
• Bring a new awareness of the breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the readership.
• Provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not have reached bestseller status.

The 2013 Winners were just announced and they are:

Contemporary Romance:  The Breath of Dawn by Karen Heitzmann from her Spencer Family series.
Nominees included Lethal Legacy by Irene Hannon and Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert

Historical Romance: Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden.
Nominees included Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof  and Love's Reckoning by Laura Frantz

 Contemporary Sequels, Series and Novellas:  You Don't Know Me by Susan May Warren
Nominees included Two Destinies by Elizabeth Musser and Waiting for Sunrise by Eva Marie Everson

Suspense:  Rare Earth by Davis Bunn.
Nominees included Downfall by Terri Blackstock, The Last Plea Bargain by Randy Singer and Submerged by Dani Pettrey

To see the rest of the categories, winners and finalists check out The Christy Awards website.  More books to add to your wishlists and mine.

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BW 50: Oh Canada!

As I mentioned last week, we have a Canadian Books mini challenge as well as a readalong  in the works for 2013 and I'm putting together a list of authors and books with the help of a few folks over at Well Trained Mind.  In my online wanderings I came across The Canada Council for the Arts 2012 Governor General's Literary Awards.  Awards in both English and French in seven categories: fiction, poetry, drama, non‑fiction, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation.

 It reminded me of something Yann Martel (author of Life of Pi) did back in 2007 when he attended the 50th Anniversary celebration for the council. He was quite unimpressed with Stephen Harper's disinterest in the event and went on to start a project which lasted until 2011 -- What is Stephen Harper reading?  Which is where Life of Pi caught my attention as well as a few other books on the list.  As long as Harper was Prime Minister, Martel vowed to send him a book every two weeks to read expanding on the virtue of stillness.  There are 101 books on the list which is just going to add to your TBR piles and wishlists, because quite a few are well worth reading.


Which brings me back to the 2012 Award Winners.  Click here to find the French winners and list of nominees.

Fiction: The Purchase by Linda Spalding

 Monkey Ranch by Julie Brock

Drama:  It is Solved by Walking by Catherine Banks

Non Fiction: Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King

Children Text: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen

Children Illustration:  Virginia Wolf

Translation:  Mai at the Predators' Ball by Nigel Spencer

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW30: 2012 Christy Award winners

The Christy Awards, named in honor of Catherine Marshall's most famous novel Christy, are given for excellence in Christian fiction:

The Christy Award is designed to:

• Nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview.
• Bring a new awareness of the breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the readership.
• Provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not have reached bestseller status.

The 2012 Winners were just announced and they are:

Contemporary Romance:  Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig
(Finalists included My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren and Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate)

Wolfsbane

 Contemporary Series: The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould
(Finalists included Dancing on Glass by Pamela Binnings Ewen and The Touch by Randall Wallace)

The Amish Midwife

Contemporary Standalone:  Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock
(Finalists included Dry as Rain by Gina Holmes and Words by Ginny Yttrup)

Promises to Keep

First Novel:  Words by Ginny Yttrup
(Finalists included An Eye for Glory by Karl Bacon and Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola)

Words

Historical:  Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
(Finalists included Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman and Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs)

Wonderland Creek

Historical Romance: The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
(Finalists included A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander and To Die For by Sandra Byrd)

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall

Suspense:  The Queen by Steven James
(Finalists included Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins and Pattern of Wounds by Mark Bertrand)

The Queen

  
Visionary:  Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
(Finalists included The Chair by James L. Rubart and Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee)

Veiled Rose

Young Adult:  Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
(Finalists included How Huge the Night by Heather Munn and Lydia Munn and The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson)

Waterfall

Yes, more books to add to your wishlist. *grin*  I'm looking forward to reading some of the winners books,  especially Steven James, and a few of the nominees.  The links all lead to the authors websites.

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