Award Winner

2022 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards

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From the Killer Nashville site: “We believe all engaging stories have three elements: mystery, thriller, and suspense. Since 2008, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards have recognized the best stories from the previous year told through various media utilizing the elements of mystery, thriller, and/or suspense. Judges are professional writers, book reviewers, librarians, academics, and—in specialized cases—specific industry peers. Focus is on quality, not popularity.”

Congratulations to the finalists and winners (indicated in red)!

2022 Best Action Adventure Finalists
“Murder at Buckskin Joe” – J.v.L. Bell
“Killers!: A Natalie McMasters Mystery” – Thomas A. Burns, Jr.
“Castoffs of the Gods” / Sonja Dewing
“The Cornmarket Conspiracy” / Sharon Hoisager
“Fatal Depth” / Timothy S. Johnston
“Beneath a Wrathful Sun” / M. Elliot Lamb
“The Pilate Scroll” / M.B. Lewis
“Came A Horseman” / Paul McHugh
“Alaskan Christmas Escape” / Juno Rushdan
“The Last of Her” / Brent Spencer


2022 Best Cozy Finalists
“Where the Light Shines Through” –  Kathleen Bailey
“Dead on My Feet”-  Patricia Broderick
“An Embarrassment of Itches” / M.K. Dean
“Time After Tyme” / Kay DiBianca
“The Evening’s Amethyst” / M. K. Graff
“Suitable for Framing” / Lori Roberts Herbst
“The Unkindness of Ravens” / M.E. Hilliard
“Muffins & Magic” / Polly Holmes
“Death By Chance” / Abigail Keam
“The Fog Ladies: In the Soup” / Susan McCormick
“Gone Missin’” / Peggy O’Neal Peden
“Death at the Salon” / Louise Rose-Innes
“Murder Worth a Thousand Words” / Becki Willis
“Stitch, Bake, Die!” / Lois Winston


2022 Best Historical Finalists
“Heirs of Falcon Point” –  Traci Abramson
“Cry of the Innocent” / Julie Bates
“The Turncoat’s Widow” / Mally Becker
“After Alice Fell” / Kim Taylor Blakemore
“The Artist Colony” / Joanna FitzPatrick
“No One Must Know” / Susan Frances
“Murder Under A Full Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery” / Abigail Keam
“Murder Under A New Moon” / Abigail Keam
“The Promise of Deception” / Jessica Sly
“Zebra: Friends by Fate. Enemies by Destiny” / Jill Wallace


2022 Best Investigator Finalists
“All That Fall” –  Kris Calvin
“The Blessed Bones” / Kathryn Casey
“Girl Missing” / Kate Gable
“Be Mine Forever” / D.K. Hood
“In the Name Of” / Candace Irving
“Now & Then” / Justin M. Kiska
“The Lost Dragon Murder” / Michael Allan Mallory
“The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon” / Marcy McCreary
“Striking Range: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery” / Margaret Mizushima
“Hide in Place” / Emilya Naymark
“At First Light” / Barbara Nickless
“The Labyrinth” / Owen Parr
“The Winter Girls” / Roger Stelljes


2022 Best Mystery Finalists
“An Ambush of Widows” – Jeff Abbot
“Red Rabbit On The Run” –  Jodi Bowersox
“Bluff” / John DeDakis
“A Killer’s Daughter” / Jenna Kernan
“When Silence Screams” / Mark Edward Langley
“The Dark Remains” / William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin
“Spirit: An Andrea Kelley Mystery (The Archivist Book 2)” / Elle Andrews Patt
“The Archivist” / Rex Pickett
“The Scorpion’s Tail” / Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
“Grave Reservations” / Cherie Priest
“The Ruthless” / David Putnam
“Hunted in the Holler” / Drew Strickland
“Death and Consequences, An Eastern Shore Mystery” / Cheril Thomas
“The First Day of Spring” / Nancy Tucker
“Bye, Buy Baby” / Becki Willis


2022 Best Sci-fi / Fantasy Finalists
“Journey to the Past” –  Esteban Corio
“Schrodinger’s Cat” –  Ronald Crittenden
“Hall of Skulls” / Jamie Eubanks
“The Last Beekeeper” / Jared Gulian
“House of Bastiion” / K.L. Kolarich
“Beryl Blue, Time Cop” / Janet Raye Stevens
“Tomb of the Queen” / Joss Walker
“Consent, Vol. 1: Erdos” / Wilson Whitlow
“Missing on Orbital 4: A Jake Hemlock Adventure” / Cory Wilcox


2022 Best Suspense Finalists
“In Harm’s Way” – Traci Abramson
“Redemption” – Traci Abramson
“Nanny Needed” / Georgina Cross
“Waiting for the Night Song” / Julie Carrick Dalton
“Hostile Intent” / Lynette Eason
“Furious: Sailing into Terror” / Jeffrey James Higgins
“Rattlesnake Road” / Amanda McKinney
“Redemption Road” / Amanda McKinney
“The Reunion” / Kiersten Modglin
“Cottonmouth: A Jessica James Mystery” / Kelly Oliver
“Woman in Shadow” / Carrie Stuart Parks
“Her Ocean Grave” / Dana Perry
“The Next Wife” / Kaira Rouda
“What Comes After” / JoAnne Tompkins
“Beneath the Marigolds” / Emily C. Whitson


2022 Best Thriller Finalists
“Her Name is Knight” – Yasmin Angoe
“The Ambulance Chaser” – Brian Cuban
“The Chaos Kind” / Barry Eisler
“Devil’s Ledger” / Lorraine Evanoff
“A Slow Fire Burning” / Paula Hawkins
“Furious: Sailing into Terror” / Jeffrey James Higgins
“56 Days” / Catherine Ryan Howard
“Blink of an Eye” / Iris Johansen
“The Missing Piece” / John Lescroart
“Stone the Dead Crows” / Carrie Magillen
“The Family Tree” / Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry
“Point Option” / Ian O’Connor
“The Kingdoms” / Natahsa Pulley
“The Siren” / Katherine St. John
“Impostor Syndrome” / Kathy Wang


2022 Silver Falchion Best Books of 2021
“Girl Missing” / Kate Gable
“The Reunion” / Kiersten Modglin

 

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2022 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism

Award Winner, Featured, Journalism

 

 

 

 

The 2022 winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Journalism have been announced. The Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category. Congratulations to all the talented writers and staffs! (Descriptions of the Public Service Category, as well as the individual awards, are credited to the Pulitzer site) Click on the links (in brown) to learn more about the winners.

 

The Washington Post Public Service Category
For its compellingly told and vividly presented account of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021, providing the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days.

 

Staff of the Miami Herald Breaking News Reporting
For its urgent yet sweeping coverage of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex, merging clear and compassionate writing with comprehensive news and accountability reporting.

 

Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times Investigative Reporting
For a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.

 

Staff of Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y., notably Natalie Wolchover Explanatory Reporting
For coverage that revealed the complexities of building the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to facilitate groundbreaking astronomical and cosmological research.

 

Madison Hopkins of the Better Government Association and Cecilia Reyes of the Chicago Tribune Local Reporting
For a piercing examination of the city’s long history of failed building- and fire-safety code enforcement, which let scofflaw landlords commit serious violations that resulted in dozens of unnecessary deaths.

 

Staff of The New York Times National Reporting
For an ambitious project that quantified a disturbing pattern of fatal traffic stops by police, illustrating how hundreds of deaths could have been avoided and how officers typically avoided punishment.

 

Staff of The New York Times, notably Azmat Khan, contributing writer International Reporting
For courageous and relentless reporting that exposed the vast civilian toll of U.S.-led airstrikes, challenging official accounts of American military engagements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. (Moved by the Board from the Public Service category, where it was also nominated.)

 

Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic Feature Writing
For an unflinching portrait of a family’s reckoning with loss in the 20 years since 9/11, masterfully braiding the author’s personal connection to the story with sensitive reporting that reveals the long reach of grief.

 

Melinda Henneberger of The Kansas City Star Commentary
For persuasive columns demanding justice for alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of being a sexual predator.

 

Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic at large, The New York Times Criticism
For learned and stylish writing about Black stories in art and popular culture–work that successfully bridges academic and nonacademic critical discourse.

 

Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle Editorial Writing
For a campaign that, with original reporting, revealed voter suppression tactics, rejected the myth of widespread voter fraud and argued for sensible voting reforms.

 

Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider, New York, N.Y. Illustrated Reporting and Commentary
For using graphic reportage and the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public.

 

Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times Breaking News Photography
For raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country. (Moved from Feature Photography by the jury.)

Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon Cherry of Getty Images
For comprehensive and consistently riveting photos of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 

 

 

 

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Book List: Author Barbara Ross

Leave a Comment / Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Cozy, Holidays, Mystery, Reviews, Short Stories/Collection

 

Author Barbara Ross’ Maine Clambake Mysteries series is thoroughly entertaining with terrific writing, an engaging cast of core characters, intriguing murders, and the Maine setting that is a personality in itself. It is no wonder that the series has been nominated so often for top mystery awards. Our own NBR readers chose “Clammed Up” as a Top Ten read for that year. I have tried several of the delicious recipes in the books and can report that they are tasty and easy to make.

 

Click on the titles and check out the books:

Maine Clambake Mysteries:

“Clammed Up”   (review here)

“Boiled Over”

“Musseled Out”  (review here)

“Fogged Inn”     (review here)

“Iced Under”

“Stowed Away”  (It won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Truly an excellent read.)

“Steamed Open” (review here)

“Sealed Off“

“Shucked Apart“

“Muddled Through” (out now)


Jane Darrowfield Mysteries:

“Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody” (First in the series, review here, part of the ‘Four Books, Four Genres’ post)

“Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door” (shortlisted for the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction)


Shorter Stories:

“Nogged Off” standalone novella 4.5 in the Clambake series

“Logged On” – standalone novella 6.5 in the Clambake series – pre-order

“Hallowed Out” – standalone novella 7.5 in the Clambake series – pre-order

“Scared Off” – novella in “Halloween Party Murder“


Stand Alone:
“The Death of an Ambitious Woman”


Buy them all and Enjoy!  🙂

 

 

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NYT Top Ten Best Fiction and Nonfiction – 2021

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The New York Times Book Reviews announced its 10 Best Books of the Year for 2021. Books published in 2021 were eligible, as well as a few from 2020, not previously considered. Pamela Paul (a NYT Book Reviews editor) is quoted as saying that the books “stand on the merits of their prose and storytelling.”

Fiction:

“The Love Songs of W.E.B Debois,” by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

“Intimacies,” by Katie Kitamura

“When We Cease to Understand the World,” by Benjamin Labatut

“No One Is Talking About This,” by Patricia Lockwood

“How Beautiful We Were,” by Imbolo Mbue

 

Nonfiction:

“Red Comet,” by Heather Clark

“The Copenhagen Trilogy,” by Tove Ditlevsen, translated by Tiina Nunnally

“Invisible Child,” by Andrea Elliott

“On Juneteenth,” by Annette Gordon-Reed

“How The Word Is Passed,” by Clint Smith

 

 

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2021 Booker Prize

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The Booker Prize is awarded to what the judges consider to be the best novel of the year written in English by an author living anywhere in the world, published in the UK and Ireland. The winner receives £50,000 as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors.



The short list for the 2021 Booker Prize:

Anuk Arudpragasam (Sri Lankan) – A Passage North
Damon Galgut (South African) – The Promise            
Patricia Lockwood (American) – No One Is Talking About This
Nadifa Mohamed (British/Somali) –The Fortune Men
Richard Powers (American) – Bewilderment
Maggie Shipstead (American) – Great Circle

The winner is:

Congratulations to all!

 

 

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2021 Barnes & Noble Best Genre Books of the Year

Leave a Comment / Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Cookbooks, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, General, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Romance, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult/Teen

I’ve been told that the B&N editorial staff reads a lot of books during the year in various genres, then chooses from among those books to select their favorites of the year. The official quote from Barnes & Noble defines the ‘best books’ lists as stories that stay with us long after we finish them, and the ones we re-read again and again and pass on to friends. I would definitely agree with that definition. See if you agree with their choices in a range of genres and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Happy Reading!

 

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

“Child of Light” by Terry Brooks

“Leviathan Falls” by James S.A. Corey

“Under the Whispering Door” by T.J. Klune

“A Marvelous Light” by Freya Marske

“The Last Graduate” by Naomi Novik

“ExtraOrdinary” by V.E. Schwab

“Lore Olympus: Volume One”  by Rachel Smythe

“Lesser Evil – Star Wars Thrawn Ascendancy” by Timothy Zahn

 

Mystery/Thrillers

“While Justice Sleeps” by Stacey Abrams

“The Heron’s Cry” by Ann Cleeves

“Mrs. March” by Virginia Feito

“Clark and Division” by Naomi Hirahara

“The Guilt Trip” by Sandie Jones

“Silverview” by John Le Carre

“The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides

“The Man Who Died Twice” by Richard Osman

“The Madness of Crowds” by Louise Penny

“False Witness” by Karin Slaughter

 

Best YA

“Ace of Spades” by Faridah Abike-lyimide

“Realm Breaker” by Victoria Aveyard

“Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley

“Lore” by Alexandra Bracken

“Blackout” by Dhonielle Clayton

“Small Favors” by Erin A. Craig

“Once Upon A Broken Heart” by Stephanie Garber

“Defy the Night” by Brigid Kemmerer

“The Lake” by Natasha Preston

“Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World” by Benjamin Alire Saenz

 

 Best Fiction

“Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr

“The Sentence” by Louise Erdrich

“The Paper Palace” by Miranda Cowley Heller

“Greek Myths: A New Retelling” by Charlotte Higgins

“Fault Lines” by Emily Itami

“The Lost Apothecary” by Sarah Penner

“Bewilderment” by Richard Powers

“Beautiful World, Where Are You?” by Sally Rooney

“The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles

“Harlem Shuffle” by Colson Whitehead

 

Best Romance

“While We Were Dating” by Jasmine Guillory

“People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry

“Fifty Shades Freed” by E. L. James

“The Soulmate Equation” by Christina Lauren

“It’s Better This Way” by Debbie Macomber

“One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston

“The Lady Has A Past” by Amanda Quick

“Neon Gods” by Katee Robert

“Legacy” by Nora Roberts

“Lover Unveiled” by J.R. Ward

 

Best Cookbooks

“Death & Co: Welcome Home” by Alex Day

“Pizza Czar” by Anthony Falco

“Nadiya Bakes” by Nadiya Hussain

“Mother Grains” by Roxana Jullapat

“Maman: the Cookbook” by Elisa Marshall

“Burnt Toast and Other Disasters” by Cal Peternell

“Vegetable Simple” by Eric Ripert

“Rodney’s World of BBQ” by Rodney Scott

“Cook Real Hawai’I” by Sheldon Simeon

“The Japanese Art of the Cocktail” by Masahiro Urushido

 

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Book List: Author Craig Johnson

2 Comments / Award Winner, Bestselling Author, Book List, Featured, Fiction, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Suspense, Western

Craig Allen Johnson’s writing career has centered around his iconic lead character, Walt Longmire, a modern American sheriff from Wyoming. What makes Sheriff Walt Longmire so immediately likable? Middle-aged, experienced at his job, widower of a woman he loved more than life itself, an attorney daughter of whom he is so very proud, and a Cheyenne best friend/sidekick whom he has known since childhood. Longmire mostly follows the rules, but when justice is in question, the rules are sometimes open to interpretation.

 

The stories are full of wonderful dialogue, intriguing mysteries, life and death situations, and a core set of characters with whom you’d like to spend as much time as possible. Johnson’s obvious love of the wide-open spaces of Wyoming spills onto the pages when the landscape becomes a character, as suddenly dangerous as any killer could be or as mesmerizing as a beautiful painting.


Read the first in the series, “The Cold Dish,” and you’ll want to follow this lawman throughout the rugged Wyoming hills. Here is the list of the Longmire books, in order of publication.

 

“The Cold Dish”  review here

“Death Without Company”

“Kindness Goes Unpunished” review here

 “Another Man’s Moccasins”

“The Dark Horse”

“Junkyard Dogs”

“Hell Is Empty”

“As the Crow Flies”

“A Serpent’s Tooth”

“Any Other Name”

“Dry Bones”  review here

“An Obvious Fact”

“The Western Star”

“Depth of Winter”

“Land of Wolves”

“Next to Last Stand”

“Daughter of the Morning Star”

Please visit https://www.craigallenjohnson.com for the ‘buy’ links for each of the books and to see the list of novellas that fill the gaps between the novels. Discover what he is doing virtually and in a few months, in person. There is a goodies store on the site, as well as a portal for ordering the DVDs from the TV series. Enjoy!

 

 

*Photos of Craig Johnson taken at Quail Ridge Bookstore in Raleigh, NC, by Patti Phillips.

 

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