2015 National Book Awards Longlist (40 books)

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Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. A pantheon of such writers as William Faulkner, Marianne Moore, Ralph Ellison, John Cheever, Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth, Robert Lowell, Walker Percy, John Updike, Katherine Anne Porter, Norman Mailer, Lillian Hellman, Elizabeth Bishop, Saul Bellow, Donald Barthelme, Flannery O’Connor, Adrienne Rich, Thomas Pynchon, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Alice Walker, Charles Johnson, E. Annie Proulx, and Colum McCann have all won the Award.

The Longlist for Young People’s Literature will be revealed on newyorker.com on Monday, September 14th at 9 a.m. (EDT), followed by the Longlist for Poetry on Tuesday, September 15th at 9 a.m., the Longlist for Nonfiction on September 16th, and finally, the Longlist for Fiction on September 17th.

Please do not add other books to the list. Feel free to vote for your favorites!

National Book Award Winners

National Book Award Short List:
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016

National Book Award Long List:
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

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All Votes Add Books To This List

1	Bone Gap by Laura Ruby 3.80 avg rating — 30,793 ratings score: 884, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1) by Becky Albertalli (Goodreads Author) 4.12 avg rating — 473,729 ratings score: 797, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Goodreads Author) 4.26 avg rating — 1,009,360 ratings score: 750, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 4.40 avg rating — 376,190 ratings score: 672, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author) 3.59 avg rating — 151,362 ratings score: 557, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy, #1) by Rae Carson 3.93 avg rating — 19,391 ratings score: 471, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin 4.10 avg rating — 46,786 ratings score: 388, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (Goodreads Author) 4.14 avg rating — 35,282 ratings score: 388, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin 4.20 avg rating — 6,291 ratings score: 370, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg (Goodreads Author) 3.79 avg rating — 28,318 ratings score: 362, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson 4.02 avg rating — 11,273 ratings score: 360, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Love and Other Ways of Dying: Essays by Michael Paterniti 4.03 avg rating — 908 ratings score: 349, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	Nimona by N.D. Stevenson 4.18 avg rating — 193,551 ratings score: 290, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems by Robin Coste Lewis 4.28 avg rating — 1,847 ratings score: 284, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	X by Ilyasah Shabazz 3.88 avg rating — 3,680 ratings score: 282, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett (Goodreads Author) 3.82 avg rating — 2,051 ratings score: 272, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Mourning Lincoln by Martha Hodes 3.69 avg rating — 249 ratings score: 262, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery 3.94 avg rating — 63,650 ratings score: 262, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (Goodreads Author) 3.64 avg rating — 18,724 ratings score: 256, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Mislaid by Nell Zink 3.29 avg rating — 6,834 ratings score: 241, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay 4.23 avg rating — 6,661 ratings score: 190, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson 4.35 avg rating — 6,721 ratings score: 187, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon (Goodreads Author) 4.19 avg rating — 15,648 ratings score: 183, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann 4.07 avg rating — 8,663 ratings score: 161, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran by Carla Power (Goodreads Author) 4.13 avg rating — 2,131 ratings score: 161, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith 3.94 avg rating — 2,102 ratings score: 159, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	Refund by Karen E. Bender 3.58 avg rating — 956 ratings score: 157, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	This Side of Wild: Mutts, Mares, and Laughing Dinosaurs by Gary Paulsen 3.83 avg rating — 1,029 ratings score: 96, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Scattered at Sea by Amy Gerstler (Goodreads Author) 3.76 avg rating — 305 ratings score: 89, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	A Stranger's Mirror: New and Selected Poems 1994–2014 by Marilyn Hacker 3.67 avg rating — 48 ratings score: 88, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes 4.18 avg rating — 1,107 ratings score: 87, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	The Beauty by Jane Hirshfield (Goodreads Author) 3.87 avg rating — 915 ratings score: 86, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	Elegy for a Broken Machine: Poems by Patrick Phillips 3.91 avg rating — 339 ratings score: 83, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Heaven by Rowan Ricardo Phillips 3.58 avg rating — 147 ratings score: 82, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts by Lawrence Raab 3.88 avg rating — 102 ratings score: 81, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii by Susanna Moore 3.33 avg rating — 402 ratings score: 75, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Travels in Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White 3.68 avg rating — 243 ratings score: 71, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball (Goodreads Author) 3.50 avg rating — 2,231 ratings score: 70, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson (Goodreads Author) 3.23 avg rating — 3,557 ratings score: 64, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Honeydew by Edith Pearlman 3.62 avg rating — 1,818 ratings score: 63, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars