Paperboy by Vince Vawter

In the heat of the summer of 1959 in Memphis, a boy takes over his friend's paper route for one month. While delivering and collecting on the route, he learns a lot about his neighborhood, the world around him, and about himself.

This is - hands down - the best book I've read in recent history. I can't stop thinking about it. The kid (we don't learn his name until close to the end) suffers with a stutter, so he's typically afraid to speak in public, especially to strangers. But this new responsibility encourages him to try some coping mechanisms and to practice, practice, practice.

By making routine, regular trips around the neighborhood, he gets a glimpse of the day-to-day in households other than his own. He begins to understand privilege, race, and responsibility. Good and bad things happen, and when his buddy returns at month's end, our hero is a little different than he was previously. You will be too.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, or so they say. Jeannette Walls’s memoir is an often-unbelievable account of extreme poverty and puzzling family values. The award-winning author tells her tale of growing up in a family full of dysfunction, alcoholism, destitution, and a stunning sense of pride. Frequently without the basic modern necessities like electricity, heat, and running water, the Walls children depended on discarded food and threadbare thrift store clothing for survival. Persisting on their own gumption while dodging abusive family members was the only reality known to the Walls kids.

This incredible story of survival and success despite the odds had me shaking my head in disbelief while picking my jaw up off the floor. Walls narrates the audiobook herself, and her ability to tell it in a matter-of-fact tone, and sometimes even with reverence, is mind-boggling.

This story evoked the entire range of emotions, and it is one that encourages appreciation for the most basic elements in life that are often taken for granted. I will be pondering this story for a long time to come.

Inspiration: award winner

One of the fun things about reading award-winning books is that they've already been vetted for you - a committee decided it was good! You're always allowed to disagree, but at least somebody thinks it's a good book, and that's never a bad jumping-off point.

I promise that no matter what you enjoy reading, there's an award for it: literature, romance, fiction, poetry, sci-fi, teen book, kid's lit, horror, and on and on. Here are a few links to the sites for various awards:

• Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction
• Nobel Prize for Literature
• Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction and Biography and Poetry
• Hugo Awards for science fiction, horror and fantasy
• Man Booker Prize for Fiction
• National Book Awards for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature
• Caldecott Medal for picture books
• Newbery Medals for children's literature
• YALSA's awards for teen literature
• Odyssey Award for audiobook produced for children/young adults
• Sibert Medal for children's nonfiction
• Stonewall Book Award for juvenile books relating to the GLBT experience
• Edgar Awards for mystery 
• National Book Critics Circle Awards for fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography and criticism
• PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
• Costa Book Awards for first novel, novel, biography, poetry, and children's book in the UK and Ireland

and then I decided maybe I'd just give you the list on Wikipedia of world literary awards because this is so much fun to browse and look for inspiration!

Have you ever read an award-winning book and thought it was total crap? Tell us about it in the comments!

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less is a man who stumbles through his own life. He's a semi-successful writer with friends and lovers, but he's a bumbler more than a planner.

When an ex announces his wedding, Arthur decides to run away rather than deal with the pain. He agrees to every offer away from home: a lecture, an award ceremony, teaching, a sabbatical, an article, and more. Circumnavigation of the world (on someone else's dime) to avoid one small ceremony.

Every kind of travel mishap occurs - missed connections, miscommunications, illness, injury, near-death experiences - and yet Less keeps moving, keeps going, deals with it and moves on. Nothing really phases him, and nothing really ruffles him. Along the way, he attracts friends, lovers, and even quaint, harmless rivals.

I'm surprised by how under-the-radar this book has been, despite its Pulitzer Prize. It's engaging, both silly and heartwarming at the same time. I read it within just a few (busy) days because I was so engaged with the story. It's funny and smart, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

I love everything from Neil Gaiman, and I especially adore the audiobooks where he reads it himself. So pretty much, I loved this collection of poetry and short stories from 2006.

Many of these stories have links to other Gaiman works - one was an early idea for The Graveyard Book, and one that's part of the world of American Gods. Many have won awards. My favorite is a backwards, unwinding of the book of Genesis.

In an audiobook this collection of vignettes could be a bit confusing (I found it hard to hear the breaks between stories, sometimes - to know I was moving into a new world). Also, sometimes I have to review poetry more than once for it to more fully absorb. To solve these challenges, I also kept a paper copy of the book for reference and review.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

Family and responsibility are at the core of this literary novel set in India and the United States. Two brothers - almost as close as twins - take very different paths in their young adulthood. Which is greater: civil action that works for change, or the tending of tradition and family?

We read this as a book discussion title at the library, but I didn't finish it in time for the conversation. Too bad, because there's a lot to talk about.

Even while Subhash builds a life in America, he's bound by duty to his family in India. He marries out of a sense of obligation, but when their daughter is born he finds a pure delight in raising her in Rhode Island. His duty to her future becomes more urgent than his dedication to the past - but that's not true for his wife, who never really left India behind.

The book offers mothers and fathers, siblings, husbands and wives, and there are lots of comparisons to be drawn between counterparts. Also, the role of responsibility: personal responsibility, family obligations, parental duty, social activism, passive acceptance. It's a heavy book, filled with lots of internal dilemmas, and it really would make for a fantastic discussion.

I listened to the audiobook version, which was an excellent way to read a book filled with foreign names and places.

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

At the suggestion of an alley cat, a brave boy named Elmer Elevator sets off to rescue a dragon.

This 50th anniversary volume contains the books My Father's Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland along with an introduction by the author. Together, they make up the "Elmer and the Dragons series." In the first book, Elmer sets off to save an enslaved baby dragon. The second book is the fantastic journey homeward. In the third book, the dragon returns to enlist Elmer's help in saving his family.

I read this as part of my self-education on award-winners of the past; the first book in the series was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal when it was published in 1948.

It's an odd type of children's story - the kind we had before anyone took "children's literature" very seriously. It's a series of wildly improbable adventures taken by a child without the aid of adults. There are talking animals. There's menace, but no big danger befalls them. All's well in the end, and it always finishes with the adults befuddled as to what's happened right under their noses!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

An alternative to the epic, sweeping historical World War II sagas, this award-winning literary novel makes history much smaller and very personal - as seen through the perspective of a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy.

When you understand that no one is completely good and no one is completely bad - that life is much more nuanced and impacted by perspective - it's easier to see that WWII wasn't simply the Evil Nazis versus the Free World.

Werner's early aptitude for science and math are his salvation from working the coal mines that entombed his father. The conformity and cruelty of his instructors and schoolmates in the elite Nazi Wehrmacht school are tough for the boy to handle, yet he doesn't dare to rebel and destroy his chance for a future.

Marie-Laure goes blind as a young child, and her locksmith father finds fabulous ways to empower his daughter to independence. When they're forced to flee Paris upon invasion, the pair settle with her mentally fragile great-uncle in a towering house on the coast in Saint-Malo.

Many have been critical of the super-short chapters and constantly switching perspectives and timeframes, but I thought it allowed the book to move briskly without my attention flagging. It's not a book that's tied up in a neat bow at the end - some things remain a mystery - again, much like real life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and understand why it won both the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Also, it made me want to read Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea!

This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Things are inexplicably different this summer for Rose's family on their annual beach vacation: Mama's not herself and won't even go into the water, and eventually their fighting drives Dad to go back home to work for a few days rather than stay.

Rose and her "summer cottage friend" Windy (a slightly younger girl whose family always rents a neighboring bungalow) hang out, watch horror movies, and spy on the local kids who loiter at the one-and-only store.

It's a book about that awkward time when you're too old for baby games and not old enough to really understand what's going on around you. Even though she thinks she knows, Rose doesn't really understand why her parents are fighting. Also, the things she overhears from the local kids lead her to imagine a whole drama that's going on there - which she may or may not be right about, also. Despite the year-and-a-half age discrepancy, Windy may actually have a better understanding of the summer's many plot threads.

This wonderfully inked graphic novel was highly lauded this awards season, and I can see why. It's the kind of story that sticks with you and would be a fantastic book discussion title.

The 21 Balloons by William Pene du Bois

After being rescued at sea from the debris of a hot air balloon craft half a world away from where he started only three weeks before, Professor William Waterman Sherman becomes a reluctant celebrity. But despite the media hounding him to tell his story, the drama builds because Sherman says he won't explain what happened until he gets to San Francisco to reveal the tale first before the Western American Explorers' Club. Despite the speculation and rumors that run rampant on the street and in the media, the fantastical story he tells in San Francisco is even wilder and way more curious than anyone had dreamed.

This book was originally published in 1947, and it won the 1948 Newbery Award. I picked it up recently upon the recommendation of a local family who had just read it together.

Some children's books don't age well, but this novel's storyline was never "fresh" so it hasn't grown stale; the storyline occurs in 1883 when ballooning was at its zenith of popularity, so even in the 1940s it was a historical tale. Neither of us at our library had heard of the book before, and I thoroughly enjoyed discovering this forgotten classic.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

The highest praise I can offer a book is that it surprised me - that it took me some place I hadn't expected and shocked me along the way. That said, "Aristotle & Dante" is an EXCELLENT book that I highly recommend! Several times I gasped out loud when the turn of events took me by surprise. And I swear I won't give it away for you ...

At the heart, this is a story about two boys becoming young men. Neither has a lot of friends, and when they meet at the pool one summer day, they bond quickly. The boys have a lot in common: awkward unusual names, Mexican-American heritage, super-protective mothers, plus they share a kind of thoughtfulness unusual in 15-year-old boys. But they're also very different: Ari's withdrawn, while Dante's more outgoing; Dante talks while Ari's often silent, and they attend rival schools.

Their friendship brings both out of their shells. Together they work thought the typical-teen thoughts and feelings they may not have shared with anyone else: what am I supposed to be? where is my place in the world? how do I fit in? and how do I get girls to notice me? But the friendship's not easy, either, and often the boys have a hard time accepting the other's differences.

Have I mentioned that I loved this book? The characters are realistic, and I loved the contrast between the two families - one very touchy-feely, the other quiet and reserved. And while the book is set in the late-1980's, it's also very current. Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

Toby can't wait to get out of tiny Antler, Texas. Even at 14, he knows there's nothing to do there, and a there's a great big world just waiting to be discovered. So then why is Toby so upset when his mom goes to Nashville to follow her dream?

Toby's best friend Cal has an older brother serving in Vietnam (the book is set in 1971), and his achingly homesick letters to the boys begin to open their eyes to the wonders of small-town summer. And the arrival of a trailer carrying the "World's Fattest Boy" also helps change Toby and Cal's perception of their hometown.

The boys are the right age for a major life change, and they really mature in this book - a lot happens during this one summer: love, loss, friendship, responsibility, and a reimagining of their ideas on family. The characters are well-formed, with realistic flaws and true-life personalities. And while it's a preteen book, I enjoyed that there's a well-executed cast characters in all stages of life who accompany the boys in their journey of discovery.

It's an excellent book - for kids coming into their own journey to adulthood, or for adults who've already lived it. The historical setting will make the story more relevant for those of a certain "vintage," but the tale is universal for contemporary readers, too.

Young Fredle

by Cynthia Voigt

Can you relate to the life of a house mouse? You might initially think the answer is no. Then you'll realize you have gotten wrapped up in the lives of far more unlikely characters in the past.

Fredle is like the precocious child who asks a thousand questions. His curiosity leads him to the magnificent scent of a peppermint patty. Unfortunately, there is danger in consuming chocolate if you are a mouse. Soon, Fredle finds himself alone in a new world - outside. He has quite an adventure that involves raptors, raccoons, lawnmowers, and stars. Fredle must learn about trust and a whole new kind of safety as he builds unlikely friendships and skirts danger. It's a coming of age story for young readers that will engage the whole family.

The audio version was an Odyssey Honor title for 2012.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

In this series of short stories, schoolteacher Olive Kitteridge is sometimes the storyteller, sometimes a major character in someone else's story, and occasionally a mere walk-through in a story mostly unrelated to her.

It's an interesting way to present a person's life - a multi-faceted approach that defies self-definition, familial ties, and even your own best intentions to form a more rounded characterization. It's both a skewed, yet very fair way to encounter the whole person - the good, the bad and the ugly. And Olive's a character full of all those things.

Strout's storytelling is rich with visualization and description. It's an easy story to get lost in, and well-deserving of the accolades the book has won. We discussed it for book club, but I found I'd gotten something slightly different from the experience by having listened to the audiobook. Sandra Burr's vocalization was a real addition to the text - and I found several parts hilariously funny where others in the group had not seen a comic undertone.

The lion and the mouse

by Jerry Pinkney

I picked this one up after it won the Caldecott award. For those readers who are not librarians or teachers, this is the American Library Association's annual award for the best illustrations in a children's book. When our copy arrived in the library, I immediately decided this retelling of Aesop's fable fit mildly into the story time theme "teeth".

Pinkney uses very few words to describe the story. He allows the images he has created do most of the work. The ferocious lion and timid mouse have faces filled with expression. When Pinkney does use words, he tailors the font to fit the emotion. At one point when the lion roars the letters start out strong and sharp then taper down to softened edges as his emotions move from angry to frightened. Even children that have never heard the story are easily able to interpret the drawings and build their narrative skills.