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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
The National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists Announced
Often the NBCC can have the most idiosyncratic finalists of the major awards (yes, I consider it a major award, settle down). This has been a pretty chalk year, at least in the fiction categories, with James looming like the 1996 Chicago Bulls in each round of long and short list announcements. And it does indeed survive into the shortlist. Us Fools by Nora Lange survives from the shortlist as well. Godwin by Joseph O’Neill picked up some late year steam with several notable mentions in best-of lists.
Finalists for the Edgar Awards
I also watch the finalists for major genre awards carefully, as I don’t follow these as closely throughout the year but I both like to know what’s being lauded and to cherry-pick a few late in the season. And, true to form, I have read exactly one of the finalists in any of the categories (God of the Woods, which duh). In looking through the picks, I think My Favorite Scar by Nicolas Ferraro is the most likely to make it on to my Kindle for plane reading. Father/daughter road trip where one is an Argentinian mobster? I’m sure it’ll be a smooth drive.
The Oscar Nominations Are Out—7 of 10 of the Best Picture Nominations Are Adaptations
Every year, I shout about just how much of film culture is always/ready book culture (that one was for the post-structuralists in the back). Literary culture is culture, period. Thrilled to see Nickel Boys in the best picture race officially. It is as wide-open a race as I can recall, as a semi-serious follower of such things. I am way, way behind on my movie-watching, but I plan on watching all the adapted screenplay nominees and best picture nominees before award night. On an upcoming episode The Book Riot Podcast, Rebecca and I are going to handicap the slate, if that sounds like the kind of thing you would be interested in
How to Be Alone
Speaking of Rebecca: she wrote a good round-up of books about the virtues, uses, and pleasure of spending time alone. I’ve read several of her picks and can second the recommendations and sentiment for those.