Could Someone Get That Kangaroo Out of Here?

December AwardsCAT:



For the last AwardsCAT we're looking at the big Australian literary award, the Miles Franklin Award, and for our genre award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Miles Franklin was an Australian author who wrote, among other things, My Brilliant Career, about a young woman with ambition and an unwillingness to do what she was supposed to -- make a good marriage. The award was founded by a bequest from Franklin's estate. It rewards novels that is both of a high literary quality and reflects Australian life. The first link is to the award's website and the second is to a list of past winners as well as the long and shortlists for 2013. Past winners of this award are All That I Am by Anna Funder, Truth by Peter Temple and Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

http://www.milesfranklin.com.au
http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/about_pastwinners_NEW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Franklin_Award

The Thurber Prize for American Humor celebrates the art of humor writing in the United States. James Thurber was one of the most prominent American humorists, writing, among many other things, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He drew cartoons for The New Yorker for years. Books that have won this award include I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris and Half Empty by David Rakoff.

http://thurberhouse.org/thurber-prize-for-american-humor.html
http://thurberhouse.org/past-thurber-prize-winners.html

Happy holiday reading!

I'm planning on Jack Maggs for the Miles Franklin award and Lamentations of the Father for the Thurber award. I'm picking up both books from the library later this morning.

Thanks for getting this up, Kay, and thanks for giving us a great year of AwardCats. I always look forward to seeing what the title is going to be!

For the Miles Franklin Award, I am planning on:

2006 Short List: The Secret River by Kate Grenville
2006 Long List: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

and for the Thurber Prize, I am still sticking with the Australian location:

2001 Finalist: Bill Bryson for A Sunburnt Country

The CATS have been fun and the AwardCATs had me picking up and enjoying books I might have never gotten around to reading. So a successful year even though I didn't participate every month.

I've really loved the CATs even though I haven't been able to participate much. It's a great thing to be part of and the book bullets keep raining down.

I have had a lot of fun discovering books on my TBR bookcase that have fit the various AwardCATs this year!

Apparently, I own a copy of the following 1999 Miles Franklin winner that I can read for this CAT: Eucalyptus by Murray Bail. This was also a Best Book winner of the 1999 Commonwealth Writers Prize.

I've had a great time with finding books from my TBR for these awards and have participated in quite a few. I have I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley for the Thurber award and The Secret River by Kate Grenville for the Miles Franklin Award.

I decided I'm going to wait on The Secret River until one of the Cats next year but I've "finished" I Was Told There'd Be Cake a 2009 finalist for the Thurber Award. I say "finished" because I decided after 85 pages to "Pearl Rule" this one.

#9 dudes22 - I just finished I Was Told There'd Be Cake as my Thurber Award book. I thought it was funny. It probably helped that I also live in New York. There were some times when I couldn't believe how she had acted in certain situations. I chalked it up to generational differences. (I believe Crosley is ~15 years younger than I am)

For the Miles Franklin Award I'm reading That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott

I have just finished The Broken Shore by Peter Temple. This book was on the 2006 Long List for the Miles Franklin Award. Excellent police procedural with a definite dark side.

Peter Carey is an author I've intended to read for quite some time, and I finally got around to it with Jack Maggs, winner of the 1998 Miles Franklin award. I enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Carey's work.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville was a fantastic read. Short listed for the Miles Franklin in 2006.

It looks like I won't be getting my planned Thurber Award Book in from the library in time to fit it in this month. :(

I read Lamentations of the Father, a collection of humorous pieces by Ian Frazier that won the Thurber Award in 2009. A couple of the pieces had me laughing to the point of tears. Unfortunately I was bored by the rest.