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Book Prizes: Serious Business or Too Much Hype

8/12/2009

6 Comments

 
On the heels of the Man Booker Prize longlist being released, The Guardian came up with their own award: The Not Booker Prize.  On some forums the chatter surrounding book prizes, especially Booker's, is that many of the shortlisted books, and the subsequent winner, may not be consistent with what most readers have raved about each year.

There are some who choose to follow the suggestive nature of book prizes like they are the omniscient authority on books. There are others, like myself, who take most book prizes with a grain of salt. In my case, the most well known prizes barely reflect my taste in literature enough for me to invest more than a few glances at the nominees and winners.

So, I ask my fellow bibliophiles: How much stock do you put into book prizes?
6 Comments
Karoline link
8/12/2009 16:22:53

Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Some I've read and I'm think: THIS won the award? WTF?

the reliable ones I tend to listen to are children's awards. I've read some of those and they've been excellent. It's the adult ones I'm weary of.

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BrownGirl
8/12/2009 16:27:59

That's funny Karoline and so true. It's always some book that no one has read yet, but then it's a mad scramble, for some, to get it just b/c of the award. I'm on a different drumbeat too.

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Jenny link
8/13/2009 17:40:48

Hi, I followed you over here from book blogs.

I probably put more stock into them then I necessarily should. But there is just something about a list that I feel like I need to accomplish, lol! If a book on a list doesn't sound interesting to me I won't read it. But if it does, then there's a good chance I'll want to read it.

I'm going to follow your blog... it looks good!

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Jenny link
8/17/2009 20:45:36

I have an award for you <a href="http://takemeaway-jennala9.blogspot.com/"> here </a>

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Jenny
8/17/2009 20:45:56

http://takemeaway-jennala9.blogspot.com/

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Eva link
1/20/2010 21:59:37

I don't pay a ton of attention to awards, and I never have the desire to 'read all the X Award winners.' Sometimes, I like visiting award sites and checking out the shortlists from various years, just to find books that look interesting to me. :) That's about as far as it goes though!

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    I'm a brown girl blogging about the book world. In my other life, I'm a domestic goddess, homeschool mom, audiophile, eco-frugalista...and still a bibliophile.


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