Category Archives: Book Lists

2026 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Longlist

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Founded in 2009, The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction celebrates quality, innovation, and ambition of writing for books published in the last year in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. In order to qualify, the majority of the storyline must have taken place at least 60 years ago. The winner will be announced at the Borders Book Festival on Friday June 12.

For more information check out the Prize’s website.

Longlisted titles in the NLS Collection are:

VENETIAN VESPERS by John Banville (DB 133275)
HELM by Sarah Hall (DB 134025)
PRETENDER by Jo Harkin (DB 129104)
ARTIST AND THE FEAST by Lucy Steeds (DB 134519)
SEASCRAPER by Benjamin Wood (DB 134024)

April 30 is Children’s Day/Book Day (El Día de los Niños/Libros)

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Two images one with a child's hand reading along with their finger on a book. The other is a child reading a picture book.

Every child deserves a story. The Talking Book Program offers books for kids in multiple formats.

From the library:

KIKIRIKÍ, STORIES AND POEMS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH FOR CHILDREN (DBC 26967)

ONCE UPON A TIME: CELEBRATING THE MAGIC OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN HONOR OF THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF READING IS FUNDAMENTAL (DB 30836)

WILD THINGS: THE JOY OF READING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AS AN ADULT (DB 86992)

2026 Indies Choice Book Award

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Originally established in 1991 as the American Bookseller Book of the Year, the Indies Choice Book Award celebrates the best Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children’s Picture Books, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Debut Adult and Debut Children’s voted by indie booksellers. After a brief hiatus the awards are back for 2026! The shortlist was announced on March 11 and the winners were announced April 8.

For more information check out the Award’s website.

Adult Fiction

CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans (DB 129105, en español DB 132482)

Adult Nonfiction

ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad (DB 127850, LB 0001346)

Children’s Picture Books

DON’T TRUST FISH by Neil Sharpson (DB 130282)

Middle Grade

TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner (DB 130798, LB 0005921)

Young Adult

THEY BLOOM AT NIGHT by Trang Thanh Tran (DB 128117)

Debut Adult

BLACK-OWNED: THE REVOLUTIONARY LIFE OF THE BLACK BOOKSTORE by Char Adams (DB 133707)

Debut Children’s

WHALE EYES: A MEMOIR ABOUT SEEING AND BEING SEEN by James Robinson (DB 134716)

Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2026

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The Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in Fiction written by women. The Prize celebrates ambitious, inspiring, and thought-provoking novels written by women in English and is awarded for books published in the previous year. The shortlist will be announced on April 22 and the winner will be announced on June 11, 2026.

For more information check out the Women’s Prize for Fiction website.

FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi (DB 129795, LB 0008519)
CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans (DB 129105, en español DB 132482)
HEART THE LOVER by Lily King (DB 133290)
MODERATION by Elaine Castillo (DB 131689)
WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy (DB 127669, BR 26326 IN PROCESS)
AUDITION by Katie Kitamura (DB 128873)
GARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar (DB 132989, LB 0005878)
DOMINION by Addie E. Citchens (DB 131990)

April 21 is San Jacinto Day

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Image of the outside of the San Jacinto Monument located in Harris County, Texas.

Relive Texas history in accessible formats with the Talking Book Program!

From the library:

DAY OF SAN JACINTO (DBC 11923)

JUAN SEGUIN: A HERO OF TEXAS (DBC 28952)

SAM HOUSTON AND THE ALAMO AVENGERS: THE TEXAS VICTORY THAT CHANGED AMERICAN HISTORY (DB 97726) (LB 12663)

2026 PEN America Literary Awards Longlist

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Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored outstanding voices in translation, fiction, poetry, science writing, essay, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. The longlist of finalists was announced on January 29, and the winners were announced on March 31.

For more information check out the Pen Literary Awards website.

PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Finalists

DEVIL IS A SOUTHPAW by Brandon Hobson (DB 134023)
THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li (DB 130140)
INTO THE HUSH by Arthur Sze (DB 134100 – IN PROCESS, BR 26662 – IN PROCESS)

PEN Open Book Award

NATURAL HISTORY: POEMS by Brandon Kilbourne (DBC 31719)
MEDICINE RIVER: A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND THE LEGACY OF INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS by Mary Annette Pember (DB 129679)

PEN Translation Prize

ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME. III by Solvej Balle and translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (DB 133345 – IN PROCESS)
REMEMBERED SOLDIER by Anjet Daanje and translated from the Dutch by David McKay (DB 130894 – IN PROCESS)
SONS AND DAUGHTERS by Chaim Grade and translated from the Yiddish by Rose Waldman (DB 131557)

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

THE HAVES AND HAVE-YACHTS: DISPATCHES ON THE ULTRARICH by Evan Osnos (DB 130978)

PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

THEY POISONED THE WORLD: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE AGE OF FOREVER CHEMICALS by Mariah Blake (DB 129168)
DINNER WITH KING TUT: HOW ROGUE ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE RE-CREATING THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS, SMELLS, AND TASTES OF LOST CIVILIZATION by Sam Kean (DB 131815)
STRATA: STORIES FROM DEEP TIME by Laura Poppick (DB 131355)

PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

BALDWIN: A LOVE STORY by Nicholas Boggs (DB 131983)
TROUBLEMAKER: THE FIERCE, UNRULY LIFE OF JESSICA MITFORD by Carla Kaplan (DB 134155 – IN PROCESS)
WHEN CAESAR WAS KING: HOW SID CAESAR REINVENTED AMERICAN COMEDY by David Margolick (DB 133737 – IN PROCESS)
STAN AND GUS: ART, ARDOR, AND THE FRIENDSHIP THAT BUILT THE GILDED AGE by Henry Wiencek (DB 131939)
ELECTRIC SPARK: THE ENIGMA OF DAME MURIEL by Frances Wilson (DB 134034 – IN PROCESS)

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction

BEING JEWISH AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF GAZA by Peter Beinart (DB 127493)
A GREEK TRAGEDY: ONE DAY, A DEADLY SHIPWRECK, AND THE HUMAN COST OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS by Jeanne Carstensen (DB 129257)
THE ZORG: A TALE OF GREED AND MURDER THAT INSPIRED THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY by Siddharth Kara (DB 133314)
NOTHING MORE OF THIS LAND: COMMUNITY, POWER, AND THE SEARCH FOR INDIGENOUS IDENTITY by Joseph Lee (DB 133424)
WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT by Julian Brave NoiseCat (IN PROCESS)

April 12 is DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) Day!

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Listening is reading too! Celebrate DEAR Day with Talking Book Program audiobooks. Our collection contains more than 169,000 titles on every topic you can imagine!

Image of a person laying down with headphones next to an open book.

From the library:

BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: REFLECTIONS BY 100 AUTHORS, ACTORS, MUSICIANS, AND OTHER REMARKABLE PEOPLE (DB 85037)

BOOKS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (DB 33153)

JOY OF BOOKS: CONFESSIONS OF A LIFELONG READER (DB 42728)

April 10-17 is Money Smart Week

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Image of an iBill Talking Banknote Identifier that is small black rectangle device.

Be money smart! The Talking Book Program offers financial literacy resources, plus iBill currency readers, for free!

From the library:

BABY STEPS MILLIONAIRES: HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE BUILT EXTRAORDINARY WEALTH—AND HOW YOU CAN TOO (DB 108935)

KNOW-NONSENSE GUIDE TO MONEY (DB 110339) (BR 24524)

YOU DON’T NEED A BUDGET: STOP WORRYING ABOUT DEBT, SPEND WITHOUT SHAME, AND MANAGE MONEY WITH EASE (DB 126058)