Best book of 2012.....

Last year when the Pulitzer Committee failed to name a fiction winner, a library consultant colleague, Valerie, took the bull by horns and formed a committee to read the finalists and determine a winner.  As you may expect and can see from a previous post, we had a great time with it.  My choice ("The Pale King") came in last.  (I couldn't get through the winner, "Swamplandia.")  It was fun and I loved the pressure to read more.


Well, now we're taking the project one step further.  Valerie has formed another committee to select the best book of 2012.  This time it won't be just the committee making the determination, but a cross-section of librarians, booksellers, reviewers, and literacy advocates.  We're still in the formation stages, but we're making great progress.  We have a name, "The Maine Readers' Choice Award."  And, we have a plan.  Right now we're narrowing a list of 44 "best of" books down to 10.  The committee will read the 10 semi-finalists.  A list of 5 finalists will then be determined by the committee.  The list will be given to libraries and booksellers to promote to all Maine readers.  They'll have the summer to read the books and select a winner which will be announced in September.  What will Maine readers say?

I am certainly up for the challenge.  I had read only one from the list of 44, as 2012 wasn't my best reading year.  The semi-finalists will all be new reads for me.  I'm a slow reader, but I will get through them.  I'm anxious to work with the committee members to hear what they say makes a great book.  The judging criteria simply says that the book must be fiction, well-written, and tell a compelling story. 

What makes a book great?  For me it's how all the elements of the story are woven together.  The characters have to have some substance.  They don't have to be likable people but they have to have a good story to tell.  The writing needs to flow well, not just clever or flowery language, but words strung together to convey emotion and sense of place. 

I look back at some recent reads and think about how well they stood up to my personal standards.  "Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling didn't have a single likable character.  It was filled with sad, broken people - they dealt with OCD, passive/aggressive behavior, spousal/child abuse, addiction, and much more.  However, the way that Rowling tied their stories was outstanding.  "Margaret from Maine" by Joseph Monninger didn't do quite as good a job.  The story is beautifully written.  Monniger certainly writes beautiful sentences that created beautiful scenes that set the stage for the story.  However, the characters weren't quite up to snuff.  They never really dealt with the angst that their story presented to them.  I will definitely read more by the author because he writes so well - you just won't see that book on my "best of 2013" list.

So, off I go into my next reading adventure.  I probably won't be able to discuss the books themselves as we make our way to our five finalists, but there will be a lot to say about the process.  Stay tuned....