Twenty-five nominees in five categories made it from the longlist to the shortlist of the National Book Awards. Here's a look at three of them, and also one that didn't make the cut but has an interesting scandal going on in Norway.
Category: Books in Translation
An orphan in the family storm
"A Girl Returned" is the English-language debut of Italian author Donatella Di Pietrantonio. This memorable novel captivates readers with its young narrator whose identity and sense of belonging is shattered by her misguided family.
Summer prize-winning reads
This summer, fill the beach bag with 2019 award winners. From the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to the recently awarded Women's Prize for Fiction, here are seven novels you'll be glad you read.
The 100 Best Novels in Translation
We depend on translators to bring us the world's literature. We also depend on them to make the right decisions on how to bring a novel to life, wrestling with fidelity to the original versus comprehension for the reader. This book is not only a list, but a guide to those who do this marvelous work.
Top three novels on 2018 year-end lists
These novels appear the most times on 2018 fiction lists that announce the year's favorites, notables, and bests.
It all starts with something simple.
Victor del Arbol's new novel "A Million Drops" is an intoxicating page-turner that knits together the crimes of darkly motivated characters. Spanning 1933 to 2002, it follows the lives of Soviet Gulag survivor Elias Gil and his children.
Living the Russian language
Laura Esther Wolfson's collected essays tell the story of her life as a translator and interpreter. They are as creative and memorable as the book's title, "For Single Mothers Working as Train Conductors."
My most given books
A comment during an interview with author Mark Helprin turned my thinking to the books I’ve given most as gifts. Here they are.
Pick a country. Read the books.
The 2018 International Dublin Literary Award longlist includes 150 novels nominated by worldwide librarians. Here are reading suggestions.
Longing for the unreachable past
"Katalin Street" by Magda Szabó offers a compulsive reading experience about three families who live side by side in 1934 Budapest.
The holy grail of contentment
"A Whole Life" by Robert Seethaler tells a memorable story about a mountain man with simple needs.
48 people, 48 agents of uncertainty
"Constellation" is a brief, fictionalized true story about the Air France F-BAZN Lockheed Constellation airplane that crashed into a mountain in the Azores archipelago on October 28, 1949. This captivating novel is more than a retelling of an aviation event. Here's why.
Blockbuster sales for this crime novel
"Six Four" is being hailed by critics for its complexity and insight into Japanese media, police and government culture and corruption. Readers have shot sales figures into the stratosphere. It's a unique novel for ambitious, patient and demanding readers.
2016 International Award Winners
Award-winning novels don't often equate to page-turners, but they do point us in the direction of fine literature. These winners of recent international fiction awards tell stories about family tragedy, a South Korean woman's obsession with vegetarianism and crime in Ireland's post-crash society. Here are the book titles and more of what each is about.
Charlotte Salomon: “It is my whole life”
David Foenkinos has written a novel that's as compelling for its style as it is for the story. The new novel is a multiple award-winner and massive bestseller in France, recounting the life and work of German artist Charlotte Salomon during World War II. Foenkinos' obsession with the subject and the way he writes the story make it a stand-out.
