2010 Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award

This annual award is chosen by the Literary Awards Committee of the Readers’ Section of the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA). The Award is given for the highest literary achievement by a Wisconsin author for a book published in the previous year. The Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award is made possible by a grant from the WLA Foundation. Read the WLA Blog to learn more about this year's literary awards.

Contributed by staff of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System, 6/2010 

• Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean Carroll (2009) Wnner - 2010 Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award
An award-wining biologist takes us on the dramatic expeditions that unearthed the history of life on our planet... Carroll recounts the most important discoveries in two centuries of national history — from Darwin’s trip around the world to CharlesWalcott’s discovery of pre-Cambrian life in the Grand Canyon; from Louis and Mary Leakey’s investigation of our deepest past in East Africa to the trailblazers in modern laboratories who have located a time clock in our DNA. Join him in a rousing voyage of discovery, from the epic journeys of pioneering naturalists to the breakthroughs making headlines today. Publisher's description
• Unplugging Philco by Jim Knipfel (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
A remarkably observant satire of Americans' preoccupation with spam, sobriety, and surveillance in the new century, "Unplugging Philco" is a hilarious, frequently absurd portrait of a man who decides one day that enough is enough.
• Dream house by Valerie Laken (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Embracing the volatile issues of race and class, "Dream House" charts the concentric effects of one fateful act on the lives of two families, and explores the connection between property and intimacy, illuminating the terrible price people pay to hold their dreams and homes together.
• Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
In over his head with two pigs, a dozen chickens, and baby due any minute, the acclaimed author of "Truck: A Love Story" gives readers a humorous, heartfelt memoir of a new life in the country.
• Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn. Rusch (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Boss loves to drive derelict spacecraft found adrift in the blackness between the stars. Then one day, she finds the claim of a lifetime. But some secrets are best kept hidden, and the past won't give up its treasures without exacting a price in blood.
• Ripped : how the wired generation revolutionized music by Greg Kot (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
"Ripped" tells the story of how the laptop generation created a new grassroots music industry, with the fans and bands rather than the corporations in charge. In this new world, bands aren't just musicmakers but self-contained multimedia businesses; and fans aren't just consumers but distributors and even collaborators.
• Delicate edible birds and other stories by Lauren Groff (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Groff follows up The Monsters of Templeton with this innovative and beautifully written collection that covers a wide swath of humanity, from east coast resort towns, to the early 20th century flu epidemic, to WWII Europe.
• In other rooms, other wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Passing from the mannered drawing rooms of Pakistan's cities to the harsh mud villages beyond, Daniyal Mueenuddin's linked stories describe the interwoven lives of an aging feudal landowner, his servants and managers, and his extended family, industrialists who have lost touch with the land.Publisher comments
• Thor & More by Jay Reed (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Over 100 of the best-loved columns by Jay Reed, legendary outdoor writer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Hunting, fishing and outdoor humor stories are here, along with Reed's reflections as a war correspondent in Vietnam, which twice made him a finalist in voting for the Pulitzer Prize.
• The Cradle by Patrick Somerville (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
Elegant and astonishing, Patrick Somerville tells the story of one man's journey into the heart of marriage, parenthood, and what it means to be a family. Confirming the arrival of an exuberantly talented new writer, THE CRADLE is an uniquely imaginative debut novel that radiates with wisdom and wonder.Publisher comments
• People of the sturgeon : Wisconsin's love affair with an ancient fish by Kathleen Schmitt Kline (2009) 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award
People of the Sturgeon is a history of the cultures surrounding lake sturgeon in Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago region, told by a fascinating collection of photos, artifacts, and a few good fish tales.Wisconsin Historical Society