In the spirit of creating a year-end "Best of 2013" book list, The Daily Beast takes a different than usual approach. Rather than just creating their own "best of" list, they also take 39 additional lists and tally up how many times a book was cited as being the year's best to give their readers a "ranked ultimate guide." Click here to read the full article and to view all the winners.
The Daily Beast gave us a ranked list of 10 fiction and 10 non-fiction books. The ultimate winners are as follows:
Fiction: The Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders
George Saunders, an undisputed master of the short story creates his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet. The collection includes "Home," a story about a soldier's return home from war; "Victory Lap," about an abduction attempt; and the title story, in which a cancer patient on the verge of suicide ends up saving the life of a young misfit.
Non-Fiction: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore
Book of Ages presents a portrait of Jane Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's youngest sister. In addition, the novel presents a different account of the founding of the United States of America.
Have you read any of the top books of 2013? Send us your review!
The finalists for the National Book Awards were announced this past Wednesday, one month before the winners will be named at a ceremony in Manhattan. In the fiction category, the finalists are:
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
The year is 1977 when Reno heads to New York, hoping to make art with her fascination of motorcycles. After befriending some artists/squatters in not-yet-chic Soho, she ends up falling for the scion of an Italian motorcycle empire and travels to Italy, where she's drawn into the radical movement there.
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Subhash and Udayan Mitra, brothers born 15 months apart, couldn't be more different: Udayan joins the insurgent Naxalite movement, while Subhash conducts scientific research in America. But when tragedy strikes, Subhash must return home to Calcutta.
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Henry Shackleford, a child slave, must flee with abolitionist John Brown after Brown clashes with Henry's master. Complicating matters even further, Brown thinks Henry is a girl, a disguise Henry maintains up to the bold raid on Harpers Ferry.
Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
Maxine Tarnow, a fraud investigator, finds herself caught up in an eccentric underworld of New York City after looking into the finances of a billionaire computer geek.
Tenth of December by George Saunders
George Saunders, an undisputed master of the short story creates his most honest, accessible, and moving collection yet. The collection includes
"Home," a story about a soldier's return home from war;
"Victory Lap," about an abduction attempt; and the
title story, in which a cancer patient on the verge of suicide ends up saving the life of a
young misfit.
Click here to view the finalists in all categories.
