09. A book nominated for an award beginning with W

[Roxana]

Well... I thought I'd seen Beasts of Prey on a list for one of these awards. So I read it for this prompt. (It was okay.) And then couldn't remember which award it was. It turns out... it was on a mock-up list of potential (I think?) William C. Morris award finalists. It did not, in fact, get nominated. Nor, as far as I can tell, has it been nominated for any other awards starting with W. I'm...deeply frustrated with myself 😅 back to the drawing board!

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I had a similar moment Roxana; I read The Secret to Superhuman Strength and then I went to the goodreads page and did not see a 'W' award. A few confused minutes later and everything's fine...it was a finalist for the Will Eisner award for graphic memoir. Phew! Guess that one is just too niche a sub-award for goodreads lol.

[Tracy]

I read a World Fantasy Award nominee, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, which I loved. I officially gave it 5 stars, but where I could, I really gave it 4.75 stars just because there was a section ~25% in that dragged a bit and I felt should have been edited. I will definitely read this author again. It was fantasy but not HIGH fantasy, and gave some life/philosophy lessons as well.

I had intended to use this prompt for Women's Fiction, but with trying to balance prompts and titles I wanted to read, I ended up with World Fantasy. The Women's Fiction nominees that I considered I will still be reading, just under other prompts.

[Roxana]

Jackie wrote: "I had a similar moment Roxana; I read The Secret to Superhuman Strength and then I went to the goodreads page and did not see a 'W' award. A few confused minutes later and everythin..."

I kept confusing myself with Eisners, too, actually, looking for other options; I always forget his first name is part of the actual/official name of the award 😅 What'd you think of The Secret to Superhuman Strength? I found it really interesting when I read it.

I did end up reading a finalist from the same award (William C. Morris YA Debut Award) that I'd thought my original book worked for, lol - Me: Moth, which caught me off guard with how moving it was. (I knew it'd be sad, but the ending was a surprise.)

[Barbara]

I am reading Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith. It was a Women's Prize for Fiction nominee in 2022.

[Rose]

I read Witchmark, by C.L. Polk. This was something like the fifth time I've read this one, and I adore it just as much on every reread. It won the World Fantasy Award.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Roxana wrote: "What'd you think of The Secret to Superhuman Strength? I found it really interesting when I read it.."

I liked it, but I didn't find it as compelling as Fun House.

[Roxana]

Jackie wrote: "Roxana wrote: "What'd you think of The Secret to Superhuman Strength? I found it really interesting when I read it.."

I liked it, but I didn't find it as compelling as Fun House."

Ah, yeah, makes sense. Same for me, I suppose; I was really interested in her thoughts and anecdotes about the topic, but it's a less engrossing topic to me, at least, than the things explored in Fun Home.

[Joy D]

For this prompt I read this book, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction:
A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker - 3* - My Review

[Jill]

How are you choosing which award to read from?
I chose The Prize for Fiction year 1996
What book are you using?
I read A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

[Jacqie]

I'm planning to read something from the World Fantasy Award nominees.

[Marie (UK)]

I read The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World which was nominated for Wolfson History Prize Nominee (2022). TBF I didn't rate it that much I felt it was drawn out and at timesrambling

[GailW]

I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which was a West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) Winner for 2010. Yes, I have waited 16 years to read it. And I only did so because my daughter-in-law was appalled that I hadn't already read it. So I read it. In a little over 24 hours. And gave it a 5. Sigh. I hate it when she's right.... ;>)

[Dana]

For this one I read and enjoyed Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, who won The Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing Nominee for Longlist (2020)

[Denise]

I picked up a copy of No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood for a book club...and the cover told me it shortlisted for the Women's Prize. So this prompt is where it goes....

[Anastasia]

2020 WARWICK PRIZE FOR WOMEN IN TRANSLATION - WINNER

The Eighth Life
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was such a good book.

[Book Concierge]

Walter Scott Prize nominee for historical fiction (Shortlist 2021)


The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams – 3.5***
”Some words are more important than others – I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.” Esme is a wonderful character, maturing from an innocent child to curious adolescent to determined young woman. And living at a time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was very active in England, and World War I was looming. I like the way that Williams puts the focus on the “missing women” in history. She’s far from strident, but she is insistent and caused this reader to think about all the missing women is “HIS”tory.
LINK to my full review

[Heather L]

I realized I’m looking back over what I’ve read so far this year that a book read in February fits this challenge.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Winner of the William Allen White Children’s Book Award in 2003

[ladymurmur]

Rose wrote: "I read Witchmark, by C.L. Polk. This was something like the fifth time I've read this one, and I adore it just as much on every reread. It won the World Fantasy Aw..."

I also read Witchmark. It was my first time reading it, though I've had it on my TBR almost since it was first published. Wonderful read, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Tracy]

Re: Witchmark - love the cover!

[Denise]

I read No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (Women's prize for Fiction nominee)

[Erica]

Punching the Air ya poetry

Walter Dean Myers Award for Teen 2021

[Jacqie]

I read Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, which won the World Fantasy Award in 2015. If you like Mitchell you'll like this. If you don't, you won't. It's about a woman who runs afoul of something strange and how that something affects her and the people around her throughout her life.

[Dixie]

Thanks to whoever suggested this prompt for introducing me to the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing. I read and loved Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds, and am getting ready (in October) to use it for my "second dip into your favorite prompt" challenge, with Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. I've added at least half a dozen other books from this prize's lists to my TBR shelf as well.