Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence - Finalists Announced

The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the six books shortlisted for the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. For a book to be considered, it must be an adult fiction or non-fiction book, written in the previous year and published in the United States. The winners will be announced in June at the ALA annual conference in Las Vegas. Click here for more information on this award. All six of the shortlisted books are available at the Community Library - congrats to all the finalists!

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction Shortlist

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: "to the women in the hair-braiding salon, Ifemelu seems to have everything a Nigerian immigrant in America could desire, but the culture shock, hardships, and racism she’s endured have left her feeling like she has “cement in her soul.” Americanah is a courageous novel of independence, integrity, community, and love." - Booklist Reviews

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat: "in interlocking stories moving back and forth in time, Danticat weaves a beautifully rendered portrait of longing in the small fishing town of Ville Rose in Haiti. Their stories and their lives flow beautifully one into another, all rendered in the luminous prose for which Danticat is known." - Booklist Reviews

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: "in the wake of his nefarious father's abandonment, Theo, a smart, 13-year-old Manhattanite, is extremely close to his vivacious mother—until an act of terrorism catapults him into a dizzying world bereft of gravity, certainty, or love. Tartt writes from Theo's point of view with fierce exactitude and magnetic emotion." - Booklist Reviews

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Shortlist

On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand Year History by Nicholas A. Basbanes: "combining crisp technical explanations with vivid historical and contemporary profiles, Basbanes unfolds the two-thousand-year story of paper, revealing in the process that paper is nothing less than an embodiment of humanity." - Booklist Reviews

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink: "as the floodwaters rose after Hurricane Katrina, patients, staff, and families who sheltered in New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital faced a crisis far worse than the storm itself. Fink’s breathtaking account of the storm and what happened at Memorial offers a fascinating look at how people behave in times of crisis." - Booklist Reviews

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin: "this masterful study examines the complex relationship between two presidents, Roosevelt and Taft, who played major roles in the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century. Acclaimed historian Goodwin offers a superb re-creation of a period when many politicians, journalists, and citizens of differing political affiliations viewed government as a force for public good." - Booklist Reviews

Political Intrigue and Moral Dilemmas

The gap between rich and poor has never been wider . . . legislative stalemate paralyzes the country . . . corporations resist federal regulations . . . spectacular mergers produce giant companies . . . the influence of money in politics deepens . . . bombs explode in crowded streets . . . small wars proliferate far from our shores . . . a dizzying array of inventions speeds the pace of daily life.

These unnervingly familiar headlines serve as the backdrop for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s highly anticipated The Bully Pulpit : Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.

Chosen as one of Amazon's Best Book of The Month - November, The Bully Pulpit is a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history.

Pulitzer-prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is the author of the New York Times bestseller Team of Rivals which was the basis for the Academy Award winning movie Lincoln. Will her newest book follow suit? Check it out and let us know what you think.