It's A Major Award

This weekend in addition to running and freezing my hinny off at the station, I also received an award for what I am pretty sure is being the bossiest broad in the Department.  They were reading all these little blurbs about us, how the police officer of the year was heroic, and the firefighter of the year was multi-talented and a hard worker, the teachers were all creative and giving and I according to my peers am "the first to take control in any situation"...which just a nice way to say she's a bossy lady :-)  Speaking of awards (did you like that segue? I'm starting to get a bit better) books get awards too!  There are a lot of them out there for various reasons, some are helpful, some are weird, but mostly it is nice to be recognized as an author so here is a quick guide to some of the more well known awards out there.

The Newbery Medal- This one of the first awards people might recognize as it is given to "The most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".  This one is not a popularity contest, but selected based on a committee of children's librarians and various other people connected to the book world.  Here are some books that have won this award. (Caddie Woodlawn, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, A Wrinkle in Time, Bridge to Terabithia, The Tale of Despereaux)

The Hugo Awards-This is actually several awards one for each 14 current categories, the most well known being the novel, short story and graphic novel categories. This award is given to books in the science fiction and/or fantasy genre's.  The award is given after attending member of the Worldcon have voted from the selection of nominees in each category. A few previous winners. (Dune, Ender's Game, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, American Gods, The Windup Girl)

The Bram Stoker Award-This is just one of many awards named after premier authors in a specific genre. This award as you can probably get is presented by the Horror Writers Association for the best dark fantasy or horror in several categories.  One of the cool things about this award as it is a less of best of and more about achievement, allowing for newer or overlooked authors to take center stage.  A few winners (Misery, The Silence of the Lambs, Lost Boy Lost Girl, The Lovely Bones, Heart-Shaped Box)

Pulitzer Prize-Probably the most recognized of the American literary awards.  There are about a zillion categories for both individuals, newspapers, authors, poets, and so on and so forth. This award carries great prestige and is selected very carefully from a very large amount of entrants.  Here are some winners that you may recognize. (Age of Innocence, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Beloved)

Nebula Award-Ok I know I already put a scifi/fantasy prize in here...but this is what I read the most of so these awards mean the most to me so here is the Nebula award which is given out by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  The nomination process is pretty open, any book published in English is eligible with no restricting rules on what constitutes a specific genre.  Again this award has several categories with a winner in each.  Here are some winners for you to peruse.  (Flowers for Algernon, The Dispossessed, The Forever War, Dragonrider, Beggers in Spain)

These are just a few of the numerous awards out there recognizing authors and their support crews on their hard work and imagination.  These awards can be very helpful in launching a career, or introducing a reader to a new book.  That being said, books like any other form of art are a very personal thing, and just because a book won an award does not mean you have to like it. So go pick up a book and support an author today. Happy Reading Everybody!

Do awards influence your reading selection?  What book has won an award that turned out not to your liking?  What awarded book was better then expected?  What awards should I hand out at my own awards ceremony, coming to a post soon?