2015 National Book Awards Shortlist (20 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.

These are all the books on this year's shortlist for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. 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	If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran by Carla Power (Goodreads Author) 4.12 avg rating — 2,120 ratings score: 292, 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
2	Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems by Robin Coste Lewis 4.28 avg rating — 1,812 ratings score: 288, 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
3	Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson 4.02 avg rating — 11,244 ratings score: 194, 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
3	A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Goodreads Author) 4.27 avg rating — 992,172 ratings score: 194, 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
3	Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 4.40 avg rating — 374,512 ratings score: 194, 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
6	The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery 3.94 avg rating — 62,953 ratings score: 193, 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
7	Ordinary Light by Tracy K. Smith 3.94 avg rating — 2,095 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
8	Refund by Karen E. Bender 3.58 avg rating — 955 ratings score: 100, 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
9	The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (Goodreads Author) 3.64 avg rating — 18,652 ratings score: 99, 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
10	Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (Goodreads Author) 3.59 avg rating — 150,787 ratings score: 98, 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
11	Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann 4.07 avg rating — 8,609 ratings score: 94, 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
12	Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay 4.23 avg rating — 6,592 ratings score: 90, 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
13	How to Be Drawn by Terrance Hayes 4.18 avg rating — 1,104 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
14	Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon (Goodreads Author) 4.19 avg rating — 15,287 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
15	Elegy for a Broken Machine: Poems by Patrick Phillips 3.90 avg rating — 337 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
16	The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin 4.10 avg rating — 46,445 ratings score: 85, 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
17	Bone Gap by Laura Ruby 3.80 avg rating — 30,758 ratings score: 84, 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
18	Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin 4.20 avg rating — 6,274 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
19	Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (Goodreads Author) 4.14 avg rating — 35,076 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
20	Nimona by N.D. Stevenson 4.18 avg rating — 192,208 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