The Library in March: Award Winners — DELAYED

The Manor Library is currently closed for renovations after one of the fire sprinklers was set off by mistake.  Library staff have informed us that damage was mostly limited to the periodicals, binders, and reference collection in the reading room.  The administrative areas, computers, and almost all of the other collections were undamaged, and the library is expected to reopen later this month.  When that happens, the monthly display described below and the featured books will be available. RVM staff, contractors, and library volunteers are all working to get our library resources back on line.

by Anne Pelish

And the Award goes to ….  Since March is Academy Awards’ time, the RVM library will recognize authors and books that have won prestigious awards.  Some of the award categories, and the RVM library holdings they represent, are as follows.

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded in 2017 to the author who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.  Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go are representative of his work.

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during the preceding calendar year. Recipients include Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See and Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad.

National Book Awards are given to one book (author) annually in each of five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, and young people’s literature. The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich and The Spectator Bird by William Stegner are represented in the fiction category.

The Goodreads’ Choice Awards reflect what you and your friends are really reading.  Many popular books have received this award, including Kristin Hannah’s The Women and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library.

Mystery is a very popular genre and the RVM library has many books in this category.  There are many awards for mysteries including the following:

The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore or gratuitous violence, and are not classified as ‘hard-boiled.’“   Louise Penny’s All the Devils Are Here and Ann Cleeve’s The Long Call are two examples in our library.

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars.  Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe, a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year.  William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace, and Noah Hawley’s Before the Fall have won Edgars.

Crime Writer’ Association (CWA) Mick Herron is the 2025 winner of the Diamond Dagger — the highest accolade in the genre.  Herron’s books include Joe Country, London Rules, and Real Tigers.

Anthony Horowitz is the winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award.  This award rewards authors who have supported libraries and their users through taking part in library events.  Moonflower Murders and The Twist of a Knife are two examples of his work.

And the winner is … all the residents of Rogue Valley Manor for having a great library with a top selection of books to choose from.

Pictured with her beautiful smile is library volunteer Meryl Hanagami.