Zora Neale Hurston Award: Miriam Rodriguez, Assistant Director, Public Services/Community Integration of the Dallas Public Library, was selected for her role in Tulisoma, a successful and growing community-based literary festival that features African American authors and artists and promotes literacy and the arts.

Sophie Brody Award: Peter Manseau, Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter.  Honorable mentions: Ron Leshem, Beaufort; A.B. Yehoshua, Friendly Fire; Arie Kaplan, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books.

Dartmouth Medal: Greenwood Publishing, Pop Culture Universe.  Honorable mention: Gershon David Hundert, The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.

Outstanding Reference Sources:

Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading. Kenneth Womack, ed. 4 vols. Greenwood, 2008. (9780313337383).
Encyclopedia of Taoism. Fabrizio Pregadio, ed. 2 vols. Routledge, 2008. (9780700712007),

Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. John R. Vile, David L. Hudson Jr. and David Schultz, eds. 2 vols. CQ Press, 2009. (9780872893115).

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales. Donald Haase, ed. 3 vols. Greenwood, 2008. (9780313334412).

Encyclopedia of Education Law. Charles J. Russo, ed. 2 vols. Sage, 2008. (9781412940795).

Climate Change: In Context. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, eds. 2 vols. Gale Cengage, 2008. (9781414436142).

Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition. Jacqueline L. Longe, ed. Gale Cengage, 2008. (9781414429915).

New Encyclopedia of Orchids: 1500 Species in Cultivation. Isobyl la Croix. Timber Press, 2008. (9780881928761).

Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social and Military History. Spencer C. Tucker, ed. 4 vols. ABC-CLIO, 2008. (9781851098415).

African American National Biography. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Evelyn Brooks-Higginbotham, eds. 8 vols. Oxford University Press, 2008. (9780195160192).

Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Bonnie G. Smith, ed. 4 vols. Oxford University Press, 2008. (9780195148909).

Notable Books:

FICTION

Alameddine, Rabih. The Hakawati Knopf 9780307266798

Aslam, Nadeem. The Wasted Vigil Knopf 9780307268426

Bausch, Richard. Peace Knopf 9780307268334

Benioff, David. City of Thieves: A Novel Viking 9780670018703

Erdrich, Louise. The Plague of Doves HarperCollins 9780060515126

Galchen, Rivka. Atmospheric Disturbances Farrar Straus & Giroux 9780374200114

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed Earth Knopf 9780307265739

Millhauser, Steven. Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories Knopf 9780307267566

Sheers, Owen. Resistance Doubleday/Nan A. Talese 9780385522106

Strout, Elizabeth. Olive Kitteridge Random House 9781400062089

Talarigo, Jeff. The Ginseng Hunter Doubleday/Nan A. Talese 9780385517393

NONFICTION

Coll, Steve. The Bin-Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Penguin Press 9781594201646

Faust, Drew Gilpin. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Knopf 9780375404047

Filkins, Dexter. The Forever War Knopf Publishing Group 9780307266392

Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth. Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 Norton 9780393062441

Gordon-Reed, Annette. The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family Norton 9780393064773

Harris, Mark. Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood Penguin    9781594201523

Horwitz, Tony. A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World Holt 9780805076035

Mayer, Jane The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Doubleday 9780385526395

Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto Penguin 9781594201455

Taylor, Nick. American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work Bantam 9780553802351

Vanderbilt, Tom. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) Knopf 9780307264787

Wickersham, Joan . The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order Harcourt 9780151014903

POETRY

Hirsch, Edward Special Orders: Poems Knopf 9780307266811

Tate, James Ghost Soldiers: Poems Ecco 9780061436949

Reading List:

Adrenaline

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box, St. Martin, 9780312365707

In this relentlessly paced story two children witness a murder, elude crooked ex-cops, and find refuge with a taciturn rancher. The evocative landscape and emotional depth, along with the engaging characters and provocative story line, combine to create an unforgettable novel.

Read-Alikes:
Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson
Nothing to Lose by Lee Child
Hombre by Elmore Leonard

Shortlist
The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner, Dutton, 9780525950660
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben, Dutton, 9780525950608
L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker, Dutton, 9780525950554
Rules of Deception by Christopher Reich, Doubleday, 9780385524063

Fantasy

Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins, Tor, 9780765320063

The discovery of a golden bear in the walls of a derelict St. Petersburg bath house lifts the veil between the real world and that of fairy tales. Treachery is rampant and death is ever-present: stories aren’t safe, and love can’t rescue anyone—or can it?

Read-Alikes:
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint

Shortlist
The House of the Stag by Kage Baker, TOR Books, 9780765317452
Ink and Steel by Elizabeth Bear, Roc, 9780451462091
Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost, Ballantine, 9780345497581
Small Favor by Jim Butcher, Roc, 978045146189

Historical Fiction

The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara, Ballantine, 9780345461421

In this riveting tale of D-Day and its aftermath, Shaara closely follows events through the lives common soldiers and generals, Allies and Axis alike. A journalistic style underscores the drama of events, and the engaging warts-and-all portrayals add to the immediacy of the novel.

Read-Alikes:
Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell
An Army at Down: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson
Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield

Shortlist
Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell, Random House, 9781400-64717
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, William Morrow, 9780688163181
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, Dial Press, 9780385340991
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss, Random House, 9781400064205

Horror

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, Harper, 9780061430220

The insiders’ perspective and lyrical language of this haunting free verse novel offer a sympathetic glimpse into the lives of urban werewolves, a nightmarish noir world where violence and heartbreak go hand in hand.

Read-Alikes:
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong,
The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo
The Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston

Shortlist
Coffin County by Gary A. Braunbeck, Leisure, 9780843960501
Infected by Scott Sigler, Crown, 9780307406101
The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 9780312384760
The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo, Tor, 9780765320261

Mystery

The Garden of Evil by David Hewson, Bantam Dell, 978-0385339575

In contemporary Rome an unknown lascivious painting by Caravaggio, grisly murders, and a heart-stopping chase mark series detective Nic Costa’s return. The perfidious villains can only be outwitted by inventive police work and an unexpected ally in this masterfully crafted puzzler.

Read-Alikes:
The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez Reverte
Dressed for Death by Donna Leon
The Death Artist by Jonathan Santlofer

Shortlist
The Black Tower by Louis Bayard, William Morrow, 9780061173509
The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe, Harcourt, 9780151013470
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny, St. Martin’s Press, 9780312352578
Vienna Blood by Frank Tallis, Random, 9780812977769

Romance

The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne, Berkley
9780425219607

Take a British spymaster and a resourceful French agent, spice with clever banter, toss in a refreshing and unexpected plot, add a heaping measure of sexual chemistry, and the result is an irresistible read with Napoleon’s ambitions for England hanging in the balance.

Read-Alikes:
Scandal by Amanda Quick
It’s in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
Seduced by a Spy by Andrea Pickens

Shortlist
My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne, Berkley, 9780425222461
Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas, Bantam Books, 9780440244318
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig, Dutton, 9780525950332
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase, Avon Books, 9780061231247

Science Fiction

Hunter’s Run by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham, Eos, 9780061373299

On a dangerous backwater planet, a criminal outcast stumbles across an alien race in hiding in this relentless and gritty adventure. Forced into a life-threatening hunt, he is irrevocably changed and learns what it means to be truly human.

Read-Alikes:
Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg
Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear
Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan

Shortlist
The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez, Tom Doherty, 9780765318343
City at the End of Time by Greg Bear, Ballantine, 9780345448392
Matter by Iain M. Banks, Orbit, 9780316005364
A World Too Near by Kay Kenyon, Pyr Books, 9781591026426

Women’s Fiction

Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy, Algonquin Books
9781565125414

Set against the richly textured landscape of rural Vermont, Maloy’s optimistic and heartwarming novel chronicles one woman’s experience of widowhood as she remembers the pains and pleasures of her long marriage and moves into a new phase of her life.

Read-Alikes:
Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys
The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

Shortlist
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos, William Morrow, 9780061240270
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner, Atria Books, 9780743294256
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen, Bantam Dell, 9780553805499
Thank You for All Things by Sandra Kring, Bantam, 9780553591491