Archive
National Book Awards Finalists
Fiction
The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder (Norton)
News of the World by Paulette Jiles (Morrow)
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan (Viking)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (Amistad)
Nonfiction
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (The New Press)
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (Nation Books)
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Harvard University Press)
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon)
Poetry
The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky (Brooklyn Arts Press)
Collected Poems 1974-2004 by Rita Dove (Norton)
Archeophonics by Peter Gizzi (Wesleyan University Press)
The Abridged History of Rainfall by Jay Hopler (McSweeney’s)
Look by Solmaz Sharif (Graywolf Press)
Young People’s Literature
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (Little, Brown)
Ghost by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum)
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Delacorte)
hey! Spotify has AudioBooks too!
Here’s a little known tip. If you open Spotify, click “Browse” (in the left hand nav), then scroll way down to “Spoken Word,” you will find a number of free audiobook collections.
Get all the details from this openculture post
Athens Is World Book Capital 2018
Athens, Greece has been named World Book Capital 2018 “for the quality of its activities, supported by the entire book industry” by UNESCO director general Irina Bokova on the recommendation of an advisory committee, which includes representatives of the International Publishers Associations, the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions and UNESCO. The city was also lauded for its “cultural infrastructure and its expertise in organizing international events.”
Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital promote books and reading, as well as organize activities over the year starting April 23 with the celebration of World Book and Copyright Day. The purpose of 2018’s initiative is “to make books and reading accessible to the whole population, including to migrants and refugees.”
This year’s World Book Capital is Wroclaw, Poland, and next year’s will be Conakry, Guinea.
Thanks to Shelf Awareness for this story
Financial Times – Best Business Books of 2016
The Financial Times has posted their short list of the best business books of 2016.
Don’t forget if we don’t have it, we can get it. Just Ask!
Web Site of the Week: Booknotes: One Book. One Author. One Hour
Between 1989- 2007, C-SPAN aired the series Booknotes, an hour long interview with a single author of a nonfiction book (the show’s tagline: “One Book. One Author. One Hour”). The series was hosted by C-SPAN executive director Brian Lamb, who fastidiously read and annotated the entirety of any book featured on the show prior to interviewing each author. Recently, the staff of George Mason University Libraries has collected archival material related to the show. On this website, Booknotes fans can browse through photographs, listen to interviews; and examine Lamb’s original book annotations. These annotations are especially intriguing, as Lamb often crafted questions for his guests alongside his notes (for instance, inside Mikhail Gorbachev’s Memoirs, Lamb has scrawled “What do you think of Lenin now?”) Visitors can also Browse Collections or peruse 9 themed exhibits. [MMB]
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2016.
Web Site of the Week: ABC books
Alphabet books have been used for centuries and are often one of the first texts that young children will encounter. ABC books is an online collection of 55 English language alphabet books published between 1805-1987. These books were collected from the Cotsen Children’s Library for a spring 2016 Princeton University class on children’s literature and are available for the public to browse. As the website notes, these books reveal more than changing aesthetic sensibilities; each book provides insight into past conceptions of childhood, morality, humor, and education. Many books are designed to teach moral lessons alongside literacy lessons, including Take Your Choice! (1822) and Anti-Slavery Alphabet (1947). Others are intended to be humorous and a surprising number center around apple pie. Some books, as the site notes, include offensive images, highlighting the way stereotypes and prejudice were modeled and taught to children through text. While many are centered around text and rhyming couplets, others are centered on illustration, providing a glimpse into how design in children’s books throughout the past two centuries has evolved. [MMB]
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2016.
Web Site of the Week: History of Vaccines
The History of Vaccines is an educational site maintained by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Founded in 1787, the College currently runs the Mutter Museum, a museum of the history of medicine, and the Historical Medical Library. The History of Vaccines website includes an interactive timeline of vaccination history, online classroom activities, and a gallery of over 700 items related to vaccination. These three sections of the website include a number of helpful visuals (such as an interactive animation designed to help individuals visualize the concept of herd immunity) and intriguing primary documents. The Articles tab includes a variety of readings aimed at students, educators, and families alike. In the Educators area of the website, instructors will find four complete lesson plans (compatible with a variety of Science and Health Education standards) that utilize material from the website. Finally, readers will find recent news items related to vaccination in the Blog. Interested parties may also sign up to for an email list to learn about website updates.
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2016.
Web Site of the Week: Time Magazine: Health
Time Magazine’s online Health section is an information rich resource with detailed stories on everything from public health news and developments to “lifehacker” tips for personal well-being. Recent articles have covered reports on children’s health in Flint, Michigan, updates on the Zika virus, and discussions, complete with a helpful video, on the new CRISPR gene editing technology, which may provide new hope in developing cancer treatments. These articles are concise and clearly written, allowing readers to stay up to date on health news. Readers may also browse for articles by categories. Note: a few of these articles require a subscription, but most are free to the public. [MMB]
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2015.
Web Site of the Week: Nineteenth-Century Disability: Cultures and Contexts
Nineteenth-Century Disability: Cultures and Contexts presents primary texts and images on both cognitive and physical disability between the years 1780 and 1914. Authored by over 20 scholars of disability studies, the site includes detailed annotations of over 60 texts and artifacts. These items range from medical instruments (such as an 18th century hearing aide) to literature, both famous (Jane Eyre) and obscure (the fairy tales of Dinah Mulock Craik). Together, these sources create a vivid portrait of how disability was imagined and discussed by medical professionals and artists alike. The Discover section lets readers experience the collection by themes, such as technology, literature, and institutions. For those looking to dive into more scholarship on disability studies and the nineteenth century, the Bibliography provides a mass of sources ranging from online resources to books to scholarly articles and book chapters. [MMB]
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2016.
Web Site of the Week: Rich in Color
Rich in Color is a resource for youth, librarians, teachers, parents, and teen mentors who are looking for new young adult (YA) fiction. The blog, maintained by a small team of teachers, writers, and book lovers, features recently released YA novels authored by writers of color and First Nations writers. The team at Rich in Color is committed to both publicizing books scheduled for release (maintaining an up-to-date book release calendar on the site) and to critically reviewing new books. Books of all genres are covered – including realistic fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction – and often feature LGBTQA characters of color. As the site notes, “We believe that teens (and adults!) should be able to find themselves in the books that they love to read.” Readers will also find interviews and book lists by topic. [MMB]
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2016.
Allegany County Library System Director's Notes 