50 of the best and most popular books written by Irish authors over the last 10 years have been shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards – Book of the Decade Award. The shortlist was selected by a panel which included Irish booksellers, librarians and journalists. The public can vote for the winner of the award on www.bookofthedecade.ie with the winner to be announced on May 28th. Bert Wright, the award administrator, said "Fortunately for us, there is one Irish stock which never loses value, one which encapsulates the essence of a society more surely than any café society veneer ever did, by which I mean, of course, the blue-chip stock that is Ireland’s literary heritage. It is what defines us". He said that the judges would have liked for their choices to balance the public vote but the sponsors wanted to be 'populist'. Crime writer John Connolly said "Sometimes there are lists of books that people feel they should read but this seems to be one people might actually enjoy reading". This shortlist does have something for everyone – popular fiction (Cecelia Ahern’s PS I Love You), literary fiction (John Banville’s The Sea), biography (Bill Cullen’s It’s a Long Way from Penny Apples), sport (Paul McGrath’s Back From the Brink), economics (David McWilliam’s The Pope’s Children), politics (Diarmaid Ferriter’s Judging Dev) and humour (Paul Howard’s Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade).5 books for children or young adults are also nominated for the award - Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, The New Policeman by Kate Thompson, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd. See www.bookofthedecade.ie for the full list and to cast your vote. Voting closes on May 27th with the winner being announced on May 28th.
No comments:
Post a Comment