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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies wins again... and again

Within the past few days, Hilary Mantel's Man Booker-winning Bring Up the Bodies, which continues the story of Henry VIII's right-hand man Thomas Cromwell in 16th-century England, has made it to the top of two additional prize committees' lists.

Yesterday it was announced as the winner of the Costa Book of the Year, making it the first book to garner both the Booker and the Costa.  The prize comes with a purse of £30,000 and, per an article in the Bookseller, the judges' decision was unanimous.

And, at the American Library Association's Midwinter conference in Seattle last weekend, Bring Up the Bodies was named to the 2013 Reading List in the historical fiction category.  Per the ALA website: "The Reading List seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them."  Awards are given in eight categories.

The Reading List committee helpfully provides readalike titles for each of the winners (see link above).  Shortlisted titles in historical fiction were:

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville (winner of the 2012 Australia General Fiction Book of the Year)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (winner of the 2012 Orange Prize)
Sutton by J.R.Moehringer
The Cove by Ron Rash (winner of the 2012 Langum Prize)

For fans of Bring Up the Bodies and its predecessor Wolf Hall, there's also the upcoming miniseries to look forward to.
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8 comments:

  1. The Relentless Reader9:15 AM

    I loved this book and I can't wait for the next one :)

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    1. Sarah Johnson12:03 PM

      I'm behind in that I haven't read Bring Up the Bodies yet. But Wolf Hall was wonderful.

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  2. Audra9:25 AM

    The title of this post cracked me up! :)

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    1. Sarah Johnson12:05 PM

      It keeps winning awards! This is one of tomorrow's classics (and today's as well). And I liked how in her acceptance speech, she thanked the committee and said she wasn't going to apologize for it. I agree there shouldn't be a quota system for book prizes.

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  3. Anonymous12:38 PM

    Mantel's an amazing writer. Bringing Up the Bones was my favorite novel last year. It's wonderful to see genre fiction, especially historical, getting these accolades.

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  4. Anonymous12:43 PM

    Ack! Meant to say Bring Up the Bodies. Haha! Rule of thumb: don't take a call from daughter while responding to blog posts lest you write nonsense. :)

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    1. Sarah Johnson3:45 PM

      It's not an easy title for me to remember, either, actually! Most book titles don't begin with verbs.

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  5. Melissa @ Confessions of an Avid Reader4:50 PM

    Definitely well-deserved. I loved Bring Up the Bodies every bit as much as I did Wolf Hall, and both are on my list of all-time favourites. I have a total fascination with Thomas Cromwell thanks to the books.

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