Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: The Shamus Award Finalists

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.

The Shamus Awards have long been one of my favorite awards because while not all awards lists are as useful as a readalike tool, the Shamus Awards are 100% that. Why? Because they all feature Private Eyes, a very popular subgenre with mystery readers. PI readers in general, but not always, tend to enjoy any PI titles. Speaking of, the Private Eye Writers of America have this great definition of the subgenre; it is great to use when working with readers to gauge their personal appeal preferences.

Before I get to this year's Shamus nominees, I want to give some background on how I used this award with readers because my personal experience has a lot of takeaways behind this specific award. And then we will get to this year's nominees. 

Many moons ago [at least 12 years ago],  I started a "Holds Without Hassle" program at my old library. We allowed patrons to give us a list of the authors whose books they always wanted every time a new one came out. This program allowed our regular patrons to get on the holds list early, but it also gave us clues as to which books we would need to add extra copies for AND which types of authors were our most popular so that we could actively add readalike authors and new voices who were similar. All of this helped us to craft a better local collection while also anticipating demand.

While many libraries have programs like this now, and even a few did back then, one of the things we did a bit differently was to not only allow them to list authors they enjoyed, but we also listed the major awards with a description of what those awards were given out for. And people could choose all nominees or just winners! [So this using awards lists as a RA tool thing is old hat to me. I was doing it long before this series of posts began.]

This choosing to put an award category of books on hold without asking option was wildly popular. It educated our patrons on the awards and introduced them to new authors on a regular basis.

Among the most often chosen awards was the Shamus Awards. And so we get back to the beginning. Like many libraries, mystery readers were among our most common patrons at the RA Service desk, and PI titles were in the top 3 of the most popular subgenres [only cozy mysteries and historical went before].

As a result, the Shamus Award announcements each year were a cause for celebration at my library.

So let's celebrate today on the blog!

Click here for the Private Eye Writers of America's announcement of the THE 2021 SHAMUS AWARD FINALISTS in 4 categories: Best PI Hardcover, Best PI Original Paperback, Best PI Short Story, and Best First PI Novel. 

And click here for backlist winners from 1982-present.

Remember, since most of these nominated novels are part of a series, you can identify a lot of titles to suggest AND purchase with the links above.

And of course, use the links at the top of the page for all of the ways you can use awards lists as a RA tool.

Using Awards List As a RA Tool: World Fantasy Awards Edition [w/ a Locus Magazine SF Awards Database Reminder]

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool. 

Click here
for the
nominees

Late last week, the World Fantasy Awards announced their final ballot. The World Fantasy Awards are chosen by an appointed jury of experts [this year it includes librarian, and my friend, Misha Stone]. From their website for the 2022 nominees:

The World Fantasy Awards℠ are given each year for outstanding achievement in fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous annual convention as the central focus of the event. 

This award statement is very important, as are all award statements. Why? Because they explain how and by whom the awards are given. In the case of this specific award, the World Fantasy conference organizers have control over the awards for each year. The awards are tied to that year's event and attendees and a jury is appointed for just that year. 

[Speaking of check out the event in NOLA this year and their amazing list of special guests. I am sad that I cannot attend due to a family commitment.]

The fact that each year's World  Fantasy Awards is its own contained system within the website for that convention means that you cannot easily access  the backlist of titles though their site. BUT, never fear, Locus Magazine is here.

Locus Magazine keeps THE most comprehensive database of all SF/F/H awards allowing you to have access to current announcements of all industry awards and then clickable access to each individual award with its backlist archived access. 

So remember, the backlist of all awards nominees make for great suggestions and displays, but also the World Fantasy Award is also a great way to assess trends in the large umbrella that is "Fantasy."

If you use the database and go back a few years for this award, you see a creeping of dark fantasy coming in to dominate and then this year.....WHAM! look at all the straight up Horror. 

But even better than looking just at the World Fantasy Award backlist of nominees, you can also look at all of the speculative fiction awards to get a quick snapshot of the speculative fiction world with very little effort-- so you can stay in genre shape.

Don't forget to use the series note at the top of this post for more reasons why I think awards lists are your most versatile RA Tool.

Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Romance Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

As many of you know, the Romance Writers of America have had a lot of issues with their awards in regards to racism. Here is a great article from NPR Books from August of 2021 updating the situation.

As you also know [and if you do not, see above], I love using awards lists as a RA Tool. However, with the RWA awards and their issues, I cannot in good faith promote them as a solid resource.

But thankfully, others have picked up the slack and today I would like to feature them. Please note, I am also including the mission of each award because understanding that is an important factor in how you use the 

First, on Valentine's Day, the second annual Swoon Awards were announced in 15 categories [including audio].  From their overview page:

The Swoon Awards (or The Swoonies like some of us call it) is a reader-based and reader-hosted award celebrating the romance community’s favorite romance novels of the year.

You can also click here to access the archive to past winners they have created. Yes, there are only 2 years right now, but compound interest will build quickly. For example, we already have 15 categories with 5 titles [a winner and 4 runners up in every category. That's already 150 suggestion ready titles-- but to be fair, there is some overlap.

Second, the Emma Awards. From their announcement of the 2021 winners page:

The 2021 RSJ Virtual Romance Book Con event for diversity in literature has announced the winners of the 2021 Emma Awards. The Emma — the premier award for diversity in romantic literature — recognizes excellence in published romance novels, novellas, and women’s fiction featuring diverse and multicultural protagonists (such as black, African-American, Latino American, Hispanic Americans, biracial, etc.).  Of the submissions entered into the contest, below are the winners.  Congratulations to all.

You can click here for the 2021 long lists in 11 judged categories, plus best cover and best book, and then 3 readers' choice categories, plus 2 other awards. Just click through, there is a lot, and all of it good.

The Emma awards do not have a specific archive [yet], but I did create one for you by clicking on the tag for "Emma Awards." They appear to go back to 2017! You think the compound interest of resources is large for the Soownies, well the Emma's crush that and they are ALL from marginalized perspectives.

Much thanks to my presenting partner and Romance for Libraries expert, Robin Bradford, for  alerting me to the Emma Awards. 

Use these lists to diversify your Romance displays, add critically acclaimed and readers' choice titles to your collections, and make some Romance suggestions today. 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: National Book Critics Circle Award and PEN America Literary Award Finalists

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

A couple of the big literary fiction awards released their finalists lists recently and they have a lot of crossover. This crossover is great for you, the library worker as it allows you to see some consensus. Both awards lists also have excellent backlist access and multiple categories across fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Below is the information and links, but remember to refresh your memory on why awards lists are such great tools to help readers with the links in the intro above. Any time someone asks me my favorite resource, my answer is ALWAYS "Awards Lists."

The National Book Critics Circle whose mission is, "Honoring outstanding writing and fostering a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature since 1974," released their short list for what they deem "the finest books published in English in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism," here.

Their backlist of nominees and winners is also easy to get to at the top of the current awards page and here directly. You can search by year or keyword going back over 45 years!

The PEN American Literary Awards were also announced and they give backlist access right on the main awards page. From that page:

"Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored many of the most outstanding voices in literature across diverse genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. With the help of our partners, PEN America confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, grants and prizes each year, awarding nearly $350,000 to writers and translators. View and search our archive of Award winners here."

That archive has both lists and a search option. What I love about this award is that the categories are so broad and in many ways, more intuitive for our readers, meaning we can use the categories in real time as we help readers. 

This year's finalists can be found here.

But here's what I mean about the categories. The main award isn't just for "best" novel a criteria that is not very specific. Rather it is for "a book-length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential for lasting influence." This is easier to use to handsell a title to potential readers.

Other categories include:

• The Open Book Award: "To an exceptional book-length work of any literary genre by an author of color." [What I love about this category is that there are authors of color in the main book award, but they do not overlap them in this category.]
• Debut story collection-- this is a great way for you to identify up and coming authors to add to your collections.
• Debut novel
• An award for "the art of the essay"-- a very popular nonfiction area. 
• Poetry-- still gaining in readership and popularity
• 2 translate literature prizes-- One for poetry and one for "book length prose."
• Literary Science Writing-- another very popular nonfiction area. The "literary" page is not a judgement rather it denotes that the works are not peer reviewed science but rather, "For a work that exemplifies literary excellence on the subject of the physical or biological sciences and communicates complex scientific concepts to a lay audience."
•  Biography 
• General Nonfiction

You can check out all of the current finalists and the judges for each category [which would also make for good suggestions for readers interested in that specific category] here.

And please, do not underestimate how helpful all awards lists are as a way for you to help readers, build displays, and enrich your collections. In vernal Awards Lists are truly your very best RA tool.

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Ignyte Awards Edition w/ Commentary [Possibly Rant]

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

This week the finalists for the Ignyte awards for speculative fiction were announced here. But first, for those who are still unfamiliar with this award which began in 2020 from the home page:

WELCOME TO THE IGNYTE AWARDS

The Ignyte Awards began in 2020 alongside the inaugural FIYAHCON, a virtual convention centering the contributions and experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in Speculative Fiction. Founded by L. D. Lewis and Suzan Palumbo, the awards were an attempt to correct representative gaps in traditional spec lit awards and have grown into a coveted and cherished addition to the awards landscape. The Ignytes seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.

Awards are given annually in the following categories:

Best Novel – Adult

Best Novel – YA

Best in Middle Grade

Best Novella

Best Novelette

Best Short Story

Speculative Poetry

Critics Award

Best Fiction Podcast

Best Artist

Best Comics Team

Best Anthology/Collected Works

Best in Creative Nonfiction

The Ember Award for Unsung Contributions to Genre

Community Award for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre

The current list of finalists is here, and at the top of that page you have a button that links to the backlist of awards for the last four years.

Use this award as you do all others to make displays and check your collections (see the links at the top of the post for more ideas and details). This award in particular would be a great way to show your community about all the great books and authors they may have missed by just titling a display or online list "Award Worthy Speculative Fiction." And then, only include books and authors from the first 5 years of nominees. There are some big name authors and you should have plenty of titles to make a well sticked display of many subgenres of speculative fiction. Then see what you hear from your patrons.

Do any of them even notice that every item is by a person of color? If you have no mention of the award you are pulling titles from and make no mention of the fact that it is only authors of color, I am willing to bet you get very few comments. Patrons will not argue with the term  "award" that easily. 

And yet if you made this same display and said critically acclaimed or award worthy speculative fiction by authors of color....that would lead to comments, mostly negative. Same list. Same display. Different heading. Different reactions.

There is no need to tell your patrons that you are intentionally singling out an award that is for authors of color only. NO NEED. Do you give them the parameters of every display you put up? Of course not! Stop right now thinking that you do. Stop right now claiming that this is deceptive. It is not. It is standard practice NOT to make a diversity statement. When awards were all straight and white we never did a caveat of that fact. For decades most awards were only for white people and we never broadcast that.

Also, stop thinking that these are second tier titles. There are award winning, bestselling books here in places where identity was not considered. These are critically acclaimed books full stop. And you are now using awards lists as an RA Tool to help connect book with readers, as instructed by an expert in the RA Service field. Me. End of story.

By the way, this is an example of how you can be actively anti-racist. You don't apologize, you don't include caveats...you just do something. You model the behavior you want to see. 

But wait, there's more with this award that makes it an even better option for libraries: The public can vote!

This adds a whole other interactive dimension to my usual posts about using awards as a resource to help readers. You can add a QR code for patrons to vote with your displays in the building or add the link for voting online. Yes this will give away the parameters of the award, but people who care enough to vote are not going to say anything. 

Library users are hard core readers already and if you give them a chance to have their voice and opinions heard in a major award, well, they are going to be excited that they were asked. Talk about showing them that you want them to be a part of the service you provide to them with their pre-paid tax dollars.

Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Ignite Awards

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

Among the newer major awards on the block are the Ignyte Awards. From their home page:

WELCOME TO THE IGNYTE AWARDS

The Ignyte Awards began in 2020 alongside the inaugural FIYAHCON, a virtual convention centering the contributions and experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in Speculative Fiction. Founded by L. D. Lewis and Suzan Palumbo, the awards were an attempt to correct representative gaps in traditional spec lit awards and have grown into a coveted and cherished addition to the awards landscape. The Ignytes seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.

Awards are given annually in the following categories:

• Best Novel – Adult
• Best Novel – YA
• Best in Middle Grade
• Best Novella
• Best Novelette
• Best Short Story
• Speculative Poetry
• Critics Award
• Best Fiction Podcast
• Best Artist
• Best Comics Team
• Best Anthology/Collected Works
• Best in Creative Nonfiction
• The Ember Award for Unsung Contributions to Genre
• Community Award for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre

Click her for the full list of 2023 finalists. 

And click here for the finalists and winners from the 2020, 2021, and 2022 awards.

The Igynte awards are the perfect example of how to act and be intentionally diverse and anti-racist because they are all about noticing the absences of the voices and experiences of BIPOC creators and centering them in their own space. 

For years some library workers have been stuck in a loop where people would say well, the bestsellers or award winners or star reviews are all white people, so those are "the  best" and most important titles for my collection. Why should I add "lesser" books.

Well, in reality, only the experiences of cishet, white people were even being considered for these distinctions. Meaning that those best lists, sales milestones, and awards were only going to the best "white" voices. BIPOC voices weren't even in the running, no matter how good their work actually was.

Marginalized voices needed to create their own awards to even be noticed. We have seen the success of this over time with things like the Coretta Scott King Awards. For years, the only way Black creators could win in the youth category was through this award. But now, titles regularly win both the CSK and overall awards like the Newbery and Caldecott. Yes its took years, but the CSK awards are a success story of refusing to be left out, making a strong stand for Black voices and eventually proving that these titles are for everyone and among the very best youth materials available, full stop.

The Ignyte Award is filling this role in the speculative genres and I am all here for it. Don't think you can diversify you offerings because you don't know where to find those titles? The Ignyte Award is here to challenge you on this. Just look at the list for Best Novel Adult for example:

BEST NOVEL: ADULT

for novel-length work (40k words) Works intended for an Adult audience

• BABEL – R. F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)
• KAIKEYI – Vaishnavi Patel (Redhook)
• SIREN QUEEN – Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
• THE BLOOD TRIALS – N. E. Davenport (Harper Voyager)
• THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER – Simon Jimenez (Del Rey) 

The first 3 are among the most critically acclaimed titles in speculative fiction period; not just for BIPOC writers. And Babel is winning every award it is eligible for. 

Stop with the excuses and start realizing that systemic racism is responsible for your thinking. Our world has set up a false narrative that the White, Cishet, Able bodied, Christian POV is the standard and everything else is "other" at the very best and on a  lower wrong at worst, when in reality anything that didn't fit that "standard" wasn't even given a chance to exist-- good or bad, it never got a chance to try,

Awards like the Ignyte Awards are here to remind us of those glaring absences, call them out-- and loudly-- and celebrate excellence. 

Make  sure you have the Ignyte Awards on you radar. Use their nominees, and frankly, their mission in general, to help you craft displays and lists that represent all voices. And check all of these titles against your collections and use this as a chance to add some of the very best BIPOC voices to your offerings.

Final reminder because I have non-US readers: It's a holiday weekend here in America so the blog will be back on Tuesday.

Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Shirley Jackson Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.   

In yesterday's post I mentioned an author whose story appeared in a Shirley Jackson Award Nominated Anthology. So today, let's talk Shirley Jackson Awards. They are coming out a little later than normal this year, but that is because they are part of the larger Boston Book Festival this year and that is happening October 29th.

I am on record, multiple times, saying that  this is my favorite award. If I had to pick only 1 award for fiction, this would be it. And that is saying a lot because I have been on the juries for multiple awards and not this one.

But why this one? A few reasons,

First, the Shirley Jackson Awards are an excellent RA tool not only for the normal reasons I outline with the links to start this post, but also because they are an award that is NOT bound by genre. The entire point of the books that are nominated for and win this award is that they represent the legacy of Jackson, herself. Books that are darkly speculative and/or are intensely psychological; books that defy conventions but are great.  Each and every year titles are honored that are amazing reads but are almost always overlooked by genre awards, not because they aren't great [because they are], but because when push comes to shove, they do not fit as easily into the genre box as the other options.

Second, because books that win the Shirley Jackson Award already live on the fringes, the jurors and the titles they choose are more diverse than your average award.

And third, this award can be used as a "readalike" list on its own. Why? Because the main thing these nominated titles all share is a connection to Jackson and her brand of storytelling; thus, they all have an appeal connection that other awards can not promise in the same way. 

Which reminds me, the Shirley Jackson Awards not only have annual jurors who rotate every year but they also have a board of directors and an advisory board. You can access all of those people and their bios on this one page. Every single one of those authors is also readlaike option. 

And of course, the super easy backlist access of nominees and winners going back to 2007, all avaiable with 1 easy click. 

You want a display of weird, unsettling, and compelling titles, look no further than these tales, all of which are singled out for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. Those nominated for this year and all past years. There are so many options you will never run out of a suggestion for your patrons searching out this type of read.

Below I have reposted the nominees announcement and added access to my reviews, if applicable, with a link on the title.

2021 Shirley Jackson Awards Nominees

Boston, MA (September 2022) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories:  Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Fiction, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

The nominees for the 2021 Shirley Jackson Awards are:

NOVEL

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter (Titan Books)

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer (MCD)

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press)

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull (Blackstone Publishing)

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw (Nightfire)

NOVELLA

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)

Dirty Heads: A novella of cosmic coming-of-age horror by Aaron Dries (Black T-Shirt Books)

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)

A Rose / Arose by Michael Bailey (Written Backwards)

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles (Innsmouth Free Press)

NOVELETTE

House of Crows by Lisa Unger (Amazon Original Stories)

“The Nag Bride” by A.C. Wise (The Ghost Sequences, Undertow Publications)

The Night Belongs to Us by Jess Landry (Independent Legions Publishing)

“We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It” by E. A. Petricone (Nightmare Magazine, February 2021)

The Women by Margaret Jameson (F(r)iction)

SHORT FICTION

“Dizzy in the Weeds” by L.D. Lewis (Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness)

“Forward, Victoria” by Carlie St. George (The Dark Magazine, April 2021)

“Gordon B. White is Creating Haunting Weird Horror” by Gordon B. White (Nightmare Magazine, July 2021)

“Human Reason” by Nicasio Andres Reed (Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness)

“You’ll Understand When You’re a Mom Someday” by Isabel J. Kim (khōréō magazine, August 2021)

 SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons: Stories by Keith Rosson (Meerkat Press)

People from My Neighborhood by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Soft Skull Press)

Sometimes We’re Cruel by J.A.W. McCarthy (Cemetery Gates Media)

We are Happy, We are Doomed by Kurt Fawver (Grimscribe Press)

Where All is Night, and Starless by John Linwood Grant (Trepidatio Publishing)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

Giving The Devil His Due: A Charity Anthology, edited by Rebecca Brewer (Running Wild Press)

Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World, edited by Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon Books)

Stitched Lips: An Anthology of Horror from Silenced Voices, edited by Ken MacGregor (Dragon’s Roost Press)

There Is No Death, There Are No Dead, edited by Jess Landry & Aaron J. French (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness, edited by dave ring (Neon Hemlock)

SPECIAL AWARD

The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc., also is committed to promoting the legacy of Shirley Jackson and, as part of this mission, will present a Special Award to Ms. Datlow in recognition of the anthology When Things Get Dark: Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books, 2021).

Ms. Datlow was a nominee for the Shirley Jackson Award for Edited Anthology for the years 2011, 2013 (with Terri Windling), 2015, 2017, and 2019, and won the award in this category for the years 2007, 2009, and 2014.

Previous recipients of a Special Award from the Shirley Jackson Awards are Joyce Carol Oates as editor of the Library of America edition of Shirley Jackson:  Novels & Stories (Library of America, 2010) and Ruth Franklin in recognition of her biography Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life(Liveright/W.W. Norton, 2016).

2021 SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARDS CEREMONY

The 2021 Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented in-person on October 29, 2022, as part of the Boston Book Festival, in partnership with Readercon, Conference on Imaginative Literature. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Elizabeth Hand and Paul Tremblay.

Using Awards Lists As A RA Tool: Eisner Awards and Booker Prize Editions

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool. 

Just checking in quickly today to remind you all that the Eisner Awards-- the top awards in graphic novels and comics-- were given out last week and you can access the current winners here. The is super easy drop down menu access to all past winners here.

Also the Booker Prize announced its long list here. And, they have excellent backlist access here. I personally love the Booker because while it is first and foremost a "literary" award, they always include genre titles of merit. This year for example, The Trees by Percival Everett is THE BEST book I have read this year. It came out at the end of 2021 and I am so glad it is still being considered for awards. Read my review here, but this title is a mystery, alternative history, and horror all wrapped into one. And it is stunning!

Of course, use the links at the top of this post to see all the best ways to use awards lists as a RA tool but please note, these 2 awards are NOT genre based. These awards contain many genres-- especially the GNs. Books from past and current Eisner and Booker nominees can be incorporated into many different displays. 

Especially with Graphic Novels, you should be going out of your way to include a few in every display you make. Don't make the mistake of thinking a format is a genre. 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Shirley Jackson Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.

The Shirley Jackson Awards were announced over the weekend. You can go to the website to see the winners, get access to past winners and nominees, and even watch the announcement of the winners.

I have also listed the winners below for the lazy among you who don't click through.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are an excellent RA tool not only for the normal reasons I outline with the links to start this post, but also because they are an award that is NOT bound by genre. The entire point of the books that are nominated for and win this award is that they represent the legacy of Jackson, herself. Books that are darkly speculative and/or are intensely psychological; books that defy conventions but are great.  Each and every year titles are honored that are amazing reads but are almost always overlooked by genre awards, not because they aren't great [because they are], but because when push comes to shove, they do not fit as easily into the genre box as the other options.

Also, because books that win the Shirley Jackson award already live on the fringes, the jurors and the titles they choose are more diverse than your average award.

A perfect example of all of these points is the best novella winner, Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma. I read this novella last year and was blown away by it. A captivating story that reminded by of Naomi Novik, a dark fantasy-horror hybrid. I chose it to lead off my October take over of  Neal  Wyatt's Readers' Shelf column last October, precisely because it perfectly filled the space in the Venn diagram where dark fantasy and horror overlap. I know it was a title library workers may have missed, while I also knew patrons would love it.

I also asked Ms Sharma to share why she loves horror with my readers on the horror blog. You can read her guest post here.

I am familiar with every one of the authors and titles listed here. I was especially excited to see Indrapramit Das win. I highlighted him in my review of Ellen Datlow's award winning Anthology Echoes last year. This is a different story, but I loved it. I am going to seek out the story listed below immediately.

And the anthology by Golden and Moore is so deserving of praise. It lost out to the aforementioned ECHOES at the Stokers for the exact reasons I mentioned above. As a voter for the Stokers, I was choosing between those two for my final vote and ultimately, I could not ignore the Datlow collection as more HORROR from top to bottom.

But Golden and Moore created The Twisted Book of Shadows to  prove  a point, that they  could use a blind submission process, get a diverse group of authors, many whose names might not be known, pay everyone pro rates, and still create a top notch anthology. And guess what, they did it, earning multiple speculate fiction award nominations and now a win!

Please see the winners below and go to the website to get access to hundreds of title to build virtual and in-person displays of past nominees and winners. Add them to your carts and get these books on your shelves. Jackson is extremely popular with readers right now [for many reasons, but most recently this new movie]. The chance to make a diverse display with high-interest titles is a click away. Don't miss out.

2019 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners

Boston, MA (July, 2020) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories:  Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

The 2019 Shirley Jackson Awards were premiered on Sunday, July 12, 2020, as a pre-recorded ceremony. The winners of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Awards are:

 

NOVEL

The Book of X, Sarah Rose Etter (Two Dollar Radio)

NOVELLA

Ormeshadow, Priya Sharma (Tor.com)

NOVELETTE

Luminous Body, Brooke Warra (Dim Shores)

SHORT FICTION

“Kali_Na,” Indrapramit Das (The Mythic Dream)

SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

Song for the Unraveling of the World, Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

The Twisted Book of Shadows, edited by Christopher Golden & James A. Moore (Twisted Publishing)

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.”  Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work.

 

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: The Nobel Prize Edition (AND IT'S HORROR)

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang, “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose. 

Press release

Biobibliography

Before we get to using the Nobel Prize as a RA Tool, we all need to stop for a moment and have some real talk about Han Kang and specifically, her most popular work here in America-- The Vegetarian. It is a masterpiece of modern Horror. They can write up her biography and leave the H word out, but we al know that her work is the perfect example of today's brand of intense, psychological Horror.

I can yell until I am blue in the face about the Horror Renaissance (I have done it many places but here is the latest version), but awards like this prove it. There is no more hiding the fact that Horror is not only an important genre, but vital to our storytelling traditions as humans. 

Of course, I have stood on my soapbox about this for years, but I am so filled with joy that it is becoming impossible for other to ignore as well.

Not only is The Vegetarian an often recommended book in many American libraries, but also We Do Not Part, coming in January 2025, was already on all the most anticipated lists. This is a Nobel Prize winner we already know is a good read for our patrons. 

But that is about this particular award winner. The reason I have these posts about using awards lists as a RA tool, is to write about how to use awards to help readers. In this case though, we have an award that does not include a long list, and I am sure some of you are asking why I posted this under that series.

Great question. Thanks for asking. 

It is because the list of past winners is a wonderful resource to dig into, especially for fans of world literature. 

You could make an excellent display of past winners and readalikes for them. There is a great landing page of the Literature Prize here. You can also make online lists where you highlight each author, their work, and other things to try. 

And because the list is international, you can use it outside of the time when the prize is awarded. Make lists and displays that focus on the author's country of origin and use it as a springboard to offer more reading options.

Or simply use the announcement of the Nobel Prize as a chance to put up a display of books in translation, include Kang's books, and add an interactive element asking your patrons their favorite books in translation. (remember to go here to learn how to use conversation starters to fill your displays)

In this case, it is easy because South Korean and korean American authors are very popular here, especially those who write Psychological Suspense and Horror. Click here to get started.

And long live HORROR!

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: National Book Awards Winners Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.

The National Book Awards were announced last night. Last month I talked at length about using the National Book Awards longlists and backlist as a great RA tool especially because of the breadth of categories.

Last night the winners were announced:

But again, for like the hundredth time as part of this longer series, it is not the winners that are useful. Yes, right now and for the next few weeks, you will have a rush on these books, but all of the nominated titles, this year, and especially over the last 2-5 years, are excellent for displays and suggestions to any reader.

And, the National Book Foundation gets this. Click here to see the website for the 2020 awards as it is laid out. I have also included screen shots, but for those who need alt-text, click here. 

As you can see, each category is easily accessible on the top navigation bar, with the winner, and finalists prominently displayed. Immediately below is the rest of the long list.

5 categories, and all the titles of interest easily accessible. 

And then, you can also use this link to get every book ever nominated by year or even decade, also with a simple click on a page that is easy to find. Click here or on screen shot below to access that page.

The point here is to remind you that the the backlist of awards lists are a great resource, but also to highlight those awards that make finding those books easy. 

Build a National Book Foundation display today. Get award winners and nominees from all of the categories and from multiple years on to one display; it's a great way to highlight your whole collection in one place.

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Edgar Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool. 

Well it is a busy week of awards long lists. I am going to be posting them all week here on RA for All. This also means it is time for me to do my HUGE annual update of my genre program. This is also why I don't give that talk in the first 2 months of the year-- I need time to update it.

More about that soon as I will post the update when it is ready with commentary. 

This week we have Mystery, Literary, Audiobooks, and all the Library Books and Media award winners. 

I am going to start with the Edgars, one of my favorite awards. 

Here is the link to the Edgar Awards database (so easy to use) and the specific PDF with all of the information about the 2025 nominees. 

The Edgar awards are an EXCELLENT resource, for all of the reasons I normally discuss [see link in the intro], but also because 3 of their awards are straight up readalike awards-- The Mary Higgins Clark Award, the Lillian Jackson Braun Award, and the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. I rely on these awards to help fans of these authors find new titles and authors.

The Edgar Awards also have a WONDERFUL database of past winners and nominees. You can easily search back 79 years [!] and because mysteries are so popular in our libraries, there are endless display and suggestion possibilities held in that database. You can search by category, author, year, basically anyway you might want to look for titles, they have you covered.

Explore the database for yourself.

The range of titles as usual is large and the options are all great suggestions for a wide range of readers. Take just the "Best Novel" category as our example:

BEST NOVEL

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Penguin Random House – Random House Worlds/Del Rey
• Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco (Farrar, Straus and Giroux – MCD)
• Things Don’t Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins (Penguin Random House – Crown)
• My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (Macmillan Publishers – Celadon Books)
• The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

You want a snapshot of the "mystery" landscape, one of our most popular areas for library checkouts, look no further than the Edgar Awards nominees this year, well any year really, and especially over the last 5 years. You can track trends, rising star authors, and key readalike titles with just a click or two. 

And you want diverse displays that cover a wide swath of mystery readers? The last few years of Edgar nominees will make you a great display or online list. 

Click here or on the image above to access the full color, PDF press release for this year's nominees.