The big day finally arrived. The National Book Award finalists were announced at noon sharp and within 15 minutes I was driving around on my annual egg hunt to get my hands on as many of the five fiction nominees as I could. Unfortunately, I was able to locate only two of the books within a 50-mile radius of my home in South Florida, which speaks volumes -- no pun intended -- about the level of obscurity we're dealing with this year. I had never heard of any of the authors and, normally, I have no problem finding all five books the day they're announced. Not this time. I had to go online and order the other three.
Now comes the fun part: reading them. The goal is to have all five finished before the winner is announced Nov. 17. That comes to about a book every six days between now and then. At the end, I'll pass along my prediction on which one I think will win. My handicapping has been pretty decent. I've nailed three of the past four winners.
The whole story just made me smile. Love the thought of you driving around and searching for books, then reading like mad! Faith in humanity gets a few points from this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? It's my favorite day of the year.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have your own personal "challenge"!
ReplyDeleteHow much fun is that!! Good luck with your challenge:)
ReplyDeleteThe real challenge will be coming up with the bucks to pay for first-edition copies of "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Catcher in the Rye," "Catch-22" and other great works on my list. The reading is the easy part.
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