LibraryThing: State of the Thing - May

LibraryThing: State of the Thing Dear {NAME}, Welcome to the May State of the Thing! In this issue we highlight improvements to our CoverGuess game and announce our month-long CoverGuess contest, invite members to contribute to our List of the Month, dish out book world news, and offer 3,449 free Early Reviewer books! You can like LibraryThing on [Facebook]( and follow [@LibraryThing]( on Twitter and [librarythingofficial]( on Instagram for news and updates. Updated CoverGuess and Contest We’re pleased to announce a revamp of [CoverGuess](, our fun, collaborative cover-tagging game. Since 2010 LibraryThing has been running [CoverGuess](, a fun game inspired in which members describe book covers, racking up points for matching other members. In thirteen years members have added more than 3.2 million tags to book covers! Contest. We’re running a month-long contest to celebrate the launch of the new CoverGuess! We’ll be keeping score from May 12th–June 12th, with prizes going to the top ten players, as well as ten other randomly selected participants. The top player will receive an extra grand prize as well. Rules changes. We've tweaked the rules: - Eight tags. As searchers are likely to focus on the most significant elements, we’re asking members to focus on the eight most relevant tags. - Omit simple colors. We're asking members to avoid simple color tags, like “blue” or “red.” You are still encouraged to use colors when describing things on the cover, such “blue horse” or “yellow flower.” - Multi-Word Bonus. You now get a bonus for multi-word tags. For example, matching “green field” is worth 2x points, and matching “bird in cage” is worth 3x. We’ve got a selection of stickers, coasters, tote bags, stamps, t-shirts and CueCats (more details to come) to give away, so come check it out here, and start tagging: Questions? Come [join the conversation on Talk](. Free Books from Early Reviewers! Our Early Reviewers program pairs publishers and authors looking for reviews and book buzz with readers looking for their next great read. This month we’re pleased to feature [What the Dead Know: Learning about Life As a New York City Death Investigator]( by [Barbara Butcher](, offered by [Simon & Schuster](, who are returning as a publisher participant after an absence of a few years; [Through Three Rooms]( by [Sven Elvestad](, translated by [Lucy Moffatt]( and offered by [Kabaty Press](, which specializes in making classic Scandinavian crime fiction available in English; and our very first book—[Once Our Lives](, the true story of four generations of Chinese women, by [Qin Sun Stubis](—from new publisher participant, [Guernica Editions](. Explore the full list and [sign up to request books](. [Through Three Rooms]( [Once Our Lives]( [What the Dead Know: Learning about Life As a New York City Death Investigator]( [Friends Like These]( [Letters from My Sister]( [Summer in the Spotlight]( [He Should Have Told the Bees]( [The Girl from the Papers]( [Café Unfiltered](C3%A9-Unfiltered) [Countdown]( [The Rail Splitter]( [Inside the Wolf]( [The Rye Bread Marriage: How I Found Happiness with a Partner I'll Never Understand]( [The Visibility of Things Long Submerged]( [Casalvento: House of the Wind]( [I Meant It Once]( [The Impostor]( [Beatrice the Sixteenth: Being the Personal Narrative of Mary Hatherley, M.B., Explorer and Geographer]( [Learning Humility: A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue]( [Religions on Trial: A Lawyer Examines Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and More]( Our May batch of Early Reviewers has 3,449 copies of 179 books. The deadline to request a book is May 25th, 6pm Eastern time. Did you win a book recently? When you receive your book, make sure you head over to your [Books You've Won]( page to mark it received. After you've read your book, add your review to LibraryThing. First, add the book to your LibraryThing catalog. Then click the pencil-shaped "edit" icon next to the book, or click "edit book" from the work page. Type your review into the Review box, and click "submit" to save it. Reviewing your books gives you a greater chance of winning books in the future, while neglecting to review lowers your odds. For more information, visit the [Early Reviewers Help Page](. List of the Month Come join LibraryThing’s List of the Month project, as we create a new thematic book list each month. Like all of our [Lists](, the List of the Month draws upon the knowledge of the LibraryThing community, while also aiming to provoke discussion around each theme. See our [wiki page]( for a complete List of the Month list, and join us over in our [Talk group](, for further discussion of the project. May List of the Month. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... and graphic novels tend to have plenty of both. Our List of the Month this May is devoted to the best nonfiction in graphic novel or comic book format. Head over to our list of the [Best Graphic Novel Nonfiction]( to add your top ten choices. Check out other recent Lists of the Month: - April [Best Gardening Books]( - March [Favorite Epistolary Fiction]( - February [Favorite Romance Fiction]( - January [Best Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs]( - December [Top Five Books of 2022]( The Talk of LibraryThing What conversations are going on in our groups? - Members continue to document [What They Are Reading](—they are now on their 15th Talk thread!—over in the [Girlybooks]( group. - Two short stories by [Lord Dunsany]( are under discussion as part of [The Deep Ones]( reading club, over in [The Weird Tradition](. - The delights of the [Summer 2023 Collection]( on offer from the Folio Society is being discussed by our [Folio Society Devotees](. - The [Science Fiction Classics Deserving of a Fine Press Treatment]( are being listed and discussed by members of the [Fine Press Forum](. Speaking of Groups, if you’re new to LibraryThing, there’s a group for that: [Welcome to LibraryThing](21)! Hot on LibraryThing Here are some titles that have been particularly hot on LibraryThing in the last month: - [Happy Place]( by [Emily Henry]( - [The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder]( by [David Grann]( - [Simply Lies]( by [David Baldacci]( - [Romantic Comedy]( by [Curtis Sittenfeld]( - [Hang the Moon]( by [Jeannette Walls]( - [Yours Truly]( by [Abby Jimenez]( - [Small Mercies]( by [Dennis Lehane]( - [Dark Angel]( by [John Sandford]( - [In the Lives of Puppets]( by [TJ Klune]( - [Fourth Wing]( by [Rebecca Yarros]( - [The Last Word]( by [Taylor Adams]( - [Homecoming]( by [Kate Morton]( - [Meet Me at the Lake]( by [Carley Fortune]( - [The Covenant of Water]( by [Abraham Verghese]( - [Hello Beautiful]( by [Ann Napolitano]( - [The Sun and the Star]( by [Rick Riordan]( - [The 23rd Midnight]( by [James Patterson]( - [Things I Wish I Told My Mother]( by [Susan Patterson]( - [City of Dreams]( by [Don Winslow]( - [The Only Survivors]( by [Megan Miranda]( Hot in Libraries Here's what's hot across [thousands of public libraries]( in the United States: - [Lessons in Chemistry]( by [Bonnie Garmus]( - [Hang the Moon]( by [Jeannette Walls]( - [Hello Beautiful]( by [Ann Napolitano]( - [The Last Thing He Told Me]( by [Laura Dave]( - [Simply Lies]( by [David Baldacci]( - [Dark Angel]( by [John Sandford]( - [I Will Find You]( by [Harlan Coben]( - [Homecoming]( by [Kate Morton]( - [Pineapple Street]( by [Jenny Jackson]( - [Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]( by [Gabrielle Zevin]( - [Remarkably Bright Creatures]( by [Shelby Van Pelt]( - [Romantic Comedy]( by [Curtis Sittenfeld]( - [Countdown]( by [James Patterson]( - [It Ends With Us]( by [Colleen Hoover]( - [Loyalty]( by [Lisa Scottoline]( - [Happy Place]( by [Emily Henry]( - [Demon Copperhead]( by [Barbara Kingsolver]( - [Spare]( by [Prince Harry]( - [The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder]( by [David Grann]( - [It Starts with Us]( by [Colleen Hoover]( This data was collected by Syndetics Unbound, a LibraryThing/ProQuest project to enrich the library catalog. The search data is fully anonymized the day it is collected. For more information about Syndetics Unbound, please visit [Syndetics.com](?utm_source=LT&utm_medium=sott&utm_id=main). Book World News: In Memoriam American rabbi and bestselling author [Harold S. Kushner](, whose works of popular theology have been embraced by people of many faiths, [has died at 88](. Serving as the rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, in Natick, Massachusetts, for twenty-four years, Kushner was also the author of fourteen books, beginning with the 1971 [When Children Ask About God](. In 1981 he published his first bestseller, [When Bad Things Happen to Good People](, which was largely inspired by the death of his son Aaron at the age of fourteen, after years of suffering from the genetic disorder progeria, and which argued that while God was a source of unlimited love, he was not omnipotent in the face of evil. Catapulted to national attention in the United States, Kushner went on to pen a number of additional bestsellers, and in 2007 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the [Jewish Book Council](. Award-winning British novelist and critic [Kate Saunders](, whose debut book, [The Prodigal Father](, won the [Betty Trask Prize](Trask+Award) in 1986, [has died at 62](. After a brief stint as an actress, Saunders turned to writing, working as a columnist for publications such as the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Express, and Cosmopolitan, and producing fiction for both children and adults. Her children’s fantasy series, the [Belfry Witches](, was made into a television show by the BBC, while her [Five Children on the Western Front](—a continuation of [E. Nesbit’s]( classic [Psammead Trilogy](—won the [Costa Award]( and was shortlisted for the [Carnegie Medal](Medal+Shortlist). Saunders, who struggled with multiple sclerosis, also wrote the popular [Laetitia Rodd]( Victorian mystery series for adults. Other losses in the book world this past month: - [Gabrielle Carey](, Australian writer and university lecturer, [has died at 64](. - [David Elliott](, British bookseller, editor and author, [has died at 79](. - [Roy Finamore](, American cookbook author and editor, [has died at 70](. - [Elain Harwood](, English architectural historian and preservationist, [has died at 64](. - [Lois Keith](, British writer, teacher and disability rights activist, [has died at 73](. - [Carl MacDougall](, Scottish novelist, playwright and journalist, [has died at 81](. - [Bruce McCall](, Canadian author, illustrator and cartoonist, [has died at 87](. - [Robert Patrick](, American playwright, poet and author, [has died at 85](. - [Gerald Rose](, British artist and children’s illustrator, [has died at 87](. - [Wolfgang Schivelbusch](, German cultural historian and author, [has died at 81](. - [Fred Siegel](, American historian, writer and university lecturer, [has died at 78](. - [Philippe Sollers](, French novelist, critic and essayist, [has died at 86](. - [Ronald Steel](, American historian, biographer and critic, [has died at 92](. - [Megan Terry](, American playwright and musical director, [has died at 90](. - [Blair Tindall](, American oboist, journalist and memoirist, [has died at 63](. - [John Tranter](, Australian poet, publisher and editor, [has died at 79](. - [John Underwood](, American author and sportswriter, [has died at 88](. Book World News: Freedom of Expression [PEN America]( has recently released its annual [Freedom to Write Index](, which tracks the imprisonment of writers globally, with China (90) and Iran (57) jailing the most authors and intellectuals, followed by Saudi Arabia (20) and Belarus (16), Myanmar (16), and Vietnam (16). Globally, 311 writers in 36 countries were imprisoned last year as a result of their writing or other free expression, with 84 of those newly imprisoned in 2022. In other Pen America news, the organization is joining Penguin Random House in a [legal action against the school board]( of the Escambia, Florida School District, over what they describe as “unconstitutional book bans.” Their lawsuit maintains that the district is restricting access to books about subjects such as race, racism, and the LGBTQ community. NPR, in the meantime, has reported that conflicts over library curation in the United States have reached a new, “nuclear” stage, as[library funding itself has become part of the fight](, with some states threatening to cut funding to libraries that keep specific books on the selves, and other states threatening to cut funding if libraries remove them. In [last month’s State of the Thing]( we reported on defunding threats in Texas and Missouri, while in our [November issue]( we covered the case of the Patmos Library in Jamestown Township, Michigan, where residents voted to defund their library. In the [April State of the Thing]( we covered the [American Library Association’s]( recent report concerning the [sharp increase]( in the number of book challenges at American libraries in 2022. Now, as part of [National Library Week]( they have released their annual [State of America’s Libraries](, highlighting their [Top 10 Most Challenged Books]( list, expanded this year to thirteen titles, as multiple books had the same number of challenges this past year. The top three titles on the list were [Gender Queer: A Memoir]( by [Maia Kobabe](, [All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto]( by [George M. Johnson]( and [The Bluest Eye]( by [Toni Morrison](. Also as part of [National Library Week]( (April 23rd-29th), ALA designated April 24th as [Right to Read Day](, a “national day of action” to defend libraries and the freedom to read, with a number of different events occurring nationwide. At the recent London Book Fair the [IPA]( (International Publishers Association) [released the shortlist]( for the 2023 Prix Voltaire, which recognizes “publishers – individuals, groups or organizations – who stand firm on freedom to publish.” The five nominees include individuals and publishers from Egypt, Iraq, Ireland, Pakistan and Turkey. Kristenn Einarsson, Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, stated that this year’s shortlist was “a testament to publishers who put themselves at risk to publish the works of others and contribute to our societies by ensuring readers have access to multiple voices and perspectives.” The winner of the Prix Voltaire will be announced in late May. Meanwhile, a controversy surrounding freedom of expression hit closer to home, as [a French publisher was detained](, questioned and then arrested by UK counter-terrorism police, on his way to attend the London Book Fair. Ernest Moret, who was representing [Éditions la Fabrique]( at the fair, was arrested at St Pancras train station, and was questioned regarding his views of pension reform in his home country, and of the Macron government. He was also asked to name the “anti-government” authors published by Éditions la Fabrique. PEN International expressed concern regarding the arrest, while Éditions La Fabrique (Paris) and Verso Books (London) issued [a joint press release]( on the issue, describing the UK police’s actions as “outrageous and unjustifiable infringements of basic principles of the freedom of expression and an example of the abuse of anti-terrorism laws.” It has been reported that [a third of libraries in the UK]( have been asked to censor or remove books. [Cilip]( (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), which carried out the research, noted that this represented a significant increase from previous years, and that the most frequently-targeted titles were those addressing issues of race, empire and the LGBTQ community. In Shanghai the editor-in-chief of Taiwanese publisher Gusa Press, Li Yanhe, [has been arrested]( by Chinese authorities on accusations of endangering national security. Although no details regarding the charges are available—as is usually the case with Chinese cases involving national security—the assumption by many is that it is related to the titles Gusa Press has published that are critical of the Chinese Communist Party, and of issues such as the treatment of the Uyghur community in Xinjiang. In the [October 2022 issue]( of State of the Thing we reported on the conviction of award-winning Zimbabwean author [Tsitsi Dangarembga]( for “inciting violence,” as a result of her participation in a peaceful two-women protest march. Happily it has recently been reported that [the conviction has been overturned](. Book World News: Awards Awards and Prizes. The winners of the 2023 [Pulitzer Prizes](Prize), given out in a variety of categories, [have been announced](. The New York Times has offered [comprehensive coverage]( of the winners, including those in the various journalism categories. In the book categories, the two winners for Fiction were [Trust]( by [Hernan Diaz]( and [Demon Copperhead]( by [Barbara Kingsolver](, and for General Nonfiction it was [His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and Struggle for Racial Justice]( by [Robert Samuels]( and [Toluse Olorunnipa](. The winner in the History category was [Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power]( by [Jefferson Cowie](, while in the Biography category the winner was [G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century]( by [Beverly Gage](. In the Memoir/Autobiography category the winner was [Stay True: A Memoir]( by [Hua Hsu](, while in the Poetry category the winner was [Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020]( by [Carl Phillips](. The 2023 [Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize](20Prize), given annually to a work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry that evokes the “spirit of a place,” and that is written by a resident of one of the British Commonwealth countries, or of the Republic of Ireland, [has been awarded]( to [Anthony Anaxagorou]( for his [Heritage Aesthetics](. A collection of postcolonial poetry shaped by the author’s familial history of migration from Cyprus to the UK, the book was praised by judges chair Samira Ahmed for being “beautiful,” despite the fact that it “does not sugarcoat,” exploring ”the arsenic of historical imperial arrogance” that permeates the Britain of which he writes. The [OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature](20Bocas%20Prize%20for%20Caribbean%20Literature), given annually at the [Bocas Lit Fest]( in Trinidad and Tabago, [has been awarded]( this year to [Ayanna Lloyd Banwo]( for her debut novel, [When We Were Bird](. The Bocas shortlist, which always includes a fiction, nonfiction and poetry selection, from which the overall winner is chosen, also included [Sonnets for Albert]( by [Anthony Joseph]( (Poetry), and [Love the Dark Days]( by [Ira Mathur]( (Nonfiction). The winners of the 2023 [Ockham New Zealand Book Awards](New+Zealand+Book+Award), given annually in multiple categories to New Zealand authors, [have been named](. The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction has gone to [Catherine Chidgey]( for [The Axeman’s Carnival](, while the General Nonfiction Award has gone to [Ned Fletcher]( for [The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi](. The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry has gone to [Alice Te Punga Somerville]( for [Always Italicise: How to write while colonised](, while the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Nonfiction has gone to [Nick Bollinger]( for [Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand](. Four first-time authors—one in each of these four categories—were also chosen as winners. See the complete list of winners on the [New Zealand Book Awards Trust]( site. Australia’s [Stella Prize](20Prize), an annual literary award for women writers in all genres, [has been given]( to [Sarah Holland-Batt]( this year for her poetry collection, [The Jaguar](. This is the second year that works of poetry have been eligible for the award—last year’s winner was also a poetry collection—with the judges describing Holland-Batt’s book as a work “that cuts through to the core of what it means to descend into frailty, old age, and death.” Also in Australia, [Harry Reid]( and [Theodore Ell]( have [been named as joint winners]( of the 2022 [Anne Elder Award](20Elder%20Award) for [Leave Me Alone]( (Reid) and [Beginning in Sight]( (Ell). Administered by [Australian Poetry](, the prize recognizes the best first book of poetry published in Australia. The judges praised both winners and commended authors, stating that “these first books shared an overall consistency of accomplishment throughout; they were able to sustain the peaks of their best poems.” Croatian author [Martina Vidaić]( has [been announced as the winner]( of the 2023 [European Union Prize for Literature](20Union%20Prize%20for%20Literature) for her novel [Stjenice]( (“Bedbugs”), which addresses themes of loneliness. Special Mentions for the prize went to authors from Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, and Kosovo. The [Dylan Thomas Prize](20Thomas%20Prize), named for beloved Welsh author [Dylan Thomas](, and awarded annually by [Swansea University]( to a young writer in the English language, [has gone]( to Nigerian author [Arinze Ifeakandu]( for his debut short story collection, [God’s Children Are Little Broken Things](. The chair of the judging panel, [Di Speirs](, said Ifeakandu’s work “shines with maturity, the writing bold, refreshing and exacting but never afraid to linger and to allow characters and situations to develop and change, so that the longer stories are almost novels in themselves.” Poet and professor [Sandra Lim]( has [been named the winner]( of this year’s [Jackson Poetry Prize](, given out annually by [Poets & Writers]( to an “American poet of exceptional talent.” The award committee stated that “Lim confronts the larger, defining abstractions of our lives—love, death, betrayal, the power dynamics of body and soul—in poems that ultimately defy easy category, refuse expectation, and have quietly challenged and reinvigorated the possibilities for what a poem can do, and how. It’s a poetry of interrogation, whose fierceness lies, paradoxically, in its quiet steadiness and precision.” The winners of the 2023 [New York City Awards](20York%20City%20Book%20Award), given annually by [The New York Society Library]( to “books of literary quality or historical importance that… evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City,” [have been announced](. Honorees include [Xochitl Gonzalez]( for [Olga Dies Dreaming](, [Shanté Paradigm Smalls]( for [Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Aesthetics in New York City](, [Jarrod Shanahan]( for [Captives: How Rikers Island Took New York City Hostage](, and [John Wood Sweet]( for [The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America](. The Hornblower Award for a First Book has gone to [Sidik Fofana]( for [Stories from the Tenants Downstairs](. The [Gotham Book Prize](20Book%20Prize), first awarded in 2021, is also given to an outstanding New York-related book, one that is either about or set in the city. This year [two winners have been selected]( with [Sidik Fofana]( ([Stories from the Tenants Downstairs]() and [John Wood Sweet]( ([The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America]() splitting the prize. The winners of the 2023 [Edgar Awards](Award), named after [Edgar Allen Poe]( and given annually by the [Mystery Writers of America]( to honor the best in mystery writing and the performing arts, [have been announced](. Best Novel has gone to [Danya Kukafka]( for [Notes on an Execution](, and Best First Novel has gone to [Eli Cranor]( for [Don’t Know Tough](. Best Paperback Original has been given to [Joe Hart]( for [Or Else](, while Best Fact Crime has been given to [Erika Krouse]( for [Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation](. Best Juvenile has gone to [Marthe Jocelyn]( for [The Seaside Corpse](, and Best Young Adult to [June Hur]( for [The Red Palace](. For a complete list of winners and nominees, see [this announcement](. In the UK, the winners of the [Crimefest Awards](20Awards), given out annually at the [Crimefest Convention](, have [been announced](. The winner of the Specsavers Best Debut Crime Novel was [Stacy Willingham]( for [A Flicker in the Dark](, while the eDunnit Award for best crime fiction ebook has gone to [Sara Gran]( for [The Book of the Most Precious Substance](. The H.R.F. Keating Award for best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction has been awarded to [Martin Edwards]( for [The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators](, while The Last Laugh Award has gone posthumously to [Christopher Fowler]( for [Bryant & May’s Peculiar London](. The Best Crime Novel for Children has gone to [Sharna Jackson]( for [The Good Turn](, while the Best Crime Novel for Young Adults was awarded to [Holly Jackson]( for [Five Survive](. Finally, the The [Publishing Triangle](, an association of LGBTQ publishing professionals, [have announced the winners]( of the 2023 [Publishing Triangle Awards](20Triangle). The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction has been given to [James Hannaham]( for [Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta](, while the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction has gone to [Estela González]( for [Arribada](. The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry has gone to editors [Philip Clark]( and [Michael Bronski]( for [Invisible History: The Collected Poems of Walta Borawski](, while the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry has been given to [Irena Klepfisz]( for [Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021](. The Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature was awarded to [Wo Chan]( for [Togetherness](, while The Joseph Hanson Award for LGBTQ Crime Writing has gone to [Robyn Gigl]( for [Survivor’s Guilt](. The Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction has gone to [Ron Goldberg]( for [Boy with the Bullhorn: A Memoir and History of ACT UP New York](, while the The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction has been awarded to [Raquel Gutiérrez]( for [Brown Neon: Essays](. The winners of the 2023 [Nebula Awards](, recognizing the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States, [have been announced](. [R.F. Kuang]( has won in the Novel category for [Babel](, while [C.L. Polk]( has won in the Novella category for [Even Though I Knew the End](. The winner in the Novelette category was [John Chu]( for [If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You](, published in Issue Forty-Seven of [Uncanny Magazine](; while the winner in the Short Story category was [Samantha Mills]( for [Rabbit Test](, published in Issue Forty-Nine of [Uncanny Magazine](. The [Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction](Norton+Award) has gone to [K. Tempest Bradford]( for [Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion](. See the [complete list of winners here](. In Ireland it [has been announced]( that [Victoria Adukwei Bulley]( has won the 2023 [John Pollard International Poetry Prize](20Pollard%20International%20Poetry%20Prize) for her debut collection, [Quiet](, which “explores ideas of black interiority, intimacy and selfhood.” First given in 2019, the prize is administered by the John Pollard Foundation and the [Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre]( at Trinity College Dublin, and is intended to recognize “an outstanding debut poetry book collection by a poet, in the English language.” Bulley’s book previously won the [Rathbones Folio Prize](Prize) in the Poetry category. Professor and author [Manuel Muñoz]( has [been announced as the winner](C3%B1oz-receives-joyce-carol-oates-prize) of the 2023 [Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize](20Carol%20Oates%20Literary%20Prize) for his story collection, [The Consequences](. Named for celebrated American author [Joyce Carol Oates](, the prize is awarded to mid-career authors of fiction by the [New Literary Project](, a collaboration between the [English Department]( of the University of California at Berkeley, and the [Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation](. [Joyce Carol Oates]( praised the book as a shining example of “moral intelligence,” one “suffused with information, exposition very artfully blended in with the narration.” In the UK, the [Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses](20of%20Consciousness%20Prize), awarded to the best work of fiction published by a small publisher with fewer than five employees, [has gone]( to Indonesian author [Missouri Williams]( and [Dead Ink Books]( for [The Doloriad](. The 2023 winners of the [Christian Book Awards](20Book%20Award), given out annually in twelve categories by the [ECPA]( (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) were [recently announced](. Book of the Year was given to [Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World]( by [Jennie Allen](, while [J. Christopher Edwards]( won in the Bible Reference Works category for [Early New Testament Apocrypha: Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies](. [Tim Challies]( has won in the Biography & Memoir category for [Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God](, while [James K.A. Smith]( has won in the Christian Living category for [How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now](. The complete list of winners can be found on [this page](. Additional Award News This Month: Winners. [The Age Book of the Year]( | [The Aspen Words Literary Prize]( | [The Baillie Gifford Winner of Winners Award]( | [The Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year]( | [The B&N Children’s & Young Adult Book Awards]( | [The Benjamin Franklin Awards]( | [The BookTrust Storytime Prize]( | [The British Book Awards]( | [The Business Book Awards]( | [The Calibre Essay Prize]( | [The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction]( | [The Colby Military Writer’s Award]( | [The Commonwealth Short Story Prize Regional Winners]( | [The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards]( | [The French-American Foundation’s Translation Prize]( | [The Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism]( | [The Irma Black Award and Cook Prize]( | [The Los Angeles Times Book Prize]( | [The Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Award]( | [The Oscar’s Book Prize]( | [The Russell Prize for Humour Writing]( | [The Sami Rohr Prize]( | [The Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Literature]( | [The St. Louis Literary Award]( | [The Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize]( | [The ThrillerFest Silver Bullet Award]( Shortlists / Finalists. [The Architectural Book Awards]( | [The Australian Book Design Awards]( | [The Book People Book of the Year Awards]( | [The Branford Boase Award]( | [The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Poetry Award (CLiPPA)]( | [The CWA Daggers]( | [The Dorothy Hewett Award]( | [The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography]( | [The Firecracker Awards]( | [The Fogarty Literary Award]( | [The Future Worlds Prize]( | [The German Nonfiction Prize]( | [The Griffin Poetry Prize]( | [The Indie Book Awards]( | [The Klaus Flugge Prize]( | [The Little Rebels Award]( | [The Mary Gilmore Award]( | [The Michael Gifkins Prize]( | [The Orwell Prizes]( | [The RBC Bronwen Wallace Awards for Emerging Writers]( | [The Reading the West Book Awards]( | [The Sports Book Awards]( | [The Trillium Book Award]( | [The Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards]( | [The Women’s Prize for Fiction]( | [The Women’s Prize Trust Discoveries]( | [The Young Lions Fiction Award]( Longlists. [The Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal]( | [The Kraszna-Krausz Awards]( | [The Miles Franklin Literary Award]( | [The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year]( TinyCat [TinyCat]( is the online catalog for small libraries, created by LibraryThing. It turns your existing LibraryThing account into a simple, professional, web-based catalog. Follow [@TinyCat_Lib]( on Twitter for the latest TinyCat news, and be sure to check out [LibraryThing’s Youtube channel]( for a range of TinyCat tutorials. TinyCat’s 7th Birthday. Last month we celebrated [seven years of TinyCat](, marking the occasion with our annual sale in the [LibraryThing Store](, and with our “Books & Cats” giveaway. The winners of the giveaway [have now been announced](, with [James_Knupp](, [Kinyon_Library](, [hathorregrande](, [centralnorthcoc](, [DSSCle](, and [unigon]( winning our gorgeous [TinyCat enamel pins](, and grand prize winner [1TeacherMom]( taking home our very last TinyCat tote bag. Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated! TinyCat Webinars. To learn more about TinyCat, join Kristi for a live demo Wednesdays at 1pm Eastern. Webinars are now on Zoom, so make sure to use our new [link to attend](. You can also check out our playlists of Tiny Tutorials on [LibraryThing's YouTube channel](, where Kristi walks you through various features of TinyCat in 30 seconds or less. If you'd like to schedule a webinar at another time or if you have other questions about TinyCat, you can reach Kristi at tinycat@librarything.com. Wait, That's It? That's all I have for the Thing this month! If you have any suggestions, or ideas for improving State of the Thing, please reach out to me at abigailadams@librarything.com. Happy reading! Abigail PS: If you'd rather receive a plain-text version, [edit your email preferences](. You can also read it [online](. This message was sent to {NAME}. 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