Notable Books
About
The Notable Books List evolved from an activity sponsored by the Lending Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1944. Since then, the selection of a list of notable or outstanding books of the year has been carried out in a variety of ways, and under various auspices. For three years, the selection was known as Outstanding Books, and was prepared by the ALA Lending Section, with the assistance of membership votes. In 1947, the Division of Public Libraries assumed responsibility of producing the list, changing the name to Notable Books. In 1955, the Notable Books Committee was expanded to become a 12-member Council, and in 1958 was transferred to the Adult Services Division. In 1959, the RASD Board of Directors adopted a statement of purpose and a list of criteria for Notable Books. These documents codified the characteristic philosophy and methodology of Notable Books and remain guiding principles today. In 1966, the Council began a reconsideration of the purposes and procedures of the selection of the Notable Books, the first step being revision of the Manual. With the merger of RSD and ASD in 1972, the Notable Books Council became a committee of the Reference and Adult Services Division. (Condensed and updated from "The Notable Books Project, 1044-55; Summary by S. Janice Kee, prepared January 1956.")
The operations of the Council have undergone subtle changes during the 1990's. Meetings are now limited to regular ALA conference dates; the 12-member Council no longer relies upon participating libraries for input; a publicity subcommittee has been established in order to further recognition and use of the Notable Book designation; and, Literary Tastes: A Notable Books Breakfast has become an annual event at summer conference. The Council enjoys enthusiastic support of most major publishers in providing review copies of books for Council members and in providing expenses for authors invited to participate in the breakfasts.
In 1991 the Notable Books Council came under the aegis of Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) following the restructuring of RASD (now RUSA). The Council reports to the Chair of CODES rather than directly to the Division President or RUSA Executive Director.
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Details
Frequency: Annual
Award Information
Title | Year | |
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Something Happened
1975 - Honor(s) The cruelty and ineffectiveness of modern personal and business relationships are mercilessly exposed in a novel of humor and despair. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Le Temps Incertain
1975 - Honor(s) Exploration of past time by a scientist of the twenty-first century is the subject of this original science fiction novel. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der arme Heinrich Rosenkranz
1975 - Honor(s) A popular fiction writer links a colorful group of small-town characters with the haunted fate of a guilty man. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Vi scrivo da un carcere in Grecia
1975 - Honor(s) Bilingual (Italian-Greek) collection of lyric poetry written by a political prisoner while incarcerated in Greece. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
1975 - Honor(s) Humanistic essays which speculate on the implications of modern microbiology. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Un Profil Perdu
1975 - Honor(s) The heroine of Sagan's latest novel is a young woman who turns to a successful businessman much older than herself to solve her martial problems... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der wisse Rabe
1975 - Honor(s) a novel about the adventures of a Hungarian gypsy girl during the first half of the nineteenth century, by the swiss author, known through her... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Si fa cosi
1975 - Honor(s) a new cookbook by thee author of the perennially popular Annabella in Cucina (Milano, Rizzoli, 1964). |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Whistler: a Biography
1975 - Honor(s) A revealing portrait of an outrageous Victorian whose contributions to art were ironically overshadowed by his contentious character. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Die tanzende de Torin
1975 - Honor(s) A significant work of German expressionism tells of an artistic young woman and her efforts to distinguish between illusion and reality. Reprinted from a 1913... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Il villino
1975 - Honor(s) Novel of the difficulties and frustrations faced by the working and lower-middle classes living under a Fascist regime. First published in 1946. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Watership Down
1975 - Honor(s) Bravery, treachery, tradition, and vivid personalities enliven this tale of a group of rabbits escaping from danger. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Heureux les Corrompus
1975 - Honor(s) The murder of an insignificant young man of dubious morals sets in motion an intensive police investigations in this gripping novel portraying corruption in high... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Ein Spatz in der Hand
1975 - Honor(s) Five story-like sketches analyze people from different social and cultural environments during periods of personal struggle and decision. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La morte del fiume
1975 - Honor(s) After a long absence, the protagonist of this novel returns to his now stagnating, polluted hometown and reminisces about life under the Fascists. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Muscle and Blood
1975 - Honor(s) A devastating documentary of the hidden horror of industrial slaughter in America caused by new technologies extracting dollars at the expense of the worker. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
L'elegant
1975 - Honor(s) A veteran writer has turned out a perceptive and humorous, albeit slang-filled novel about a convict just released from prison. Fredo l'elegant undertakes to find... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Schon sagenhaft. Zeit meines Vaters.
1975 - Honor(s) In a simple, civilized voice the author recalls the image of his father and recreates the cultural and social environment of a middle-class family in... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Working: People Talk About What they Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
1975 - Honor(s) Alive with humor and honesty, these interviews reveal much of the psychology behind the American work ethic. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Ich bin O.K. Du bist O.K.
1975 - Honor(s) A Texas psychiatrist draws from 25 years of experience to give practical advice about breakdowns in human communication. Translated from the American bestseller I'm OK, ... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La citta nel sogno
1975 - Honor(s) A young couple huddles in a bedroom with their newborn child while an orgiastic Walpurgis Night swirls in the city around them. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Aldous Huxley: a Biography
1975 - Honor(s) Interpretation of the life and works of the 20th-century English novelist, by an intimate friend and fellow novelist.
|
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Tout l'or du Diable
1975 - Honor(s) Competent journalistic account of the complex Middle-East situation in which oil, "l'or du diable", or "devil's gold", has become such an important factor. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Zwolf Versuche
1975 - Honor(s) Twelve prominent Germans from different centuries come alive in a talented representation by a fine contemporary historian. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Il Greco
1975 - Honor(s) Novel of a fabulously wealthy Greek magnate and the jet-set society in which he moves. Originally published in French under the title Le Grec and... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Noise in the Trees: Poems and a Memoir
1975 - Honor(s) Lyrics in precise language and a memoir in crisp prose by a young, original talent who has a deep reverence for the natural world. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Le Moscovite
1975 - Honor(s) In this historical novel about Napoleon's invasion of Russia a young Frenchman reared in Russia finds himself drawn., through a liaison with a French actress... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Landschaften und Erzahlungen
1975 - Honor(s) A representative selection from almost four decades of Tumler's fictional writing. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An inquiriy into Valves
1975 - Honor(s) The twilight world of mental illness is explored in this real-life odyssey of the author and his son. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Beurteilung Fur Hauptmann Brencken.
1975 - Honor(s) The fictionalized intimate affairs and professional career of a German officer after World War II. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Riservato a Mussolini
1975 - Honor(s) Daily confidential accounts regarding conditions in the country and the minds of the people as furnished by members of the Republican National Guard for Mussolini... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
All God's Dangers: the Life of Nate Shaw
1975 - Honor(s) A remarkable oral history of a black sharecropper whose spirit remained unbroken through a long and difficult life. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
L'amour Guepe
1975 - Honor(s) A village in eastern France provides the setting for the tumultuous love affair between the local catelain and a young married woman in a novel... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Daniel
1975 - Honor(s) The development of a young musician is the central concern of a novel which describes a Jewish family during the first three decades of the... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Il campiello
1975 - Honor(s) First-person narrative of treason, tragedy and passion by an impoverished noble-man in a flood-threatened Venice. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson
1975 - Honor(s) A sympathetic picture of the much vilified Loyalist governor of Massachusetts at the time of the American Revolution. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Val de Loire: Chateaux
1975 - Honor(s) A fine, pocket-sized, the inexpensive guide to the chateaux of the Loire Valley, with helpful supplementary information on hotels, restaurants, and other aspects of the... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Komm auf die Schaukel
1975 - Honor(s) The well-liked Viennese actress recalls her personal life and film career. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Le Jockey
1975 - Honor(s) A former drug peddler, now in hiding from his former associates, tells the story of his participation in the drug traffic between Paris and Montreal... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Die Amerikanische Tochter
1975 - Honor(s) Poems, essays, radio plays, film scripts nd short stories by a talented politically involved German author who is achieving literary recognition. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
L'oro delle tigri
1975 - Honor(s) Poetry by one of the finest writers in Latin America. Originally published in Spanish under the title El Oro de los Tigres (Buenos Aires, Emece... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
All the President's Men
1975 - Honor(s) Two young Washington Post reporters' suspenseful account of their investigation of the Watergate scandal. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La Poudriere
1975 - Honor(s) Boileau-Narcejac are the actual authors of this pastiche of Maurice Leblanc;s novels about the gentleman criminal, Arsene Lupin. The present story is a good imitation... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Aufstieg und Untergang der Insel Delfina
1975 - Honor(s) An imaginatively conceived adventure novel depicts people and events shaping the colorful history of a Caribbean island during the course of 300 years. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Johanna della foresta
1975 - Honor(s) A romantic, fable-like novel of a starry-eyed young girl who finds herself in a deep forest with a group of lonely woodsmen. First published in... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Paine
1975 - Honor(s) Candid, knowledgeable biography of the incredibly diverse, brilliant propagandist and revolutionary idealist. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
William's Ex-Casino
1975 - Honor(s) Tragedy and adventure in the life of a middle-aged man vacationing on the French Riviera are the ingredients of an entertaining social satire. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Fruhstuck fur starke Manner
1975 - Honor(s) A satirical novel about the moral and spiritual chaos in contemporary American life. Translation of Breakfast of Champions. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La Cuisse de Jupiter
1975 - Honor(s) Journal kept by a newspaper publisher and discovered after his death serves as the vehicle for an absorbing fictional account of personal crises in the... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Die Erschiessung des Hundchens Fiffi und andere Erlebnisse
1975 - Honor(s) Autobiographical tales filled with quiet humor recall family and village events from the author's youth and the disturbing outbreak of World War I. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La Carriera di Pimlico
1975 - Honor(s) To everyone's surprise, Pimlico, sired by a purebred race-winning stallion and an equally illustrious mare, is a complete failure on the track. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Ascent of Man
1975 - Honor(s) A stunningly illustrated study of man's biological uniqueness, his mysterious origins, and his imaginative steps toward understanding what he is. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Ce Que J'Ose Dire
1975 - Honor(s) The memoirs of a famous actress of the Comedie Francaise who had a well-filled sentimental life, including the distinction o having been the last mistress... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Helle tape Anderswo. Reisebilder.
1975 - Honor(s) Short, poetic recollections of memorable moments while journeying through Italy, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal, and Austria. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Sii bella, sii triste
1975 - Honor(s) The tragic, psychological story of a neurotic journalist whose hermit life existence is shattered by the intrusion of a sentimental but extroverted young woman. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Palace Guard
1975 - Honor(s) Two television newsmen study Nixon's White House staff from early dedication through growth of power, to Watergate. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Ein Mund voll Gluck
1975 - Honor(s) A humorous novel describes love and its complications in the life of a young dentist in contemporary Munich. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der Sturz
1975 - Honor(s) Novel of a sensitive middle-class man trying to come to terms with the brutal laws of contemporary European Society. Third part of the Kristlein Trilogy. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Case Worker
1975 - Honor(s) A social worker in Budapest tells how the unbearable and shocking lives of his clients affect his own life. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
L'acteur
1975 - Honor(s) All the necessary ingredients for a best seller are present in this novel about the career of an ambitious young French actor, his meteoric rise... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Gedichte und Lieder
1975 - Honor(s) Older readers will rejoice in rediscovering songs and verses from their childhood and school days in this selection of poems. Published for the first time... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Alessandro
1975 - Honor(s) Well-documented presentation of a series of events in the life of Alexander the Great based on original diaries and letters. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Behold Man: a Photographic Journey of Discovery Inside the Body
1975 - Honor(s) Human physiology enhanced with extraordinary photographs which show minute portions of the body magnified up to 20,000 times. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Le Pensionnaire
1975 - Honor(s) In a series of sketches the author has succed admirably in re-creating his life as a schooboy in pre-ware provinical France. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Bei Schwebendem Verfahren
1975 - Honor(s) A satirical novel of personal despair and general confusion within a tightly conceived bureaucratic system. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Un prato di papaveri
1975 - Honor(s) Diary by a most versatile writer of the years 1947-1964 gives a broad picture of culture and politics in Italy. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
1975 - Honor(s) Sensitive journal of a year's observations of the beauty and violence of nature. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Die Geschichte des Daniel
1975 - Honor(s) Daniel Chodowiecki, famous eighteenth-century engraver and book illustrator, profiled in an instructive and entertaining description of his life and environment. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Racconti di vent'anni
1975 - Honor(s) A collection of short stories ranging from the fantastic to the mundane by one of the Italy's greatest storytellers. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Dog Soldiers
1975 - Honor(s) In Saigon during the waning days of the Vietnam War, a small-time journalist named John Converse thinks he'll find action - and profit - by... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Tire-toi, tendresse
1975 - Honor(s) First novel, written in a decipherable argot by a promising young actor, about another young man whose career takes quite a differen turn and ends... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Orte
1975 - Honor(s) Houses, streets, cities and countries appear in a colorful light through an artistic vision of poetic sense and refreshing vitality. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Come donna, zero
1975 - Honor(s) A young housewife and part-time career woman gives a humorous account of the domestic problems of her married life. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Between Me and Life: a Biography of Romaine Brooks
1975 - Honor(s) The triumphant story of an American woman who overcame a dark, Victorian childhood and the social restrictions of her time to become an artist of... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Les Defendre Tous
1975 - Honor(s) A prestigious defense attorney relates the interesting cases of his long career which included his defense of Pierre Laval, among others. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Pilzomelett
1975 - Honor(s) The young East German write known for his poetry, drama, and fiction demonstrates his talent with a new collection of his intriguingly clever short stories. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Arcipelago Gulag
1975 - Honor(s) Life in Soviet prison camps as recounted by the Nobel Prize winner. Translated from the Russian Archipelag GULag. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Plain Speaking: an Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman
1975 - Honor(s) Conversations with HST which expertly re-create his impudent, refreshing personality and charater. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Die Provinz des Menschen
1975 - Honor(s) The Bulgarian-born novelist, dramatist, an essayist who lives and works in Austria offers a book of insight and wisdom. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Cinque bombe per l'Imperatore
1975 - Honor(s) Historical novel of Felici Orsini, who attempted to assassinate Napoleon III, believing him responsible for Italy's lack of independence, and was put to death for... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Invisible Cities
1975 - Honor(s) Fantasy and philosophy merge in a prophetic work about an empire whose cities grow from heroic dreams to gargantuan nightmares. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Comment on Devient Dali
1975 - Honor(s) The unusual memoirs of one of the most unusual personalities of the century, self-declared and considered a genius by some, regarded as an egomaniac without... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Mein Pferd und ich
1975 - Honor(s) The popular writer of a sizzling entertainment presents a new thriller from the competitive world fo fast horses and beautiful women. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La donna immortale
1975 - Honor(s) Novel of fantasy and the fantastic- a melange of occultism, yoga, and hallucinations. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The European Discovery of America: the Southern Voyages, A.D. 1492-1616
1975 - Honor(s) This sweeping narrative recaptures in sparkling prose the adventures of Columbus, Magellan, Drake, and other explorers of their time. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Le Kief
1975 - Honor(s) Drugs, the arms traffic, and foreign intrigue are the principal ingredients in this well-constructed novel which focuses on a group of Europeans in New Delhi... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Sonderbare Begegnungen
1975 - Honor(s) Famous people and historical events from different periods are interwoven in fantastic and meaningful tales. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Alessandra
1975 - Honor(s) An intensely romantic story of love and death evolves when a lovely woman from the shadowy past of a "lone wolf" reenters his life. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
1975 - Honor(s) A strong indictment of a non-elected official who controlled New York's public works for almost 40 years. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der Blaue Vogel
1975 - Honor(s) The lives of three young women on a country estate in norther Germany after World War II are described in a popular novel. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Dentro le mura
1975 - Honor(s) Five short stories of life in Ferrara by one of Italy's most widely read and translated authors. This collection is part one of Il Romanzo... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Memory of Old Jack
1975 - Honor(s) The testament of a simple man whose love of the land nourishes and sustains him for 92 years. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
500,000 Noirs Marrons
1975 - Honor(s) Featured in a second, rollicking novel, the irrepressible Mortimer E. Mortimer, Colorful ex-CIA agent, frustrates a sinister plot by a band of mercenaries to take... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Mein Pferd und ich
1975 - Honor(s) The popular writer of a sizzling entertainment presents a new thriller from the competitive world of fast horses and beautiful women. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Serpico
1975 - Honor(s) True story of the officer who dared expose corruption in the New York City Police Department . Translated from the English of the same title. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Executive Privilege: a Constitutional Myth
1975 - Honor(s) The existence of executive privilege as invoked by U.S. presidents is strongly denied in this perceptive and thoroughly researched analysis. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Ma Vie et Mes Films
1975 - Honor(s) The famous director of such films as La Grande Illusion and La Regle du Jeu gives a fascinating account of his career and of numerous... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der alphabetische Herr
1975 - Honor(s) Rules for gentlemanly conduct appear in short prose pieces alphabetically arranged and humorously illustrated. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Dove tornare
1975 - Honor(s) After a short stay in Czechoslovakia during Dubeck's liberalized regime, a young Italian author writes a letter to his Czech girl friend trying to explain... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Roll, Jordan, Roll: the World the Slaves Made
1975 - Honor(s) Penetrating reassessment of the paternalistic culture in the antebellum South. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der Honorarkonsul
1975 - Honor(s) Set against the diplomatic and political uproar in contemporary Paraguay, this fast moving novel deals with the unfortunate marriage of an elderly gentleman. Translation of... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Rosso al vento
1975 - Honor(s) During the last hectic days of the Second World War, a young man leaves Rome to search northward through the ruins of the country for... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Old Woman
1975 - Honor(s) A "liberated" woman breaks away from the love of a perfectionist grandmother, a domineering lover, and a demanding friend to find freedom alone. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Un Mendecin dans la Nuit
1975 - Honor(s) A novel about the life and career of a handsome young doctor, with all the extendant developments in the areas of sex and medical ethics... |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Der Mann im Bahnwarterhaus
1975 - Honor(s) The last book of the well-known novelist tells about the meditative life an author is able to regain after retreating into a deserted signalman's box. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
La storia
1975 - Honor(s) The tremendously popular novel of World War II and its aftermath in the Rome which has stirred so much interest in the Italian reading public. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
The Fearful Void
1975 - Honor(s) A journey through the desert reveals as much of the writer's inner landscape as it does of the Sahara. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Tino
1975 - Honor(s) A popular singer from Corsica, WHO attained an immense popularity in France during the thirties, tells some of the highlights of his career. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Spatzeit
1975 - Honor(s) A master of literary interpretation concerns himself with 200 years of German literature and discusses authors as far apart as Goethe and Gottfried Benn. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
I Romanzi
1975 - Honor(s) Reprint of five novels by one of Italy's foremost authors, who died in 1920. Includes a long critical essay on his work. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Sir Walter Raleigh
1975 - Honor(s) An authentic Elizabethan - poet, adventurer, failed politician - is portrayed in this smoothly paced biography. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Gerufen und nicht gerufen
1975 - Honor(s) A novel of social developments and changing personal destinies takes place in Zurich during two decades following the Second World War. |
1975 - Honor(s) | |
Oh, Serafina
1975 - Honor(s) A strange fable of ecology, a lunatic asylum, and love. |
1975 - Honor(s) |