150 Award Genres
Children
- Children - Action
- Children - Adventure
- Children - Animals
- Children - Audiobook
- Children - Christian
- Children - Coming of Age
- Children - Concept
- Children - Educational
- Children - Fable
- Children - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Children - General
- Children - Grade 4th-6th
- Children - Grade K-3rd
- Children - Mystery
- Children - Mythology/Fairy Tale
- Children - Non-Fiction
- Children - Picture Book
- Children - Preschool
- Children - Preteen
- Children - Religious Theme
- Children - Social Issues
Christian
- Christian - Amish
- Christian - Biblical Counseling
- Christian - Devotion/Study
- Christian - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Christian - Fiction
- Christian - General
- Christian - Historical Fiction
- Christian - Living
- Christian - Non-Fiction
- Christian - Romance - Contemporary
- Christian - Romance - General
- Christian - Romance - Historical
- Christian - Thriller
Fiction
- Fiction - Action
- Fiction - Adventure
- Fiction - Animals
- Fiction - Anthology
- Fiction - Audiobook
- Fiction - Chick Lit
- Fiction - Crime
- Fiction - Cultural
- Fiction - Drama
- Fiction - Dystopia
- Fiction - Fantasy - Epic
- Fiction - Fantasy - General
- Fiction - Fantasy - Urban
- Fiction - General
- Fiction - Graphic Novel/Comic
- Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
- Fiction - Historical - Personage
- Fiction - Holiday
- Fiction - Horror
- Fiction - Humor/Comedy
- Fiction - Inspirational
- Fiction - Intrigue
- Fiction - LGBTQ
- Fiction - Literary
- Fiction - Magic/Wizardry
- Fiction - Military
- Fiction - Mystery - General
- Fiction - Mystery - Historical
- Fiction - Mystery - Legal
- Fiction - Mystery - Murder
- Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
- Fiction - Mythology
- Fiction - New Adult
- Fiction - Paranormal
- Fiction - Realistic
- Fiction - Religious Theme
- Fiction - Science Fiction
- Fiction - Short Story/Novela
- Fiction - Social Issues
- Fiction - Southern
- Fiction - Sports
- Fiction - Supernatural
- Fiction - Suspense
- Fiction - Tall Tale
- Fiction - Thriller - Conspiracy
- Fiction - Thriller - Environmental
- Fiction - Thriller - Espionage
- Fiction - Thriller - General
- Fiction - Thriller - Legal
- Fiction - Thriller - Medical
- Fiction - Thriller - Political
- Fiction - Thriller - Psychological
- Fiction - Thriller - Terrorist
- Fiction - Time Travel
- Fiction - Urban
- Fiction - Visionary
- Fiction - Western
- Fiction - Womens
Non-Fiction
- Non-Fiction - Adventure
- Non-Fiction - Animals
- Non-Fiction - Anthology
- Non-Fiction - Art/Photography
- Non-Fiction - Audiobook
- Non-Fiction - Autobiography
- Non-Fiction - Biography
- Non-Fiction - Business/Finance
- Non-Fiction - Cooking/Food
- Non-Fiction - Cultural
- Non-Fiction - Drama
- Non-Fiction - Education
- Non-Fiction - Environment
- Non-Fiction - Genealogy
- Non-Fiction - General
- Non-Fiction - Gov/Politics
- Non-Fiction - Grief/Hardship
- Non-Fiction - Health - Fitness
- Non-Fiction - Health - Medical
- Non-Fiction - Historical
- Non-Fiction - Hobby
- Non-Fiction - Home/Crafts
- Non-Fiction - Humor/Comedy
- Non-Fiction - Inspirational
- Non-Fiction - LGBTQ
- Non-Fiction - Marketing
- Non-Fiction - Memoir
- Non-Fiction - Military
- Non-Fiction - Motivational
- Non-Fiction - Music/Entertainment
- Non-Fiction - New Age
- Non-Fiction - Occupational
- Non-Fiction - Parenting
- Non-Fiction - Relationships
- Non-Fiction - Religion/Philosophy
- Non-Fiction - Retirement
- Non-Fiction - Self Help
- Non-Fiction - Short Story/Novela
- Non-Fiction - Social Issues
- Non-Fiction - Spiritual/Supernatural
- Non-Fiction - Sports
- Non-Fiction - Travel
- Non-Fiction - True Crime
- Non-Fiction - Womens
- Non-Fiction - Writing/Publishing
Poetry
Romance
Young Adult
- Young Adult - Action
- Young Adult - Adventure
- Young Adult - Coming of Age
- Young Adult - Fantasy - Epic
- Young Adult - Fantasy - General
- Young Adult - Fantasy - Urban
- Young Adult - General
- Young Adult - Horror
- Young Adult - Mystery
- Young Adult - Mythology/Fairy Tale
- Young Adult - Non-Fiction
- Young Adult - Paranormal
- Young Adult - Religious Theme
- Young Adult - Romance
- Young Adult - Sci-Fi
- Young Adult - Social Issues
- Young Adult - Thriller
Illustration Award
Recommend this book:
When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen
Inspired Words of Wisdom on LIfe, Love, Happiness, and Success
Adriana Fuentes Diaz
2021 Honorable Mention
170 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen: Inspired Words of Wisdom on Life, Love, Happiness, and Success by Adriana Fuentes Diaz is an uplifting collection of thoughts from some of the most inspiring women of our time. Wisdom is shared by women of diverse backgrounds from Mother Theresa, Taylor Swift, Frida Kahlo, Brene Brown, and many others. Encouragement is shared for many different areas in life from happiness to love and success to values. Fuentes Diaz shares how her faith and strength have helped her overcome obstacles and challenges throughout her life. These enlightening words serve to strengthen and encourage the reader through life’s inevitable ups and downs.
Adriana Fuentes Diaz’s When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen is a testament to the power that words have to heal, restore and uplift us. These heartfelt messages share knowledge applicable to many situations throughout life, from believing in oneself to how to forgive. This is a great book to have on hand whenever you need a little pick-me-up or a dose of inspiration. It is both comforting and empowering to see how women have persevered and thrived throughout time despite struggles and challenges. At times lighthearted and at other times offering sage advice, this inspiring book will make a wonderful gift for a woman at any point during her life. I highly recommend When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen for a thoughtful and motivating read.
Recommend this book:
Surrender
A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love
Marylee MacDonald
2021 Bronze Medal
382 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love by Marylee MacDonald is a moving coming-of-age story about adoption straight from the heart. From the first few paragraphs, you will be touched by how adoption shaped her--from birth, through her formative years, and later, as a teenager and the surrender of her firstborn child from an unplanned pregnancy. The author captures the feelings, turmoil, and issues of living with uncertainty, confusion, and lack of support. You begin to realize that a great number of adopted children must experience some of the same emotions and struggles. Her craving to sort out nature/nurture is a major theme, as is her quest to nurture the child inside that lost out on so much.
Adoption, from all angles, seems to have permeated the author's life, and she has a beautiful way of conveying all the nuanced thoughts that come with it. I like that the book reads like a fiction novel as well as a memoir, complete with interesting dialogue, conflict, and pacing. MacDonald's style is honest yet full of grace. I like that she gives a brief introduction about her own adoption, and the surrendering of her son, and then backtracks to slowly pull you into the story and her inner conflicts, and how they affect her relationships, decisions, and self-image. The opening dialogue with her husband Bruce about moving to Phoenix is a priceless slice of life. It's about control, and you can cut the tense realism with a knife. As the story moves through its arcs and her desire to connect with her oldest child, you will be drawn deeper and deeper into it, until you become a part of this woman's life in a way and will find yourself relating to her, even though you may or may not have any experience with adoption. Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love by Marylee MacDonald is a must-have for your reading pile.
Recommend this book:
Chasing Perfection
A Journey to Healing, Fitness, and Self-Love
Rachel Brooks
2021 Silver Medal
190 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Chasing Perfection: A Journey to Healing, Fitness, and Self-Love by Rachel Brooks is a thought-provoking book that will inspire, encourage, and empower readers to embrace a life filled with passion and purpose. Most of the time in life problems are not addressed properly, they are just pushed aside. Reading the insights in this book will give hope to many readers out there to make their own choices and determine their destination; choose truth over lies, love over hate, confidence over doubt, faith over fear, and courage over comfort. The tools in the book will help readers to love and accept the self, and understand the key to unlocking destiny is in the power of choices they make for themselves.
What makes readers easily connect with Chasing Perfection is because the author's personal story and experiences make the book more human and palpable. Rachel Brooks speaks about how her struggles and hardships shaped her as a person and made her what she is today. The Points to Ponder section will actually help readers to reflect and make positive changes in the areas of their lives where they need it is required. The book is also a good way to make readers become more aware of themselves and see how their perception about themselves and the world around them needs to be changed. The author's honesty when it comes to talking about herself and her life is heartwarming and makes this book real and tangible.
Recommend this book:
Whole Heart
One Woman’s Incredible and Heartbreaking Journey from Africa to America
Michelle Felix
2021 Gold Medal
125 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
It’s the simple things in life that are the most important. Through trials and tribulations, one can always resort to the sage words of wisdom from great minds like Mahatma Gandhi: “Where there is love there is life.” Growing up in South Africa in the 1980s, Michelle struggled with both her health and her sense of belonging during a difficult time in South African history. Being of East Indian descent, she was neither black nor white. Her frequent asthma attacks and near-death experiences as a child made life complicated on the home front and the tension between her parents mounted, making home life feel almost hostile. Burdened with regret, as a young girl she believed she was responsible for the family’s turmoil, a heartbreaking reality in so many broken families. But, there were some good times, and, as the author admits, “Many unforgettable moments are worth more than a lifetime of memories.” A dream formulated in her mind and heart, a dream that would take her an ocean and a continent away from her family. Her dream was to move to America. Although she achieved her dream, it didn’t come without a lot more hard work and hardship.
Michelle Felix’s memoir, Whole Heart: One woman’s incredible and heartbreaking journey from Africa to America, is a touching, compassionate story about a young woman’s difficult journey. For that’s what life is, a journey full of joy and sorrows, sometimes more one than the other. The author begins her narrative with her ancestry and how her family came to be permanent residents of South Africa but never fitting in because they were neither white nor black. She gives a heart-wrenching tale of the family discord that escalated throughout her growing-up years. Coupled with her multiple near-death experiences due to being born with severe asthma, there were few happy moments in her youth. The author has a powerful command of language, especially in her descriptive narrative which eloquently and sometimes brutally describes the scenes and the situations in this woman’s life. At times, the memoir is vibrantly raw in its harsh revelations of a tragic life. Frequently being hit by unexpected and unhappy events, the author proved her strength and resilience to carry on. This is a powerful story that will encourage others to carry on, despite the odds stacked up against them. Beautiful writing.
Recommend this book:
No Rules
A Memoir
Sharon Dukett
2020 Finalist
315 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
The year is 1971 and sixteen-year-old Sharon is sick and tired of the life she is living. With parents that control her every move in life and deny her the choice to attend college because she’s a female, she decides to run away with her older sister to sunny California. In California, Sharon becomes totally engrossed in the hippie, free love lifestyle and feels liberated for the first time in her life. Introduced to drugs and sex, her sheltered life in Connecticut is soon a thing of the past. With her sister, the two meet a slew of new friends that share the same love of freedom as they do. California, though, wasn’t Sharon’s first and only stop. Like a gypsy, the teenager wanders from one place to another in an attempt to truly find herself. This journey leads her from California to Chicago to Montreal and back home again, in each place picking up friends and a better understanding of herself along the way.
I think Sharon Dukett has done an amazing job putting her teenager life on paper in No Rules: A Memoir. When you read it, you can almost feel the author sitting next to you, telling her story as an aunt or grandmother would. The hippie culture had been widely popularized and glamorized for the people who either weren’t alive during this period or were way too young to remember. It was interesting to find out why the culture appealed to Sharon and what it taught her. It was very easy to relate to Sharon Dukett in this book on so many levels. It gives you a firsthand account of life during the Nixon administration and the Vietnam war. No Rules is definitely a book I would recommend to others.
Recommend this book:
Love, Life, and Lucille
Lessons Learned from a Centenarian
Judy Gaman
2020 Honorable Mention
379 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Love, Life, and Lucille: Lessons Learned from a Centenarian by Judy Gaman is a non-fiction memoir about Judy’s experiences with meeting and learning from an elderly woman called Lucille Fleming. This book starts off with a brief foreword and jumps right into Judy and Lucille’s first meeting. Judy is an extremely busy, energetic, career professional of 40 who decides to interview Lucille, an old lady who has just reached the 100-year milestone in her life. This is for a book that she is interested in writing on longevity. Judy doesn’t really know what to expect and is surprised to find a cheery, happy, and energetic woman who still has a zest for life and fashion, among other things. They hit it off instantly and slowly the meeting turns into a genuine friendship with outings and socializing together. This is what forms the theme of the book, along with valuable life lessons that Judy learned from Lucille and which she applied in her own life. A short author bio and additional resources are provided at the end of the book.
Love, Life, and Lucille is a gentle and heartwarming book on the very meaning of life itself in today's world. The writing style is casual, light, and even humorous at times, but underlying it are some profound truths about life and what makes it worth living. Lucille is a very sprightly old lady and it is fun to watch their friendship blossom and read about their adventures and daily lives. But even more importantly, lessons on the importance of “people connections” in life and the ability to forgive, among other things, make this book really stand out. This is basic life philosophy presented in a very readable and entertaining way. I found this book enjoyable and would certainly recommend it.
Recommend this book:
Born for Life: Midwife in Africa
Julie Watson
2020 Bronze Medal
310 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Born for Life: Midwife in Africa is a work of non fiction written as a memoir by author and midwife Julie Watson. Following her original collection, Born for Life: A Midwife’s Story, this new selection of memories tells the tale of Julie’s experiences as a volunteer in Zambia. Working in a mission hospital in a remote location, Julie recounts the trials of getting out there in the first place with her husband to do their volunteer work, as well as the shock of adjusting to African ways of life and looking after mothers and newborns at such a pivotal and potentially dangerous time of their lives.
This a superb account of volunteering which doesn’t play too heavily on the heartstrings, making it highly accessible for any reader who wants to discover the true hardships and incredible rewards that doing this kind of work can bring an individual. Author Julie Watson makes no exaggeration in her narrative style, keeping to the incredible facts of her five-month adventure in another culture, whilst at the same time explaining the factual account of what being a midwife entails. I think that, particularly for aspiring midwives and nurses, this would be an eye-opening and educational read on world medicine and the importance of looking beyond your own front door. For me, the experience of reading Julie’s tale become more personal as it went along, slowly unlocking the reasons for her powerful commitment to her cause without being sensationalized or ‘tear-jerking’. Born for Life: Midwife in Africa is a revelation in kindness recommended to all.
Recommend this book:
The Art of Good Enough
The Working Mom's Guilt-Free Guide to Thriving While Being Perfectly Imperfect
Ivy Ge
2020 Silver Medal
184 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Everyone seems to have an opinion on what the term 'a good mother' means, but what is the true definition? For many working mothers, juggling motherhood with their chosen career can be a demanding balancing act filled with guilt as they try to live up to unrealistic expectations. Throughout The Art of Good Enough by Ivy Gee, you will discover techniques that, if practiced, will help you make sense of all those negative emotions you are experiencing. Learn how to uncover your hidden strengths, develop healthy, nurturing relationships with your children and partner, and understand the root cause of your negative self-image. As you work through the exercises, you will gain insights that will give your mind and body a complete overhaul so you can become the best version of yourself and begin the journey towards self-acceptance and happiness.
The Art of Good Enough by Ivy Ge is unlike any other guide I have ever read because it deals with the negative emotions every working mother can relate to. I loved the personal stories, especially Helen's, which I immediately related to. The author clearly has experience of being a working mother herself as her insights were so profound. I liked the way she gave you realistic techniques that you could try straight away. There are many golden nuggets of information throughout. I particularly enjoyed the section on pain and pleasure; that was a huge 'aha' moment for me. The statement that it is more important to enhance our strengths than improve our weaknesses was quite powerful. This guide gives every woman permission to live authentically and not feel obliged to live up to others' expectations.
I feel there is something in this book for everyone, from dealing with negative emotions, anxiety, and jealousy to overcoming fear, setting goals that matter to you, and nurturing your children according to their unique needs so they are fully prepared for the outside world. The most valuable part of this book for me, if I had to choose, would be the section on reverse engineering; this was such a lightbulb moment for me. I cannot recommend this guide highly enough. Thank you for creating such an uplifting and encouraging book.
Recommend this book:
The King and the Quirky
A Memoir of Love, Marriage, Domesticity, Feminism, and Self
Heather Siegel
2020 Gold Medal
235 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
The King and the Quirky: A Memoir of Love, Marriage, Domesticity, Feminism, and Self by Heather Siegel is one hell of a memoir, one of the best I have read about marriage and what it takes to make it work, and also about the journey towards personal transformation. When the reader meets thirty-four-year-old Heather Siegel, she is an outgoing kind of person who enjoys what she’s been doing for 10 years, a confident and independent woman who is free-spirited. She doesn’t believe in romantic relationships. But all of that changes when she meets Jon, a man who is as ordered as he is logical. They have two opposite personalities and they defy everything one can think of when it comes to compatibility. Heather, the feminist, finds herself packing up and moving out to Long Island to embrace a life of marriage. What makes it work is the subject matter of this engrossing memoir.
The first thing that struck me as I started reading this memoir is Heather Siegel’s beautiful voice and unique writing style. Her highly descriptive prose is littered with wit and insight, and the humor spices up the writing, giving the reader a fun experience. While Heather shares her story from being a happy and independent woman and feminist to becoming a married woman and stay-at-home mom, she challenges readers through her experience and personal transformation to rethink their take on compatibility and chemistry in relationships. There is more than that for a relationship to work. I enjoyed her creativity in staying true to who she is and the way she uses tolerance, understanding, and acceptance to bring life and strength to her marriage and her home. The King and the Quirky is both inspiring and entertaining, filled with lessons and wisdom. You can’t put it down, and while you laugh through some of the passages, you’ve got to think about your own relationship.
Recommend this book:
My Whorizontal Life: An Escort’s Tale
Book One: The first sex months
Sephe Haven
2019 Gold Medal
280 Pages
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Non-Fiction - Womens
Bold, sizzling, and candidly narrated, My Whorizontal Life is the first book in An Escort’s Tale series by Sephe Haven, a memoir that covers the author's first six months as an escort. Readers are pulled into the author's search for love through the most unlikely path: prostitution. The story starts with the setting and the timeline of New York City in the late 1980s. Sephe is an idealistic, empathic young woman blinded by her desire for fantasy and romance, fearful of the “real world,” who dreams of true love and being an actress extraordinaire. But just after her Juilliard graduation, poverty and debt overwhelm her and she takes what she thinks will be a very limited leap into the underground world of escorting. But she finds it’s not so easy to get out of it. And maybe she doesn’t want to?
Thus begins a memoir that is told in a compelling, humorous voice, each line calculated, well written and packed with wit. The humor greets the reader right from the start with the failed waitressing job and the meanness the author thinks the world reserves for her, for she can't understand that after having spent a good time with a man and shared laughter, then he dumps her. That is what sucks more than the meanness...it's the dumping. The levity, the lightness and the humor with which the story is told had me reading on. She makes readers buy into her worldview, sit at her feet and listen to her story. With candor and honesty, Sephe Haven leads readers into the dilemmas of her life along with the difficult choice of taking the path of an escort. The prose is awesome, alluring and infused with sexiness. It is interesting how the author transforms a painful journey into something that is fun and entertaining and, at times, the reader wonders if this is a real-life narrative or fiction. My Whorizontal Life made me want to meet this author. She is so genuine, so honest, and so funny that even a saint would want to listen to her story.