Monday, June 8, 2009

Recent Award Winning Fiction

2008 Man Booker Prize
The White Tiger, by Aravind Agida

2008 National Book Award
Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen

2008 National Book Critics Circle Award
2666, by Roberto Bolano

2008 Orange Prize
The Road Home, by Rose Tremain

2008 Pulitzer Prize
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

2009 Orange Prize
Home, by Marilynne Robinson

2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill

2009 Pulitzer Prize
Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout

2008 Hugo Award—Science Fiction
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon

2009 Agatha Award—Traditional Mystery
The Cruelest Month, by Louise Penney

2009 Edgar Award—Mystery and Crime Fiction
Blue Heaven, by C. J. Box

The Other 8 Hours in a Day- Fiction That Features The Workplace

Ms. Hempel Chronicles Sarah Sun-Lien Bynum (2008)
Nominated for a National Book Award, thiscollection of short stories focuses on Beatrice Hempel, a middle school English teacher.

Then We Came to The End Joshua Ferris (2007)
This National Book Award Finalist pulls off the almost impossible in fiction – an absolutelyengrossing novel told in 3rd person plural, about office life in Chicago.

Shopgirl Steve Martin (2000)
This novella about a bored department store worker captures turn-of-the-millennium ennui.

A Show of Hands Anthony McCarten (2009)
A struggling car dealer holds a contest – the person who holds their hand on a car the longest will win it. A motley cast of characters competes, vividly portraying different kinds of desperation.

Last Night at the Lobster Stewart O'Nan (2007)
This is a stunning short novel about the employees of a closing restaurant franchise.

Personal Days Ed Park (2008)
This is another novel told in 3rd person plural in a landscape dominated by Starbucks and haunted by downsizing.