Rilla Askew’s KIND OF KIN was nominated for The Salt Lake County Library System semi-annual Reader’s Choice Award. The Salt Lake County Library System is the largest in Utah, serving over 650,000 residents, through 18 libraries. The book was published by Ecco on January 1, 2013.

Kishore Mahbubani has been long-listed for the Lionel Gelber Prize for his book THE GREAT CONVERGENCE: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World. William Thorsell, Jury Chair, says about the long-listed books: “These are books of striking originality and insight...Readers seeking to better comprehend the roots and course of our international system will be deeply indebted to these authors.” PublicAffairs published the book on February 5, 2013.

The February issue of Los Angeles magazine features a profile of novelist Kem Nunn. The book was also selected by Amazon as one of the Best Books for February 2014. His new novel, CHANCE will be published by Scribner on February 18, 2014.

AMERICAN ROMANTIC, the new novel by Ward Just, was reviewed in the February 1, 2014 issue of Kirkus Reviews. The review praises the “beautifully descriptive story” and calls the book “Another brilliant novel from Just: wise, introspective and full of humanity.” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish the book on April 1, 2014.

Robert Hilburn’s JOHNNY CASH: The Life is one of the winning non-fiction titles on the 2014 Notable Books List from Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association. The list is an annual literary award that identifies outstanding and noteworthy fiction, nonfiction and poetry for adult readers. We’re pleased to report that has been included. Little, Brown and Company published the book on October 29, 2013.

During its Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, The American Library Association made Max Barry’s book is a recipient of the Alex Award for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences. Penguin Press published the book on June 18, 2013.

Diane Johnson was interviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday about her new memoir, FLYOVER LIVES. Viking published the book on January 16, 2014.

Ismet Prcic’s “Imperial Dreams,” a feature film co-written with Matt Vitthal about an ex-con trying to reconnect with his son, won the Best of Next audience award at Sundance Film Festival. Prcic’s award-winning novel SHARDS was published by Grove Atlantic on October 4, 2011.

Seamus Blackley has played in a jazz quartet, operated a commercial recording studio, been a teaching and research fellow at the Fermi National Accelerator laboratory, designed aerobatic aircraft, produced and designed award winning video games, collaborated with Steven Spielberg, invented the Xbox, co-founded entertainment finance firms, and headed the videogames division of CAA. Now he works as president and co-founder of Innovative Leisure, Inc.