Friday Reads: National Book Award 2021 Prediction & More

This reading week saw me working my way out of my reading slump, thinking about what might win the #NationalBookAward for Fiction, and planning what books I'm going to pick up next to build some momentum to my end-of-year reading.

Further viewing 🎥:

National Book Award for Fiction Finalists 🏅:
Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land
Lauren Groff, Matrix
Laird Hunt, Zorrie
Robert Jones, Jr., The Prophets
Jason Mott, Hell of a Book

Titles mentioned 📚:
Taste: My Life Through Food, Stanley Tucci
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The Charm Offensive, Alison Cochrun
Passing, Nella Larsen
The Power of the Dog, Thomas Savage
Work Like Any Other, Virginia Reeves

My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:

But wait, there's more!

[BookishTexan]

Food and family are a constant connection. Sometimes I can just smell something that smells like a dish my mom or grandmothers made and it takes me back.

[iuwsvhs]

Continue to read with passion and joy and not feel pressured by anything but your own desire. That’s the best way to get out of your slump.

Read/Reading for Indigenous Heritage Month: Plague of Doves (I also just ordered Erdrich’s new book from her bookstore); The Inconvenient Indian, Postcolonial Love Poem and Noopiming.
I didn’t get to most of the NBA shortlisted books but I’m not pressed … we will see what counts as their win.

[hayleystenger]

I have read 4/5 of the books. Cloud Cuckoo Land is the exception. Hell of a Book is my favorite and a huge favorite of the year.

[literallyricky]

Passing! Please get to that one, if you can. It's one of those classics that earned that moniker for good reason. Plus, it would be a great one to discuss and I'd selfishly love to hear your thoughts on it and the movie adaptation on your channel. Thanks for another great update! See you in the next one.

[rose_and_thorns]

I haven't read any of the fiction finalists, so I don't have one I'm pulling for, though would love to see a book like The Prophets win. I'm most excited to see the Young People's Literature winner, because one of those books, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, is one of my favorites of the year. I know you don't read a ton of young adult books, but I think you might enjoy this one. It's queer historical fiction set in Chinatown in San Francisco in the 1950s and it was so well done, fun and sweet at times while also exploring some very heavy topics.

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

My son was 34 on November 9th. He’s an adult on autism spectrum. His support worker taught him how to cook Ziddi? on Thrusday. She Irish American and probably learned it growing up in New York. Unfortunately I can’t eat it. Anything with cheese I can’t digest since losing my gall bladder in 2009.

[kompas]

Oh, Passing is amazing, short and brilliant. The movie adaptation is also great, the casting is great.

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

My best books so far in #nonficnov are
Hidden Valley Road
Empire of Pain
I’m currently listening to
The Body Keeps the Score
The Noonday Demon
( my nonfiction tends to centre on medicine and mental health)

[jorgem]

I really enjoyed Cloud Cuckoo Land, but it is not an easy book to read. It is good but not great! Passing is an amazing book. It is a very quick read.

[rebeccah.]

I'm reading for Native American Heritage Month. I've already read Two Old Women by Valma Wallis (a very fast inspirational read), and I'm currently working on Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and All Our Relations by Tanya Talaga.

[bookofdust]

My library eBook of “Zorrie” just came in, and I’ll definitely be able to read it before Wednesday as it’s my shortest book this year, and I really need a gem sized read after all the big books I’ve conquered recently. Then I’ll be in the same boat as you going into the prize announcement having read “The Prophets” earlier this fall. I have two others on hold, but I think it’ll be this time next year before I get “Cloud Cuckoo Land.”

Definitely more invested in the awards this year for the first time in a long while. A friend of mine made it to the YA short list and I’m hoping he wins. It’s a FTM Trans story, so it would be very ground breaking. It would also be much needed ammunition against all the backlash it’s going to get in the schools. The earlier book “George, ” about a MTF Trans character, by Alex Gino remains one of the most challenged books in the country. There was a week or two ago an amazing announcement that the book will now be called “Melissa” instead of “George, ” reflecting the wanted name of the character instead of her dead name. Apparently, one can even download stickers if you already own the book to rename it to the new title.

[annegibson]

Good morning. My favorites for the National Book Prize are Matrix, The Prophets, Zorrie and Hell of a Book. I have not read Cloud Cookoo Land. I favor Matrix because not only is it very good but it is the only one by a female author.
Just finished the first Aristotle and Dante book. I loved it. I am going to pick up the second one this morning from the library.
Reading Monster in the Middle. Also very good.

[janethansen]

Of the three I have read from the list, I would like to see The Prophets win the National Book Award. I did very much enjoy Cloud Cuckoo Land, but I think The Prophets is a stunning book.

[FiberFlossandFiction]

Hello! Delighted to have found your channel and really enjoying your videos. I haven’t read Cloud Cuckoo and I’m on the fence about it myself. I enjoyed All the Light but I’ve heard mixed reviews about Cloud Cuckoo and the fact that it’s kind of confusing / hard to get into and I’m not sure I’m in a good place for that kind of reading this time of year! I have Stanley Tucci’s book on my TBR so I appreciated your thoughts on that as it’ll likely be an early 2022 read. :)

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

The only one on the finalists list that I’ve read is Cloud Cuckoo Land and I loved it. It’s one of my best books of the year. ( The other is Great Circle) Reading Cloud Cuckoo Land sent me down a rabbit hole of watching history documentaries about the siege of Constantinople in 14th century.
I’d like to read all the others on the list. I’d recommend listening to Cloud Cuckoo Land on audio as it’s like listening to a really good story teller sitting beside you.

[KurtAnderson]

At the beginning of the year The Prophets was my early front runner for best of the year but it’s gone down a few places.

I loved Zorrie, liked the Matrix and just started Cloud Cuckoo Land. I started and set aside Hell too a Book (it was during a reading slump) and mean to get back to it but I don’t know when it will happen.
Of the books I’ve finished I would be happy with any of them winning. A very solid list of choices

Finished the new Erdrich book, The Sentence yesterday. No spoilers but a 4 star rating from me

Hope you have a great weekend

[jillianhasner]

The Prophets will always be one of my favorite books!
I really enjoyed the second Ari & Dante book but it just didn’t hold the same charm as the first for me.
The Charm Offensive was absolutely adorable! The mental health rep is great and I feel really balanced the fun flirty parts of the book. Absolutely recommend!
The Power Of The Dog. Oof. I still don’t know exactly what I think of it. I really enjoyed it but having such a unlikeable main character always throws me. I’m really looking forward to the movie and seeing what Benedict Cumberbatch does with Phil’s character!

[mradcaqbdb]

The audiobook of Passing read by Tessa Thompson is really worth listening to. After hearing it, I went out and bought the book which also included Larson’s other novel Quicksand. Still have to read that one.

I really hope one of the lesser known three books wins the National Book Award. I haven’t read any of them yet, but I have The Prophets and Zorrie here and I can get Hell of a Book from the library. The other two just don’t hold any interest for me.

[jackwalter]

My aunt made the best lasagna! Go Tell it on the Mountain is intense.

[alldbooks]

The Poptimist has me needing to instabuy Cloud Cuckoo Land.