5.11 The Community Library Reading Awards 2021

The end of another year means another Community Library Reading Awards! In this totally biased and unfair awards ceremony, I give awards to my most thought-provoking book, favourite lockdown read, favourite translated fiction, and more! Consider this a highlights reel of all the books I read this year. Happy New Year, and I hope you enjoy!

Listen to the episode here

Transcription coming soon!

TL;DL? Here’s a list of all the books I talked about in the episode:

  1. BIGGEST SURPRISE

The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

  • published 1947 and 1949

  • adult / fiction / classic, WWII

the gist: Two young British women try and find love leading up to and during the second world war.

2. BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer

  • published 2019

  • adult / nonfiction / climate, science

the gist: An exploration of the moral, social, political and physical implications of the climate crisis.

3. MOST THOUGHT-PROVOKING

Disfigured by Amanda Leduc

  • published 2020

  • adult / nonfiction / disability, fairy tales, memoir

the gist: Leduc explores fairy tales and folklore through the lens of disability studies while also sharing her own experience having cerebral palsy.

4. NEW FAVOURITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER

Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

  • published in 1925

  • adult / fiction / classic, romantic comedy

the gist: Told through diary entries, we follow Lorelei’s hijinks across Europe, seducing men and collecting jewels (preferably diamonds).

5. FAVOURITE COVER

All’s Well by Mona Awad

  • published 2021

  • adult / fiction / speculative, horror

the gist: University theatre director Miranda is suffering from chronic illness while trying to put on a production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well.

6. FAVOURITE YA FICTION

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

  • published 2019

  • YA / fiction / coming-of-age, romance

the gist: Stuck in the small town of Lyric for the summer, sixteen-year-old Violet tries to get her life back on track by making new friends and trying to locate a missing shipwreck.

7. FAVOURITE ADULT FICTION

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

  • published 2019

  • adult / fiction / sci-fi, romance

the gist: Red and Blue are undercover agents on opposite sides of a war through time, but their relationship develops as they begin to communicate through letters.

8. FAVOURITE TRANSLATED FICTION

The Door by Magda Szabó

translated from Hungarian by Len Rix

  • published 1987

  • adult / fiction / domestic, autofiction

the gist: Chronicles a writer’s relationship with her elderly housekeeper.

9. FAVOURITE AUSTRALIAN FICTION

Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott

  • published 1963

  • adult / fiction / historical, family

the gist: 6-year-old PS, whose eccentric mother died the day after he was born, is caught in a custody battle between his aunts.

10. FAVOURITE CLASSIC

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

  • published 1925

  • adult / fiction / classic, stream of consciousness

the gist: A middle-aged woman prepares for a party while reminiscing on her life so far.

11. FAVOURITE NONFICTION

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

  • published 2019

  • adult / nonfiction / memoir, literary criticism

the gist: Machado recounts her experience in an abusive relationship by framing it through different genres, literary devices and story conventions.

12. FAVOURITE SHORT STORY, POETRY OR PLAY

Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? by Maya Angelou

  • published 1983

  • adult / poetry / social justice, memoir

the gist: Angelou displays her craft as a storyteller and poet through her exploration of love, grief and community.

13. FAVOURITE RE-READ

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • published 1925

  • adult / fiction / classic, 1920s

the gist: Nick Carraway recounts his experience befriending his mysterious and elusive neighbour who throws roaring parties every weekend.

14. FAVOURITE 2021 RELEASE

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

  • published 2021

  • adult / fiction / politics, social commentary

the gist: After a bomb is set off on a train in India, we follow three characters and how their lives are impacted by this single event.

15. FAVOURITE LOCKDOWN READ

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

  • published 2020

  • adult / fiction / fantasy, folklore

the gist: In an empire reminiscent of Imperial China, a clerk is sent to document the histories of the land. When they stumble upon an old hut, they meet Rabbit, who tells them the story of the rise of Empress In-Yo through curious objects and artefacts.

16. NEW FAVOURITE AUTHOR

Sumner Locke Elliott, 1917-1991

17. BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Whole Picture by Alice Procter

  • published 2020

  • adult / nonfiction / art history

the gist: Procter takes the reader through the colonial history of museums, while highlighting important historical and contemporary works.

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