Every year I look forward to the ABA Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon were hundreds of independent booksellers and more than 40 authors whose works they nominated to the Indie Next Lists sit together and talk about books.
This year I sat next to Masha Hamilton, author of 31 Hours, a novel about helplessness and frantic hope–as people try to help a young man intent on carrying out a violent action. When I told her I had read her book, she asked if I liked the ending. I paused to remember and then said, yes. She then said, “You work in a literary store.” What a great way to begin a conversation. It seems that mystery lovers were not satisifed with the less than climactic ending.
The highlight of the luncheon, is the presentation of the Indies Choice Book Awards. All of the winners and many of the honor award authors were in attendance. In their acceptance speeches they gushed about the importance of independent booksellers putting their books in the hands of readers. We all wanted to bottle the energy and love and spread the goodwill across the country!
Kate DiCamillo had us in tears. You must read what she had to say about the bookseller that made a difference in her life.
For all you list lovers, here are some books to add to your reading lists:
The 2010 Book of the Year winners are:
- Adult Fiction: Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (Knopf)
- Adult Nonfiction: The Lost City of Z, by David Grann (Doubleday)
- Adult Debut: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam)
- Young Adult: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
- Middle Reader: When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books)
- New Picture Book: The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown)
Kate DiCamillo was voted Most Engaging Author both for being an in-store star and for having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to their local communities.
ABA members also inducted three of their all-time favorites into the Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame:
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz (Atheneum)
- Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
- The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson (Viking)
Adult Fiction Honor Award recipients:
- Border Songs, by Jim Lynch (Knopf)
- Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin (Scribner)
- The Children’s Book, by A.S. Byatt (Knopf)
- Generosity: An Enhancement, by Richard Powers (FSG)
- Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (Holt)
Adult Nonfiction Honor Award recipients:
- Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Lit: A Memoir, by Mary Karr (HarperCollins)
- Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small (W.W. Norton)
- Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder (Random House)
- When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins (Little, Brown)
Adult Debut Honor Award recipients:
- The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan (Canongate)
- The Piano Teacher, by Y.K. Lee (Viking)
- The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, by Reif Larson (Penguin Press)
- Still Alice, by Lisa Genova (Pocket)
- Tinkers, by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)
Young Adult Honor Award recipients:
- Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
- If I Stay, by Gayle Forman (Dutton Juvenile)
- Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson (illus.) (Simon Pulse)
- Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)
- Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking Juvenile)
Middle Reader Honor Award recipients:
- Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko (Dial)
- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly (Holt)
- Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
- A Season of Gifts, by Richard Peck (Dial)
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (Little, Brown)
New Picture Book Honor Award recipients:
- All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon, Maria Frazee (illus.) (Beach Lane Books)
- The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown (Little, Brown)
- Listen to the Wind, by Greg Mortenson, Susan Roth (illus.) (Dial)
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca (Richard Jackson Books)
- Otis, by Loren Long (Philomel)
Most Engaging Author Honor Award recipients:
- Isabel Allende
- Laurie Halse Anderson
- Libba Bray
- Michael Chabon
- Abraham Verghese