National Book Critics Circle

30 Books in 30 Days Archive

Each year, Critical Mass highlights on a daily basis the thirty books selected as finalists for our annual awards in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Criticism, Biography, and Autobiography. See the PDF archive below, for original reviews by NBCC board members of finalists from 2006 - 2009.

NBCC Board Members on Awards Finalists, 2006 - 2009

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From the Critical Mass blog

Small Press Spotlight: Rene S. Perez II

Along These Highways, University of Arizona Press, 2012. Rene S. Perez II was born in Kingsville, Texas, and raised in Corpus Christi. He

Roundup: Maurice Sendak, John Irving, Hilary Mantel, and More

The death of celebrated children’s author Maurice Sendak inspired a flood of appreciations from the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Christian Science

Video: Reviewing Translations at PEN World Voices Festival

On May 3, the PEN World Voices festival hosted the panel "Reviewing Translations" at the New School in New York City. The NBCC was a cosponsor of

NBCC Reads, New Journalism Precursors Edition: Capote, West, Mitchell, and Orwell

Many of the respondents to our latest NBCC Reads question selected literary journalists who are currently working. Before getting into those,

What books are eligible for the award?

We grant awards in six categories: Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. The nonfiction category is perhaps the most complicated: We do not give awards for titles that have been previously published in English (re-issues, paperback editions, etc.), and we generally do not consider cookbooks, self help books (including inspirational literature), reference books, picture books or children’s books. But we do consider translations, short story and essay collections, self published books, and any titles that fall under the general categories above.