National Book Award Finalists

The National Book Foundation has announced the finalists for the 2009 National Book Awards.  The National Book Awards, now in their 60th year, celebrate the best in American literature.   The winners from each of the four categories--Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature--will be announced on November 18.  Gore Vidal, this year's recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, will also be honored.

National Reading Group Month

October is National Reading Group Month.  National Reading Group Month, established in 2007 by the Women's National Book Association, "aims to foster the values reading groups encourage: camaraderie, enjoyment of shared reading, and appreciation of literature and reading as conduits for transmitting culture and advancing civic engagement".

Click here for the 2009 National Reading Group Month Great Group Reads selections.  These titles are bound to be popular with book clubs.

If you're interested in joining a book group, check with your local branch library or search for one at Reader's Circle.

Book TV

Here are some highlights from this weekend's Book TV schedule:

The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege and How We Can Be Safe Again by Tom Ridge

The Death of Conservatism by Sam Tanenhaus

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel

Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes by David Helvarg

Booker Prize

Hilary Mantel won the 2009 Booker Prize for her novel Wolf Hall.  For a list of previous Booker winners click here.

Indie Next

Check out the recommendations from independent booksellers in the October Indie Next list.

October Releases

Here are some of the new books out in October:

The Professional by Robert B. Parker
Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
True Blue by David Baldacci
Invisible by Paul Auster
A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

Book TV

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend's Book TV schedule:

The House at the End of the Road: The Story of Three Generations of an Interracial Family in the South by W. Ralph Eubanks

Shake the Devil Off: A True Story of the Murder that Rocked New Orleans by Ethan Brown

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown

All of these titles are available from PCLS.