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BookBrowse Highlights
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December 10, 2015
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2015 has been great for books and as we come to the end of the year, we round off our reading with our stamp of approval for a select few books, the BookBrowse Awards.  The Best Fiction award goes to The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah's novel about two sisters in occupied France, a selection that was an enthusiastic favorite with our First Impression reviewers, each and every one of whom gave a thumbs up to this story of courage and endurance. In celebration of this win we are giving away five hardcover copies signed by the author. A wrenching, small-town story of three generations of drug runners in Georgia, Bull Mountain, wins our Best Debut award, while Goodbye Stranger, a delightful portrayal of middle school and its travails, wins Best Young Adult Novel. Rounding off the selection is our nonfiction winner, a portrait of healing after deep loss - Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk. We'll be back next week with one last issue before the holidays, which will round up the 10 best author interviews of the year. Your editor, Davina Morgan-Witts
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  1. Winner of the 2015 BookBrowse Fiction Award The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Hardcover (Feb 2015), 448 pages. Publisher: St. Martin's Press. BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.5/5 Buy at Amazon | B&N | IndieBookBrowse readers were challenged and moved by Kristin Hannah's unique World War II novel, The Nightingale. Each and every one rated it 4 or a 5 stars. What makes the story of two sisters in Occupied France so different from other World War II novels? Why did our reviewers feel so connected to it?
"Kristin Hannah has reached a new level with this strong and enduring cast of characters and themes. I would challenge anyone to read The Nightingale and not feel deeply moved by its message. I felt proud of these women, struggling to survive in times of war and wondered "what would I do" to save my family, my freedoms and all that I hold dear? Beyond that question looms another: "Do I have that deep core of bravery so desperately needed in the darkest of hours?" Relevant today and always this story will stay with me a long time. It has my strongest recommendation. "... continued
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2. Winner of the 2015 BookBrowse Nonfiction Award
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Hardcover (Mar 2015), 288 pages.
Publisher: Grove Press.
BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.7/5
Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
It is difficult to categorize Helen Macdonald's debut, H Is for Hawk; it is simultaneously a natural history, a literary biography, a memoir, and a chronicle of bereavement. It's also a thoughtful inquiry into the (often imagined or imaginary) relationship between people and wild animals and an intriguing glimpse into a world many of us probably didn't even know existed. If your knowledge of falconry is limited to images from medieval romances, you will no doubt be fascinated to discover that a subculture of falconry is alive and well all... continued
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3. Winner of the 2015 BookBrowse Debut Novel Award
Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich
Hardcover (Jul 2015), 304 pages. Publisher: Putnam Books. BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.7/5 Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie Brian Panowich's debut novel, Bull Mountain, follows three generations of small-time drug-runners as their enterprise begins to crumble around them. Bull Mountain, an isolated peak in Georgia, is home to the Burroughs family - men who make their living selling illegal substances, first producing moonshine during the Prohibition, branching out to marijuana the following generation, and finally turning to meth production in the book's present. One scion of this clan, Clifford Burroughs, has turned his back on his criminal past and kin to become the county sheriff. Clifford is ... continued
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4. Winner of the 2015 BookBrowse Award
for Best Young Adult Novel
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
Hardcover (Aug 2015), 304 pages.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books.
BookBrowse Rating: 5/5, Critics' Consensus: 4.8/5
Middle school is nothing if not a time of changes. Weirdly changing bodies, quickly changing interests, and, of course, friendships that can change - or disappear or self-destruct - at the drop of a hat. Rebecca Stead generously and thoughtfully addresses all these changes in Goodbye Stranger. Most of the novel is told from the point of view of Bridge Barsamian, a seventh-grader who asks herself every day why she's alive. Not out of some abstract existentialist impulse, though, but because she is genuinely lucky to be alive after being hit by a car five years earlier... continued
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 5. Win One of Five Signed Copies  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Published
Hardcover Feb 2015
448 pages
Enter the Giveaway From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes an epic novel of love and war, spanning from the 1940s to the present day, and the secret lives of those who live in a small French town. 5 people will each win a signed hardcover copy of The Nightingale. This giveaway is open to residents of the USA only, unless you are a BookBrowse member, in which case you are eligible to win wherever you might live. Enter the giveaway | Past Winners
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 6. WordplaySolve our fiendish Big Holiday Wordplay, and be entered to win your share of $400 in books!
To enter, decipher the 10 well-known or classic books and their authors from the clues below. E.g. the answer to 'T L O T R by J R R T' would be The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. - A L B D by E G
- A O R by W S
- B O C by K V
- C B by A M
- C's W by E B W
- H's G by S B
- R A R by J U
- S by E W
- T C M by H W
- T K I M by J T
The answer to last Week's Wordplay:
N I, ands, O B: No ifs, ands, or buts
The most comprehensive explanation for this expression is to be found on the grammarphobia blog which traces the use of "ifs and ands" to 16th century Britain, explaining that, at the time "and" was often used in a conditional sense meaning "provided that" - a usage that dates back to at least the 13th century.
So, whereas today one might occasionally find oneself needing to say, "if it please your grace" back in the 16th century one could have said "and it please your grace" - which would have meant "provided that it please your grace." So, in essence, "if and ands" meant at the time "ifs and ifs". continued
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 7. Publishing Soon
Each month BookBrowse previews 80+ notable books. Here is a selection of January titles to whet your appetite. Click to view more. Members can see all upcoming books (at the time of writing we have previews of 127 notable winter books), non-members can see the next dozen that will publish.
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 About BookBrowse
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Back issues of this newsletterYou might also be interested in the content of our About section, including how we got started, profiles of our editorial staff and reviewers, and answers to frequently asked questions. |
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