Here are 10 debut novels that the publishing world is buzzing about for spring 2013.  You can read more about each novel on Publishers Weekly's site. 

Above All Things by Tanis Rideout

The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Söderberg

Autobiography of Us by Aria Beth Sloss

The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to teens. They were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official American Library Association award in 2002.  For more information about current and previous winners, click here.  The 2013 Alex Award winning books are:

Caring is Creepy by David Zimmerman

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

The 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction is awarded to The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson.  About the hidden world of North Korea with all of its misery, this novel is part political thriller, part romance, and part coming-of-age. 

For a list of all of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners in each category, click here.

Tan Twan Eng wins Asia’s top literary prize for The Garden of Evening Mists.

The five shortlisted novels, selected from a longlist of 15, are:

-Between Clay and Dust- Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistan)

-The Briefcase– Hiromi Kawakami (Japan)

-Silent House- Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)

2012 Award Winners

Fiction

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Way by Ben Fountain

We've all had our share of the "best of" lists of 2012 but here is one you may have missed! The New York Times posted a slide show of the best designed book covers from the past year and asked graphic designers why they were so great.

Favorite Book Cover Designs of 2012

Next time you pick up a book, spend a little more time contemplating what's on the outside, it may be a work of art.

(alphabetically by author)

A patron of the Library recently shared this site with me, and I like it so much that I  thought I would share it with you.  If you're one of those people who never tire of reading about the humanities--particularly literary criticism and book reviews--you will adore the Arts & Letters Daily website.  The site features links to a diverse array of literary and cultural news stories and reviews.  

Sharon Olds wins the TS Eliot 2012 poetry prize for best new poetry collection.  In her collection, Stag's Leap, Olds tells the story of divorce--its heartbreak and many stages.

Read more in The Guardian.