323. North Carolina

National Book Awards (Non-Fiction) Shortlist: Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom by Camonghne Felix (2026) vs Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming by Abdelrahman ElGendy (2026)

National Book Award (Fiction) Shortlist: Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi (2026) vs Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli (2026)

The French Illusion: A Novel by John Grisham (2026)

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (1974) vs The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (1989)

The Case of Cem by Vera Mutafchieva (1996, translated in 2024) vs Turkish Embassy Letters by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1763)

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler (1995) vs The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009)

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (1997) vs The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (1968)

Wilmington's Lie by David Zucchino (2020) vs Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2000)

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (1957) vs A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (1980)

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan Slaght (2020)