Tuesday Thingers

Today's question: Awards. Do you follow any particular book awards? Do you ever choose books based on awards? What award-winning books do you have? (Off the top of your head only- no need to look this up- it would take all day!) What's your favorite award-winning book?

LibraryThing's Common Knowledge feature tracks awards; you can find it here.

My answer: I follow the Booker Prize, given every year to a book written by author from the British Commonwealth and Ireland, and I've read many books over the years that came to my attention through this award, including The Remains of the Day, The Blind Assassin, The English Patient and Amsterdam. But my favorite of all is my favorite book of all time, A.S. Byatt's Possession. As I wrote on Friday I just got a first-edition hardcover of Possession and have been absolutely savoring it. It almost doesn't get any better than this tour de force of romance, mystery, poetry and action. Possession won 7 awards overall.

I don't know how many award-winning books I have in my library and it would take too long to find out, but I tag my Booker winners and at last count I have 11.

I also follow the Sydney Taylor Book Award in my capacity as a synagogue librarian. The Sydney Taylor Award, named after the author of All-of-A-Kind-Family among others, is given by the Association of Jewish Libraries to the best Jewish book for children. Past winners and personal favorites include Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis, and Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine. If you're interested in learning more about the Sydney Taylor Book Award, you can go here. I have four winners in my personal library.