Award Winning Books, 2010, National and International Prizes

An award winning book is always a great choice when you are looking for a great read. Rather than go to the bookstore without a plan, I'll often check out lists of book award winners and pick out a few, then go to the bookstore to check out those titles in person to pick one out.

The great thing about searching for new books to read by looking at winners of literary prizes and awards is that there are a lot of major national and international awards for English-language books, most of which have been granting literary prizes for decades. This gives you a pretty long backlist of great books to choose from.

Below is a list of the winners from the top national and international book awards granted for English-language fiction books in 2010.

You'll probably find that you tend to really like books that are chosen for a specific award. Personally, if I am in need of a good read I know that I can't go wrong with a Man Booker Prize winner.

So get ready to sit back and relax in your favorite reading chair with that new discovery that is destined to be added to your list of all-time favorite books. And if you use a Kindle, you're going to want to make sure it's fully charged.

Be sure to check out the titles on my award-winning book titles from other years, too. Soon enough you'll have a great book in hand and a big pile of great titles on deck.

The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobsen

When former BBC radio producer and movie double Julian Treslove is mugged following a dinner with his lifetime friend, writer, Jewish philosopher, and fellow widower Sam Finkler, he becomes convinced the crime had anti-Semitic motives. With this backdrop, Jacobsen explores the themes of friendship, loss and identity with wit and charm.

 In a Strange Room, by Damon Galgut

The Long Song: A Novel, by Andrea Levy

C, by Tom McCarthy

Parrot and Olivier in America, by Pater Carey

Room: A Novel, by Emma Donoghue

Costa Novel Award

The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell

Alternating between two distinct plots, O'Farrell tells the story of the young, small-town Lexis Sinclair, who fresh out of University finds her way to the center of London's art scene in post-WWII Soho, and the London couple of Ted and Elina, whose story begins about fifty years later, but eventually falls back into time to meet with Lexis.

Costa Book of the Year

Of Mutability, by Jo Shepcott

In this collection, her first in over 10 years, Shepcott explores many themes related to her battle with breast cancer: mortality, living fully, hop and humanity.

Tinkers, by Paul Harding

Harding's debut novel explores the history and final days of George Washington Crosby, a clock repairmen, on his deathbed in a New England home that he built with his own hands. Harding's use of descriptive language is masterful.

 In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Love in Infant Monkeys: Stories, by Lydia Millet

War Dances, Sherman Alexie

In WarDances, Alexie combines short stories and poetry in a series of pieces that challenge the reader to find the common thread. The book is filled with the brilliant, beautiful writing that one has come to expect from Alexie.

 A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore

Sag Harbor, by Colson Whitehead

The Lacuna: A Novel, by Barbara Kingsolver

Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories, by Lorraine M. Lopez

A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, by Brigid Pasulka

Pasulka's debut is a terrific work with fairy tale elements and terribly strong characters whose stories span the second half of twentieth century Poland between the old Poland and the new.

Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, by Lydia Peelle

The Walking People, by Mary Beth Keane

All the Living: A Novel, by C. E. Morgan

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

A Visit From The Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

With the narrative skipping arond in time and place, Egan skillfully and seamlessly takes the reader on a ride that is filled with a somewhat madcap cast of characters, including Sasha the kleptomaniac, Benny Salazar the rising music producer, and flashbacks to the heyday of the Bay Area punk rock scence.

Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

To The End Of The Land, by David Grossman. Translated by Jessica Cohen

Comedy In A Minor Key, by Hans Keilson. Translated by Damion Searls

Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray

Enjoy your new books, and hold close the wise words of Dr. Seuss, when he wrote, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."