Suggestions: April 2007 Book of the Month. **Award Winning Books ONLY**

[mehastings]

Please nominate a book. Include descriptions and of course at least one award the book has won!! Nominations to close Feb 14.

 

[-Carlos-]

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway won the 1954 Nobel Prize In Literature.



Hemingway beautifully captures the fragile magic of a special time and place, and he manages to be nostalgic without hitting any false notes of sentimentality. "This is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy," he concludes. A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. It is a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

 

[Anamnesis]

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. The book won the 2006 Quill Award for Best General Fiction.

Contemporary fantasy and New Age fiction take another good-natured licking in Moore's ninth, which bears strong resemblances to his Practical Demonkeeping (1992) and Bloodsucking Fiends (1995). It's set in San Francisco, where mildly nerdy thrift-shop proprietor Charlie Asher experiences unprecedented stages of grief after his wife Rachel gives birth to their daughter Sophie, then dies. The presence at Rachel's bedside of a tall black man wearing green hospital scrubs foreshadows appearances by people who give off a reddish glow just before expiring, leading Charlie to confront the tall black man (named, for no particular reason, Minty Fresh), who explains that Charlie has (like Fresh himself) become a "Death Merchant," assigned "to retrieve soul vessels" from the dead and dying, and convey them to new host bodies. Okay, this seems plausible. But plots thicken as Charlie undertakes (so to speak) his new duties, aided and abetted and abused by his Punk Goth teenaged store-clerk Lily, his take-charge lesbian sister Jane, his ethnic tenants Mrs. Ling and Mrs. Korjev, the self-proclaimed homeless Emperor of San Francisco (on loan from Bloodsucking Fiends) and precociously paranormal Sophie, who exhibits Herculean toddler powers, while being guarded by two gigantic slavering "Goggies" (actually, they're "hellhounds"). Complicating matters are Dark Forces that congregate in sewers, drive a vintage Cadillac and threaten to make dying even more unpleasant by unleashing chaos and Armageddon and all that stuff. Charlie retrieves his lost sex life and, having become a "Luminatus" with a killer workload, maintains universal order, thanks to the Emperor and the "squirrel people" (don't ask), and aclimactic shoot-out provoked when a black ship of death sails into Frisco Bay. The lunacy is appealing, but the book, alas, is way, way too long. Not quite to die for, then, but one of the antic Moore's funniest capers yet.

Review from Kirkus Reviews

 

[claybugg]

I suggest Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. But, I'm not sure if it would count as award winning. The book itself has received none, but the author received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.

"The novel takes place in ancient India around the time of the Buddha (6th century BC). It starts as Siddhartha, a Brahmin's son, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal."

If Siddhartha isn't acceptable, then I nominate Neuromancer by William Gibson. It received the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award - all for best novel in 1984.

"Set amidst the cities of a future world that many readers see as dystopian and find chillingly plausible, Neuromancer tells the story of Case, an out-of-work computer hacker hired by an unknown patron to participate in a seemingly impossible crime.

The novel examines the concepts of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, multinational corporations overpowering the traditional nation-state and cyberspace (a computer network called the matrix) long before these ideas were fashionable in popular culture. Gibson also explores the dehumanizing effects of a world dominated by ubiquitous and cheap technology, writing of a future where violence and the free market are the only things upon which one may rely, and in which the dystopian elements of society are counterbalanced by an energy and diversity that is perversely attractive (and provides some of the book's appeal)."

 

[imhere4beer]

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre won the Man Booker Prize in 2003. Some have hailed it as a modern-day Catcher in the Rye, while some have dismissed it as a poor satire of American adolescent culture. It could make for an interesting discussion.

The surprise winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize, DBC Pierre's debut novel, Vernon God Little, makes few apologies in its darkly comedic portrait of Martirio, Texas, a town reeling in the aftermath of a horrific school shooting. Fifteen-year-old Vernon Little narrates the first-person story with a cynical twang and a four-letter barb for each of his diet-obsessed townsfolk. His mother, endlessly awaiting the delivery of a new refrigerator, seems to exist only to twist an emotional knife in his back; her friend, Palmyra, structures her life around the next meal at the Bar-B-Chew Barn; officer Vaine Gurie has Vernon convicted of the crime before she's begun the investigation; reporter Eulalio Ledesma hovers between a comforting father-figure and a sadistic Bond villain; and Jesus, his best friend in the world, is dead--a victim of the killings. As his life explodes before him, Vernon flees his home in pursuit of a tropical fantasy: a cabin on a beach in Mexico he once saw in the movie Against All Odds. But the police--and TV crews--are in hot pursuit.

 

[haniirani]

1997 Los Angeles Times Best Book Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

In The Mistress of Spices, Divakaruni tells the story of Tilo, a young woman born in another time, in a faraway place, who is trained in the ancient art of spices. Is she able to adhere to the many rules a mistress must hold on to? Can she make the right choices? It is a tale of joy and sorrow and one special woman's magical powers.

 

[The waveguide]

wow, that's sounds great! I was looking for something like Siddhartha for some time...
Anyway thanks for suggestion, even if it will not be acceptable, it is now on my tbr.

I suggest Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. But, I'm not sure if it would count as award winning. The book itself has received none, but the author received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.



If Siddhartha isn't acceptable, then I nominate Neuromancer by William Gibson. It received the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award - all for best novel in 1984.

 

[The waveguide]

Larry Niven's Ringworld

Larry Niven's Ringworld - a Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Ditmar award-winning 1970 science fiction

The story is set in an extremely technologically advanced universe, where instant teleportation and indestructible spacecraft hulls are a reality.

Nessus is a Pierson's Puppeteer, a species with the most advanced technology in Known Space. Being descended from herbivorous herd animals, their morality is based on cowardice (Their leader is called the Hindmost). Nessus, like all Puppeteers who have to deal with potentially dangerous alien species, is considered insane by his own people, as puppeteers tend to use other species for jobs that involve any risk. Nessus is given the task of assembling a team to explore the Ringworld, to see if it poses a threat to his species.

But it is better than it sounds here

 

[jaynebosco]

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (winner of the 1996 Giller Prize)

Summary from the back of the book:

Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, the wealthy Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. Years later, Dr. Simon Jordan - an up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness - listens to Grace's story, from her family's difficult passage from Ireland to Canada, to her time as a maid in Thomas Kinnear's household. As Grace relives her past, Jordan draws her closer to a dark maze of relationships and her lost memories of the day her life was shattered.

 

[unKeMPt]

Operation Shylock by Philip Roth

Philip Roth's very literary novels, most famously Portnoy's Complaint, have always had the feel of confessional autobiography. Operation Shylock boasts not only a character named Philip Roth, a Jewish-American novelist, but an impostor who is claiming to be him. Roth's impostor causes a furor in Israel by advocating "Diasporism," the polar opposite of Zionism, encouraging Israelis to return home to eastern Europe. In Israel the real Roth attends the trial of a former Nazi, and also observes at a West Bank military court dealing harshly with young Palestinians. Through stark counterpoint between distorted doubles, along with his trademark bawdy humor, Roth comically explores the tensions of his identity as a writer, as a Jew, and as a human being. Operation Shylock won the PEN/Faulkner Award for 1994.

From Publishers Weekly
Roth's brilliant, absurdist novel, set in Jerusalem during the trial of John Demjanjuk, follows the intersecting paths of two characters who share Roth's name and impersonate one another with dizzying speed.

 

[VTChEwbecca]

The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley

From Amazon:

Although she is the daughter of Damar's king, Aerin has never been accepted as full royalty. Both in and out of the royal court, people whisper the story of her mother, the witchwoman, who was said to have enspelled the king into marrying her to get an heir to rule Damar-then died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son. But none of them, not even Aerin herself, can predict her future-for she is to be the true hero who will wield the power of the Blue Sword...

Awards:
Winner of the 1985 Newbery Medal
An ALA Notable Book

 

[haniirani]

The Joy Luck Club won the The National Book Award and L.A. Time Book Award in 1989.

Four mothers, four daughters. The Joy Luck Club was formed by four immigrant Chinese women in 1949 to play mahjong, eat, gossip and talk about their daughters. June Woo is drafted to sit in for her recently deceased mother. She has always been uncomfortable and embarrassed by the Joy Luck Club. She feels these older woman cling unreasonably to the old ways and old styles. However, the "aunties" have their effect, and out of guilt and curiosity, June learns to love the very world she has tried so hard to distance herself from.

Amy Tan's style is to tell the stories with humor, color, and enough perspective that when the story is over, you feel like you know these women... and it made me wonder what I might not be understanding about my own mother.

I fell that the mother-daughter relationships in this book would be something that we could relate to.

 

[Hani]

Kiklop Literary Award for The Zahir by Paulo Coelho in the category "Hit of the Year" (Croatia 2006)

It begins with a glimpse or a passing thought. It ends in obsession. One day a renowned author discovers that his wife, a war correspondent, has disappeared leaving no trace. Though time brings more success and new love, he remains mystified - and increasingly fascinated - by her absence. Was she kidnapped, blackmailed, or simply bored with their marriage? The unrest she causes is as strong as the attraction she exerts. His search for her - and for the truth of his own life - takes him from France to Spain, Croatia and, eventually, the bleakly beautiful landscape of Central Asia. More than that, it takes him from the safety of his world to a totally unknown path, searching for a new understanding of the nature of love and the power of destiny. With "The Zahir", Paulo Coelho demonstrates his powerful and captivating storytelling.

Browsing through the forum, I see that there are not quite a lot who could appreciate Paulo Coelho's writings. But why not try to explore more of his books and see how it turns out. And why not try out The Zahir next?