Clever Magazine, Spr '09 "2008-09 Clever Book Awards " (www.clevermag.com)

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The Clever Magazine
Book Awards for 2008/9

by the Phantom

Make more time for reading!

As you may know, we've been handing out book awards for a number of years now. Over those years we've had various groups of readers adding their two cents as we comb the bookstores and websites for appropriate candidates for this prestigious, yet mostly unheard of, book award.

This year we are taking a slightly different approach, mainly because our polls and interviews are suggesting that nobody has many interesting suggestions to give us. So the Phantom has taken on the task of making the momentous decision of choosing the award winners from the books that have come to her attention over the past year and a half. In other words, the committee has been temporarily disbanded.

The problem of book choices was compounded because of the lack of suitable candidates. The Phantom browsed through shelves and shelves of horrid political books, dreadfully depressing economic and financial disaster books, trite and sickening inspiration books, and cookbooks that would set an eater's teeth on edge. Most fiction books these days all seem to be using the same plot outline. They all begin with an interesting prologue and then spend the rest of the 300 or 400 pages wallowing in some dreary and prolonged flashback into childhood. And it seems like the best history books have already been written.

Never fear though, the Phantom was able to come up with an interesting list. You will note that several authors are making return appearances. Sometimes the best authors are also the most prolific ones. So without further ado, here are the winners:

Fiction:
The Winner: Life Class, by Pat Barker

Runners up:
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Non-Fiction:
The Winner: Conscience of a Liberal, by Paul Krugman

Runners-up:
Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson

History/Biography:
The Winner: Dreams from my Father, by Barak Obama

Runner-up:
Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Nature and environmental Writing:
The Winner: Lost in my own Backyard, by Tim Cahill

Mystery/Thriller Novel:
The winner: Various Haunts of Men, by Susan Hill

Runners up:
The Gatehouse, by Nelson de Mille
The Appeal, by John Grisham
All of Susan Isaacs innocent bystander mysteries
Kill Me, by Stephen White

Travel Essay:
The Winner: Foreign Correspondence, by Geraldine Brooks

Best Classic (that I probably only read part of but I'm a better person for):
The Winner: The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck

Inspiration:
The Winner: Bait and Switch, by Barbara Ehrenreich (every unemployed executive should read this.)

Pure Drivel award:
The Winner: A good Yarn, by DebbieMacomber, and all of the cutsy themed mysteries, including the culinary mysteries, the crafts mysteries, and the bail bond mysteries

So there you have it. A round of applause for the Phantom, who all deserves a new pair of reading glasses and a nice cup of tea for all her hard work again this year.

Previous years' awards:
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006/7

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