Link-Mad Monday: Awards galore, Blog Roundup
I was too overbooked to attend the announcement party at Housing Works Used Book Cafe (which really has an awesome event lineup) on Saturday night, but the National Book Critics Circle has announced their award finalists; you can see the list here . If many of these look familiar, I think that's as it should be; the award is given to books that have received critical acclaim from NBCC members, so you've probably already read their glowing reviews. Did anyone read this story in the NY Times a couple weeks ago? It's like American Idol (or maybe Project Greenlight) for writers: authors submit a manuscript, the online "audience" votes, and the winner gets a book contract with Simon & Schuster. I have mixed feelings -- is this mob rule by internet Philistines, shameless publisher pandering in a search for readers, or the new digital populism in response to outdated publishing traditions? -- but I'm curious to see how it goes. I've accumulated an inbox-...