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Contemporary Fiction

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105

2017 National Book Awards

Posted by Kathy K on Nov 1, 2017
A review of The Finalists by

The National Book Award was established in 1950. It is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Every year, the Foundation selects a total of twenty Judges, including five in each of the four Award categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. First there is a long list, then a finalist list, and then the winners for each category are announced in November.

A few books for that October chill

Posted by Kylee on Oct 12, 2017
A review of Security by
Gina
Wohlsdorf

There are so many ways to celebrate the beauty of autumn. For many, it involves getting out cozy sweaters and adding pumpkin to everything. For some of us, it means our reading turns a bit darker. What better way to get in the Halloween spirit than to start an October horror novel binge?

Homegoing

Cover of Homegoing
Yaa
Gyasi
2016

This novel follows the fate of two half-sisters born in eighteenth century Ghana, and their descendants.  One sister marries the British head of a slave trading colony, while the other is captured in the same colony and sold into American slavery. 

Before the Fall

Cover of Before the Fall
Noah
Hawley
2016

One foggy night, a private plane takes off from Martha’s Vineyard.  Sixteen minutes later, it plunges straight into the sea.  Only two survive.  Was it an accident?  Murder?  Just a simple twist of fate?  As each of the passengers’ stories is revealed, the answer becomes more elusive. 

Small Great Things

Cover of Small Great Things
Jodi
Picoult
2016

Ruth, an experienced African-American delivery nurse, is forbidden to tend to the baby of a white supremacist family, but when the child goes into cardiac arrest and no one else is able to help, she makes a fateful decision.  When the baby dies in her care, she is charged with a serious crime, and must reconsider what she thought she knew about others—and herself.  

Everybody's Fool

Cover of Everybody's Fool
Richard
Russo
2016

In the Rust Belt town of North Bath, New York, police chief Doug Raymer is convinced he’s ‘everyone’s fool’ as he grapples with the revelation his now-dead wife cheated on him, engages in an ongoing feud with the curmudgeon Sully Sullivan and otherwise tries to maintain order in a town filled with down-on-their-luck but lovable characters. 

Learning to Stay

Cover of Learning to Stay
Erin
Celello
2013

When her husband Brad returns from Iraq, Elise is thrilled to have him home.  But the traumatic brain injury he suffered on duty has turned the patient, thoughtful man she married into someone quite different.  Faced with potentially losing the man she loves, Elise receives help from an unlikely source.  

The Nest

Cover of The Nest
Cynthia
D'Aprix Sweeney
2016

In this humorous novel about a dysfunctional family, three siblings find that their reckless brother has drained the $2 million dollar bank account their father left them at his death, money they have all been planning to use to solve their own financial problems.