NBCC Awards: The National Book Critics Circle awards honor the best literature published in English in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Announced in March, check out some of the winners for the 2010 publishing year:

Fiction - Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

Biography - Sarah Bakewell, How To Live: Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty         Attempts at an Answer

Autobiography - Darin Strauss, Half a Life

Poetry -  C. D. Wright’s One with Others: [a little book of her days]

Non-Fiction - Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Criticism - Clare Cavanagh, Lyric Poetry and Modern Politics: Russia, Poland, and the West

I just put The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls on request at the library. Several people have told me how much they enjoyed the book, which is a memoir of her nomadic and difficult upbringing, and I have been intending to read it for a while. Why now?

I finished Walls's Half-Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel last week and loved it. Based on the life of her grandmother Lily Casey Smith, the book contains true stories that have been fictionalized in order to flesh out and paint the missing details of Lily's remarkable life. Born in 1901 on farmland in Texas, Lily learns to accept challenges as they come. By age 15 she leaves home to teach school, goes to Chicago on her own in her 20's, marries and works night and day on a ranch with her family - she is always doing, always thinking, always making her way. The writing is engaging and short chapters flow easily from one to the other. With all the obstacles standing in her way, I was just so impressed with Lily's gumption and make-it-happen attitude.

A couple of people told me it was helpful to read this book before The Glass Castle, as it explains quite a bit of background (even if it is fictionalized). Guess I'll find out when my copy arrives!

For anyone who likes Agatha Christie or similar books, check out the 2010 Agatha Award Nominees at Malice Domestic. Here's the basic information:

The Agatha Awards honor the "traditional mystery." That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

• contain no explicit sex
• contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence

Cooking is something that I just love (when other people do it :-). If someone invites me to a meal at their home or to go to a restaurant, that pretty much makes my day. Oddly, I enjoy reading recipes. Perhaps I envision myself creating a great feast? Well, there's no telling what the future will bring!

Are you a foodie? I think you will appreciate the ambrosial book Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Set in Mexico in the early 1900's, it is a time when everyone has their place in the family. As the youngest daughter, Tita is expected to spend her life caring for her mother. When young Pedro comes to ask for her hand in marriage, he is told he must marry Tita's sister instead. In order to remain close to Tita, Pedro accepts this. Having been practically raised in the kitchen by their cook, Tita creates magical meals, literally pouring her emotions into them - including a wedding cake that has surprising effects on the guests! Structured in twelve chapters, January to December, Like Water for Chocolate uses magical realism to tell a story of a family, love, and the power of food.

Recipe bonus: Quail in Rose Petals