The National Book Award Project 2014

The National Book Award Longlists came out this week, and I was slightly dismayed to realize I've only read one book on them so far. Now, I know, I know - no award is really a measure of what books are best or necessary to read, and the nominations are not unproblematic. Like everyone else, I'm disappointed by how overwhelming male the nonfiction list is, and I'm sure there are myriad other diversity issues I will notice as I look at the lists in greater detail.

But, let's face it, I've never met a list I didn't want to tackle. Reading from this list would make me branch out and read some things I might otherwise not pick up, and it's always fun to have Opinions on The Matters of the Day. And really? It's back to school time and I miss homework. So let's see how many I can read! The finalists will be announced on October 15th, so I'll narrow my focus then, and the winners on November 19th.

I'm going to try to get as many of these as possible from the library, so this will also be an interesting exercise in seeing what a small (?) city's public library has, and whether they order more as we go along. I'll check in each Friday and let you know what has come in at the library, what I've read, etc.

So here's the list, and starting status:

Fiction:

• Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman - Currently available at library.
• Molly Antopol, The UnAmericans - Currently available at library.
• John Darnielle, Wolf in White Van - Yes, that John Darnielle. Not available at library.
• Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See - Added myself to the library waitlist. I'm #13.
• Phil Klay, Redeployment - At the library but checked out. I'm #1 on the waitlist.
• Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven - At the library but checked out. I'm first on the waitlist.
• Elizabeth McCracken, Thunderstruck & Other Stories - At the library but checked out. I'm first on the waitlist.
• Richard Powers, Orfeo - Currently available at library.
• Marilynne Robinson, Lila - This is on order at the library, but it's also the third of a trilogy. So I need to start with Gilead.
• Jane Smiley, Some Luck - This isn't out yet, but the library has it on order. I'm third on the waitlist.

Nonfiction:

• Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? - At the library but checked out. I'm #3 on the waitlist.
• John Demos, The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic - Currently available at library.
• Anand Gopal, No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes - At the library but checked out. I'm first on the waitlist.
• Nigel Hamilton, The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941 - 1942 - At the library but checked out. I'm second on the waitlist.
• Walter Isaacson, The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution - This isn't out yet, but the library has it on order. I'm first on the waitlist.
• John Lahr, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh - In processing at the library. And this is the point at which I notice it's 765 pages and decide to stop putting things on hold until I get through a few of the ones already available, so I don't have ALL THE BOOKS AT ONCE.
• Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China - Currently available at library.
• Ronald C. Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 - Not available at library.
• Matthew Stewart, Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic - Not available at library.
• Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence - This isn't out yet, and the library does not have it on order.

Poetry:

• Linda Bierds, Roget's Illusion - Not available at library.
• Brian Blanchfield, A Several World - Not available at library.
• Louise Glück, Faithful and Virtuous Night - Currently available at library.
• Edward Hirsch, Gabriel: A Poem - Not available at library.
• Fanny Howe, Second Childhood - Not available at library.
• Maureen N. McLane, This Blue - Not available at library.
• Fred Moten, The Feel Trio - Not available at library.
• Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric - This isn't out yet, and the library does not have it on order.
• Spencer Reece, The Road to Emmaus - Not available at library.
• Mark Strand, Collected Poems - This isn't out yet, and the library does not have it on order.

Young People's Literature:

• Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory - Hey, I've read this! It was great. (The library does have it, for the record.)
• Gail Giles, Girls Like Us - Currently available at library.
• Carl Hiaasen, Skink—No Surrender - Not available at library, and this is apparently number SEVEN in a series, so . . . we'll see.
• Kate Milford, Greenglass House - I coincidentally took this out from the library last night, because people keep raving about it.
• Eliot Schrefer, Threatened - At the library but checked out.
• Steve Sheinkin, The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights - In processing at the library.
• Andrew Smith, 100 Sideways Miles - Currently available at library.
• John Corey Whaley, Noggin - At the library but checked out.
• Deborah Wiles, Revolution: The Sixties Trilogy, Book Two - The library has book one, but book two only in audiobook so far.
• Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming - On order at the library. I happened to put this on hold yesterday and am first on the waitlist.

Summary: The library has or has ordered 9/10 fiction, 7/10 nonfiction, 1/10 poetry, and 8/10 young people's literature. Good showing for everything but poetry! I've currently read one, have one out from the library, and am on the waitlists for nine. Next time I go to the library I'll pick up a few of the ones that are on the shelf.