20 March 2012

Indie Lit Award Winners!

The results are in for the winners of the Independent Literary Awards. Huzzah! And with no further ado....

Biography/Memoir

Winner: Little Princes by Conor Grennan
Runner-Up: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

My Notes: I own the winner (yay me!) and someday soon I hope to read it. As for Battle Hymn, I'm not sure I could handle it. The whole premise kind of gives me the creeps.

GLBTQ

Winner: Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Krieger
Runner-Up: Huntress by Malinda Lo

My Notes: I haven't heard of the first, but I do find it interesting: "This candid and humorous memoir of gender awakening brings readers into the world of the next generation of transgender warriors and tells a classic tale of first love and self-discovery." The second I, and most of you guys, have heard of.

Fiction

Winner: Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Runner-Up: Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney

My Notes: Am I completely out of the loop here? Obviously I am because I haven't heard of either one of these books. But check out a shortie over Silver Sparrow: "Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters." 

Mystery

Winner: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Runner-Up: Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski

My Notes: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny is a Chief Inspector Gamache novel, the eighth in the series. I cannot start another series. I cannot start another series. I cannot start another series.

Non-Fiction

Winner:  Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckhoff
Runner-Up: Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe

My Notes: I've been meaning to read Lost in Shangri-La since I first heard of it. Berlin 1961 is a new one for me, but I should probably read it as I know nothing about the Cold War.

Poetry

Winner: Catalina by Laurie Soriano
Runner-Up: What Looks Like an Elephant by Edward Nudelman

My Notes: I very very rarely read poetry, so I probably won't pick these up...but I'm betting they are awesome because the people on this panel are awesomely into poetry.

Speculative Fiction

Winner: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Runner-Up: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

My Notes: You should definitely read both of these. As this is the category I was a part of, I feel very confident in the awesomeness of both these books. So go. Now. Go and read them.

8 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of most of these, but Silver Sparrow was indeed awesome. It was one of the very last books I reviewed while at The Zen Leaf.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Little Princes is a quick read. I loved it! I also loved Silver Sparrow! I've read two of her books, including Silver Sparrow, and cannot wait to get to her other book and to read more from her.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I adored Silver Sparrow and am so glad it won!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am interested in Little Princes and something by Louise Penny. Yaaay for the winners.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was on the Biography/Memoir panel, and was glad it gave me an excuse to read ...Tiger Mother. I'd say to give it a chance--it's rather infuriating in spots, but surprisingly engaging.

    I liked both Silver Sparrow and Ready Player One a lot--glad they both did so well!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have read a few of these, and have to agree that they are wonderful books. A few others are on my list for the next few months as well. Glad to see the winners here today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Silver Sparrow is on my to read (I need to buy it first, though...and I keep forgetting) list...more so after hearing the author speak.

    ReplyDelete

Talk to me baby!