Awards, award-winners, hockey

Just a couple of quickies before I go laptop shopping so I can blog on the back deck or in coffee shops or in the middle of a forest or wherever the kids blog these days.  Got to stay hip, you know.

--Save the Deli author David Sax sent me a very kind note about my recent posting on his book.  It's nice to know authors actually check their own websites.  Thank you again, David.

--The National Book Critics Circle award winners were announced.  Fiction award goes to Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall.  If memory serves, when the book won another award a few months ago, I posted that I needed to read her.  I've still no idea who she is but I had better get on it. 

http://bookcritics.org/awards/

Finally, had you told me I'd ever utter a phrase with 'Margaret Atwood' and 'goalie' in it, I'd have never believed you.  Check out this absolutely delightful video of the Man Booker prize winner in the crease:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkkwEXi-zZI&feature=player_embedded

(While I'm at it, check this vid from America's favorite all hockey rock 'n' roll band, the Zambonis:

http://www.cnchockey.com/videos/hockey-monkey)

Just a couple of things to tell you about

First off, congrats to Leif Enger, whose wonderful So Brave, Young, and Handsome was awarded the High Plains Book Award this past weekend.
http://highplainsbookawards.org/ (Oddly, as of this writing, they haven't updated their site with the winners.)

I loved this book and you can read my gushing post about it here: http://ow.ly/t47R

Further kudos go out to a group of authors recognized by the National Book Foundation as notables in their 5 Under 35 selections, http://www.nationalbook.org/5under35_2009.html

Two of them have been read and reviewed here: Ceridwen Dovey's Blood Kin (http://ow.ly/t41e) and Karen Russell's marvelous debut short story collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (http://ow.ly/t40M)

As I type this, I see Hilary Mantel has been awarded the Man-Booker Prize. I've no idea who she is but, obviously, I should acquaint myself with her work. http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

Also, The Huffington Post, which has always given a lot of space to books and authors has expanded and has a devoted books section now:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/books/