Jim Shepard

In honor of Arab American Heritage Month in April, we are sharing books by Arab and Arab American authors that share their culture, history, and personal lives.

For National Poetry Month in April, we are sharing poetry collections and books about poetry by authors who have their own stories to tell. These poets delve into history, reimagine the present, examine poetry itself—from traditional poems many know and love to poems and voices that are new and original.

The literary journal Kirkus Reviews has announced the finalists for its 2015 book prizes. Congratulations to Jim Shepard, author of The Book of Aron, and Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life, who are finalists in the fiction category, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me, and Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature, who are finalists in the nonfiction category.

The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the shortlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, which are awarded annually for the previous year’s best books written for adult readers and published in the United States.