Looking for the best books to give to your favorite book worm? Then choose award winning fiction from around the globe. International award winning books from other countries offer a great read and a glimpse into the top fiction writing from around the world. The following book list offers some of the best books to read for 2010. Grab the list and head to your nearest online bookstore, or local bookseller, for an unforgettable collection of the best books from 2010.
Two of the best books from Australia in 2010 are Truth by Peter Temple (Text Publishing, 2010) and Dog Boy by Eva Hornung (Text Publishing, 2010). Temple's novel Truth won the Miles Franklin Award, an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. Eva Hornung’s novel won the prestigious Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction, the country’s largest literary prize.
For a sample of Canada’s literary best, look to the Governor General’s Literary Awards and the Scotiabank Giller Prize nominees. These two literary prizes offer some of the best contemporary fiction in Canada. The winner of this year’s GGs will be announced in early November from an impressive shortlist that includes: Waiting for Joe (Random House Canada, 2010) by Sandra Birdsell; Room (HarperCollins Canada, 2010) by Emma Donoghue; Motorcycles & Sweetgrass (Knopf, 2010) by Drew Hayden Taylor; Cool Water (Phyllis Bruce Books, 2010) by Dianne Warren; and Annabel (House of Anansi Press, 2010) by Kathleen Winter. The winner of Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize is also to be announced in November. Canada’s best books on the Giller Prize shortlist include: The Matter With Morris (Phyllis Bruce Books, 2010) by David Bergen; Alexander MacLeod’s short story collection Light Lifting (Biblioasis, 2010); This Cake Is For The Party (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2010), a short story collection by Sarah Selecky; The Sentimentalists (Gaspereau Press, 2010), a novel by Johanna Skibsrud; and nominated here as well, Annabel (House of Anansi Press, 2010) by Kathleen Winter.
Among Commonwealth Nations, Howard Jacobson’s novel, The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury, 2010) took top honours, winning the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. This award is one of the most coveted literary prizes, awarded each year for “the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe.” In 2010, Jacobson’s The Finkler Question won out over an impressive shortlist of literary finalists, making it a must-read for any book worm. Two other best books from Commonwealth writers are Solo(HarperCollins, 2009)by Rana Dasgupta and Siddon Rock (Random House Australia, 2009) by Glenda Guest. Both books were winners of The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, prizes intended to encourage new Commonwealth fiction, and help those works reach a wider international audience. Rana Dasgupta’s novel won for the overall Best Book, and Guest’s novel was the winner for Best First Book.
The shortlist for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year (a prize within the Irish Book Awards) offers a fascinating collection of Ireland’s literary best in 2010. This prize for fiction will be announced November 25th from a stellar shortlist of best books that include: The Dead Republic(Viking, 2010)by Roddy Doyle; Brooklyn (Scribner, 2009)by Colm Tóibín; Room (HarperCollins, 2010) by Emma Donoghue; Let the Great World Spin (Random House, 2009) by Colum McCann; Skippy Dies (Faber & Faber, 2010) by Paul Murray; and Ghost Light (Harvill Secker, 2010) by Joseph O'Connor.
From New Zealand, Alison Wong’s novel, As The Earth Turns Silver (Penguin Group, 2010) offers readers literary gold. Wong’s novel beat out an impressive shortlist of New Zealand fiction writers to take home the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award. This award celebrates the best of the country’s writers and Wong’s As The Earth Turns Silver is certainly among the best books on offer in New Zealand.
A final selection that must be included in any list of the best books for 2010 is The Twin (Harvill Secker, 2010) by Gerbrand Bakker (translated from the original Dutch by David Colmer). Bakker’s work won the largest prize worldwide for a work of fiction; the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Nominations are submitted by public libraries around the world, with the winner receiving a prize of €100,000. Bakker’s stunning work proved to be the best book, winning against impressive literary talents.
Enjoy a sample of the world’s best books with these prize-winning works of fiction. Ask your independent bookseller for copies, or order online through retailers like Barnes & Nobel and Amazon. Award the book worm on your gift list with the best books the world has to offer!
Christine White - Chris White is a freelance writer based in New Brunswick, Canada. After 12 years developing documentation at a major telecommunications ...
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