Friday Books: Minnesota Book Awards

The Minnesota Book Awards finalists have been announced. I have heard of a couple of these on public radio, but have not read any of them so far. Winners are announced at a gala event in mid-April. Here are some of the finalists. I only included the categories that interest me the most:

Novel and Short Story --
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House)
In Reach by Pamela Carter Joern (University of Nebraska Press)
The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons by Heather A. Slomski (University of Iowa Press)
Stillwater by Nicole Helget (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Genre Fiction --
Fallen Angel by Chuck Logan (Conquill Press)
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street Books/Prometheus Books)
The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen (Bethany House Publishers)
Strongwood: A Crime Dossier by Larry Millett (University of Minnesota Press)

Memoir and Creative Non-Fiction --
Love Imagined: A Mixed Race Memoir by Sherry Quan Lee (Modern History Press/Loving Healing Press)
Northern Orchards: Places Near the Dead by James Silas Rogers (North Star Press of St. Cloud)
Seeking the Cave: A Pilgrimage to Cold Mountain by James P. Lenfestey (Milkweed Editions)
Tailings: A Memoir by Kaethe Schwehn (Cascade Books/Wipf and Stock Publishers)

See more at: http://thefriends.org/27th-annual-minnesota-book-awards-finalists-announced/#sthash.MfHozlfO.dpuf