2016 National Book Awards Shortlist (21 books)

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Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. A pantheon of such writers as William Faulkner, Marianne Moore, Ralph Ellison, John Cheever, Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth, Robert Lowell, Walker Percy, John Updike, Katherine Anne Porter, Norman Mailer, Lillian Hellman, Elizabeth Bishop, Saul Bellow, Donald Barthelme, Flannery O’Connor, Adrienne Rich, Thomas Pynchon, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Alice Walker, Charles Johnson, E. Annie Proulx, and Colum McCann have all won the Award.

These are all the books on this year's shortlist for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. Please do not add other books to the list. Feel free to vote for your favorites!

National Book Award Winners

National Book Award Short List:
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016

National Book Award Long List:
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

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All Votes Add Books To This List

1	News of the World by Paulette Jiles 4.08 avg rating — 113,180 ratings score: 398, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan (Goodreads Author) 3.57 avg rating — 14,666 ratings score: 295, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild 4.12 avg rating — 18,063 ratings score: 295, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (Goodreads Author) 3.86 avg rating — 42,100 ratings score: 294, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Goodreads Author) 4.06 avg rating — 450,884 ratings score: 196, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (Goodreads Author) 4.53 avg rating — 38,794 ratings score: 194, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Ghost (Track, #1) by Jason Reynolds 4.18 avg rating — 53,051 ratings score: 181, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder 3.56 avg rating — 2,753 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	Writing IT - Novel, Plot, Characters: a novel creation toolkit (Writing it - a novel writer's toolkit Book 4) by Ed Adams (Goodreads Author) 4.57 avg rating — 122 ratings score: 100, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Goodreads Author) 4.05 avg rating — 1,403 ratings score: 93, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez 4.06 avg rating — 2,157 ratings score: 92, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson (Goodreads Author) 4.45 avg rating — 5,030 ratings score: 91, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky 3.96 avg rating — 639 ratings score: 90, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Collected Poems: 1974–2004 by Rita Dove 4.27 avg rating — 207 ratings score: 89, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	Archeophonics (Wesleyan Poetry Series) by Peter Gizzi 3.89 avg rating — 211 ratings score: 88, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	The Abridged History of Rainfall (McSweeney's Poetry Series) by Jay Hopler 4.03 avg rating — 225 ratings score: 87, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Look: Poems by Solmaz Sharif 4.31 avg rating — 2,748 ratings score: 86, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (Goodreads Author) 3.95 avg rating — 22,818 ratings score: 85, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	March: Book Three (March, #3) by John Lewis 4.64 avg rating — 21,831 ratings score: 84, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (Goodreads Author) 4.36 avg rating — 6,759 ratings score: 83, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Goodreads Author) 3.95 avg rating — 361,054 ratings score: 81, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars