A Word About Awards

BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK by Ben Fountain Awards: Center For Fiction Winner 2012, LA Times Winner 2012, National Book Critics Circle 2012 Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2013, Dayton Literary Peace Finalist 2013, Dublin Longlist 2014, National Book Finalist 2012 Date Read: May 8, 2020 Fountain did an incredible job of packing almost a lifetime into a single day. A novel that combines the military and football was not something I was looking forward to, but Fountain's writing and character development kept me engaged. Now that I'm writing this, I am unsure what branch of the military Billy's in, but I assume it's the Army. Billy is home from the war in Iraq on a victory tour, being paraded around the U.S. to generate goodwill for a very unpopular war. At only 19, Billy finds himself in multiple situations that are above his pay-grade, honored for the worst day of his life. What's worse is he continually relives it throughout his victory tour bec...

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz Awards: Center For Fiction Winner 2007, Dayton Literary Peace Winner 2008, National Books Critic Circle Winner 2007, Pulitzer Winner 2008 Nominations: Dublin Finalist 2009, LA Times Finalist 2007 Dates Read: February 1, 2009 & June 10, 2017 Oscar is a sweet but overweight nerd who lives in New Jersey with his mother and rebellious sister. Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. A curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, follows them on their journey from Santo Domingo to the USA.  Providing a glimpse into Dominican-American history and the immigrant experience, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao offers a unique perspective into the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere, and risk it all, in the name of love. The character of Oscar is so compelling and I immediately fell in love with him. As much as he tried to...