2025 Literary Awards Roundup Challenge - hosted by sarahweyand

National Book Critics Circle Awards

Fiction 

  • Beautyland - Marie-Helene Bertino
  • Godwin - Joseph O'Neill
  • James - Percival Everett
  • My Friends - Hisham Matar
  • Us Fools - Nora Lange

Nonfiction

  • The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq - Steve Coll
  • Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space - Adam Higginbotham
  • The Freaks Came Out To Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture - Tricia Romano
  • Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood - Gretchen Sisson
  • We're Alone - Edwidge Danticat

John Leonard Prize

  • By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight For Justice on Native Land - Rebecca Nagle
  • Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir - Tessa Hulls
  •  Great Expectations - Vinson Cunningham
  • Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius - Carrie Courogen
  • Ward Toward - Cindy Juyoung Ok
  • When The Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s - John Ganz

winners: march 20
full list: website
All books added
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Beautyland

Marie-Helene Bertino

304 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

fiction literary science fiction emotional funny reflective medium-paced
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

Adam Higginbotham

16 hours, 54 minutes • first pub 2024 (editions)

nonfiction history science technology challenging informative sad medium-paced
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll

The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq

Steve Coll

17 hours, 58 minutes • first pub 2024 (editions)

nonfiction history politics medium-paced
Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham

Great Expectations

Vinson Cunningham

257 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

fiction literary reflective medium-paced
Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls

Feeding Ghosts

Tessa Hulls

391 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

nonfiction graphic novel memoir dark emotional reflective medium-paced
The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture by Tricia Romano

The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture

Tricia Romano

608 pages • missing pub info (editions)

nonfiction history informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
Godwin by Joseph O'Neill

Godwin

Joseph O'Neill

288 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

fiction contemporary literary adventurous reflective medium-paced
By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle

By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land

Rebecca Nagle

352 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

nonfiction history race true crime emotional informative reflective medium-paced
James by Percival Everett

James

Percival Everett

303 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

fiction historical literary adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius by Carrie Courogen

Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius

Carrie Courogen

400 pages • first pub 2024 (editions)

nonfiction biography medium-paced