The National Book Award Long List 2016
I've never been one for awards lists, especially regarding books. They always somehow manage to find the most esoteric publications of the year, the more obscure the better. When the (case in point) Man Booker prize announced their shortlist earlier this week, it left me wanting a list of non-fic recommendations. Books so good, they were being considered for an award.
There's nothing quite like trying to watch all of the Academy Award Best Picture Winners, and the same I believe holds true for book awards. The National Book Award's are not a list I am familiar with, but I'm more than willing to give it a go. I'm not going to be able/interested in everything on their list, but I would like to read a few before the winners are chosen. The shortlist is to be announced 10.13, with the winners announcement on 11.16. There are also categories for Fiction, Poetry and YA.
Below are the Non-Fiction nominations for their long list.
- Andrew J. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History
- While I don't tend to read much military non-fic, this has piqued my interest. Bacevich is a retired army colonel who is teasing apart the reasons American military action has been so focused on the Middle East for over thirty years. Could be quite revealing.
- Patricia Bell-Scott, The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice
- The description of the First Lady and a civil rights activist being friends just doesn't interest me much. Maybe if I knew more about it, but the blurb isn't doing it for me.
- Adam Cohen, Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck
- Oh. Hell. Yes. I have been fascinated by eugenics for years. I even bought a book about it back when I was in high school (ahem, I never finished it because I was a non-fiction hating pleb at the time). I'm also a huge SCOTUS nerd, which makes this book is so up my alley!
- Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
- Huh... Upon reading the description I would normally assume that this was propaganda for either the political right or left, but since it's on this list I suppose I can refrain from that snap judgement. I think this bit says it all: "Along the way she finds answers to one of the crucial questions of contemporary American politics: why do the people who would seem to benefit most from “liberal” government intervention abhor the very idea?"
- Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
- Race issues are something I think about every single day: I am a white girl working at an HBCU in a city that so many important events in the civil rights movement happened. It's unavoidable, and it also gets tiring day-in-day-out. The concept Kendi is going for by examining the roots of racist thinking in our country is commendable, but I don't know that I would have the energy to read it. This one is a strong maybe.
- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War
- Nguyen has put together a book looking back at the Vietnam War from both sides, and seems to be trying to merge the two competing national stories together. This sounds interesting, if only because I don't know a whole lot about the Vietnam War besides what pop culture has taught me.
- Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
- Oh goodness... While I don't disagree with O'Neil's hypothesis here, I don't really feel motivated to read a book all about the evils of data. I feel like this is in the news all the time, and reading a book about it is just beating a dead horse. While I'm sure she has some great points, no thanks.
- Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
- Wow. This sounds like the most depressing one of the bunch, but I really want to read it. I've been trying to read more about Native America history. This sounds like a perfect example of their hidden past that's never spoken of whether it's because there isn't a loud native voice out there, or because of white revisionist history.
- Manisha Sinha, The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition
- Again, as with Kendi's book, I feel a little burned out on racism literature. While I'm certain this book is compelling and thought-provoking, I just don't see myself reading it.
- Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
- I am especially interested in this title because of the book I just finished reading. A prison revolt caused by mistreatment of inmates... In the book I mentioned, Reamer speaks at length about the responsibility of the state to the people it takes out of the general population and confines, and how multi-faceted and sacred it is. I'm sure this is a great read.
Wow, there are a lot more books here that I am interested in than I expected there to be... My shortlist for reading selections is below. We'll see how many I can finish before the winners announcements!
- Adam Cohen, Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck
- Andrés Reséndez, The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America
- Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
- Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right
- Andrew J. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History OR Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War
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