Kansas Notable Books

This posting has been cheerfully stolen from a posting to KanLib-L by Cindy Roupe:

On May 28 State Librarian Christie Brandau and Roy Bird, Director of the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas unveiled the 2009 Kansas Notable Books List. This fourth annual roll of honor includes fiction, nonfiction, adult and children’s books, each of which was published during 2009 and identified as outstanding for different reasons.

A committee of the KCFB identified the titles and submitted them to the State Librarian Christie Brandau, for the final decision. The 2009 Kansas Notable Book advisory committee included representatives from academic, public and school libraries, authors, booksellers, publishers, and the media. Press releases were sent out across the state to daily and weekly newspapers on May 28. The authors of the 15 Kansas Notable Books will be honored at a reception hosted by the State Library of Kansas later this summer.

Begun in 2005, with the first titles announced in 2006, the Kansas Notable Books List has quickly become a highly respected honor among the state’s writers. The project was singled out along with others in the citation for the Kansas Center’s 2008 Boorstin Center for the Book Award, the highest accolade a state center for the book can receive. Authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians have featured Notable Books in presentations, displays, and literary events around the state. Authors have appeared at many venues in the state as well. The summer 2009 issue of Kansas! magazine listed Kansas Notable Books as number 12 in their list of “13 Reasons We Love Kansas.”

The 2009 Notable Books List continues to raise awareness of writing by Kansans and about Kansas.

Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka, illustrated by David Craig

Artfully Done Across Generations: An Art Cookbook by Friends of the Wichita Art Museum

Burn by Kathleen Johnson

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth Bunce

The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots by Bob Gress and Pete Janzen

Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate by Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris

Kansas Opera Houses: Actors and Community Events 1855-1925 by Jane Glotfelty Rhoads

Making History: Quilts & Fabric From 1890-1970 by Barbara Brackman

Marco Polo Didn't Go There: Stories and Revelations From One Decade As A Postmodern Travel Writer by Rolf Potts

The Nature of Kansas Lands by Barbara Worster

A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir by Donald Worster

The Pizza Hut Story by Robert Spector

Seeding Civil War: Kansas in the National News, 1854-1858 by Craig Miner

Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests by Richard E. Wood