Wading through another longlist! National Book Award 2025 Longlist | How I Pick My Reads

my earrings https://amzn.to/46LSYaC my watch https://amzn.to/4gtOfO6 Folks mentioned: Scott ‪@GunpowderFictionPlot‬ Steve ‪@saintdonoghue‬ Books mentioned (according to the author's last name) Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) - https://amzn.to/3VsoR1K Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman - https://amzn.to/4gzLN90 Susan Choi, Flashlight - https://amzn.to/4gzMjDY Angela Flournoy, The Wilderness - https://amzn.to/3IrWmhJ Jonas Hassen Khemiri, The Sisters - https://amzn.to/46tI48b Megha Majumdar, A Guardian and a Thief - https://amzn.to/3Keiahl Kevin Moffett, Only Son - https://amzn.to/3KyAHow Karen Russell, Swamplandia - https://amzn.to/3Kvyni6 Karen Russell, The Antidote - https://amzn.to/48qUCQg Ethan Rutherford, North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther - https://amzn.to/46dgJs6 Bryan Washington, Palaver - https://amzn.to/47YRZVT Joy Williams, The Pelican Child - https://amzn.to/48xhYng National Book Award: https://www.nationalbook.org/ 0:00 intro 1:27 Book prizes: a personal history 5:48 What is the National Book Award? 6:51 mindset 8:35 book 1 11:43 book 2 13:44 books 3 and 4 17:28 book 5 20:53 books 6, 7, and 8 26:33 book 9 29:04 book 10 33:00 final thoughts Videos you might enjoy: 50 videos in 50 days playlist:    • 50 videos in 50 days!   The Best Books of 2025 (so far) |    • The Best Books of 2025 (so far)   5 historical fiction books you've probably never heard of |    • 5 historical fiction books you've probably...   Amuse me in my inbox - rachelle.e.swearingen (at) gmail.com Befriend me on Goodreads -  / shelly-swearingen   Drop by on Instagram - Shellyish FTC disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of the links.