Carrie's Bonkers Year of Reading for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence

Back in early March of this year, I opened my email to find an invitation to serve on the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence selection committee. Established in 2012, these awards recognize excellence for both a fiction and nonfiction adult title published in the US the previous year. It explained both the work and joy involved of being one of seven committee members, and that I had come highly recommended to be the bookselling expert on the committee. The praise of this opportunity reached through time to my joking in childhood that “I want a job where I can read all the time and be told I’m good at it.” It was an easy yes for my RSVP. The committee would work with an award coordinator to pour through books published in 2024, conversing and narrowing down first to a long list, then a shortlist, and finally two winners to be announced in January. Speaking to a previous participant and friend, she said I should prepare myself for both the time commitment and the space required to store and sort a significant number of books. Let’s just say it is a good thing my eldest is away at college.

Dedicating the majority of my 2024 reading to committee selections has been quite an adventure. I have loved every moment, even if my eyes, ears, and brain are extra-extra tired. When I say we read a lot of books, I mean we read A LOT of books. I admit that my normal reading pace is pretty swift, and this load pushed me to my limits. It was not unusual for me to pack in a book before heading in to work, another couple in the evening after, and follow up with a stack on the weekend.

It was a different sort of reading, sure. I wasn’t able to retain as well as normal. A new metric in my “will I recommend this book” meter is “do I remember it?” I learned to quickly discard what I didn’t need more effectively even than my days of cramming scientific formulas for exams.

And the books that stuck, stuck. They are pretty special. There are, of course, some favorites that didn’t make the longlist for various reasons. I look forward to finding different ways to share those titles with those of you I know will enjoy them. But for now, I’d love to celebrate the longlist for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

Talking throughout 2024 with this magical committee has been a year of delights. As the lone bookseller on the cozy crew, I had so much to learn from these ridiculously brilliant readers. Through their vastly different and specific experiences, I was able to take in new information with every conversation. In particular, I needed their knowledge about previous works on history. More than once I thought something had a completely new insight, and learned that it had been done before. Similarly, we were able to discuss the literary quality mixed with the approachability for novels. We all serve different communities and readers, and knowing them well is something that helped guide our insights. 

I know we will be thinking of one another for a long time to come, wishing we had a scheduled chat ready to go to share our thoughts and listen to unique insights. With this many conversations about this many books, we have a pretty good shorthand and a pretty good idea of which of us will love which books. What was even more amazing was how often we were on the exact same page. And even when we agreed, listening to why we agreed added new insights to my own reading experience.

You have to wait a bit longer for the shortlist (11/12/24). And even longer for the announcement of the winners (1/26/25). For now, take a browse through 23 amazing Fiction titles and 23 amazing Non Fiction titles. Find me at the shop if you want to talk about any of them further! And if you want to read the official ALA announcement with more information about the experience and the individuals on the committee, I encourage you to read this release.

Because Books, y’all.