Los Angeles Times Book PrizeCurrent Interest

Given by Los Angeles Times

Other Names: LA Times Book Prize
183 Works 0 Books
The Los Angeles Times has awarded a set of book prizes annually since 1980. Eligibility for the prizes requires a book to have its first United States publication between January 1 and December 31 show more of any given year. This American publication must be in English; however, English does not have to be the original language of the work. Authors may be of any nationality. They should be alive at the time of their book’s qualifying U.S. publication although eligibility is also extended to significant new translations of the work of deceased writers. Books by current employees of the Los Angeles Times, by current employees of Tribune Company or any of its other affiliates, by currently serving judges of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, or by immediate family members of these groups are not eligible. show less
Stages:
All, Winner (366), Finalist (1,272)
Categories:
Years:
All, 2023 (5), 2022 (5), 2021 (5), 2020 (5), 2019 (5), 2018 (5), 2017 (5), 2016 (5), 2015 (5), 2014 (5), 2013 (5), 2012 (5), 2011 (5), 2010 (5), 2009 (5), 2008 (5), 2007 (5), 2006 (5), 2005 (5), 2004 (5), 2003 (5), 2002 (5), 2001 (5), 2000 (5), 1999 (5), 1998 (5), 1997 (5), 1996 (8), 1995 (5), 1994 (5), 1993 (5), 1992 (5), 1991 (5), 1990 (5), 1989 (1), 1988 (1), 1987 (1), 1986 (1), 1985 (1), 1984 (1), 1983 (1), 1982 (1), 1981 (1), 1980 (1)

Winner 44

WorkYear
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian2023
Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick2022
Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could by Adam Schiff2021
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson2020
Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration by Emily Bazelon2019
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú2018
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America by Nancy MacLean2017
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich2016
Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security by Sarah Chayes2015
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs2014
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink2013
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo2012
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman2011
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis2010
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers2009
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman2008
Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet2007
Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma2006
Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War by Anthony Shadid2005
Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War by Evan Wright2004
The New Chinese Empire: And What It Means For The United States by Ross Terrill2003
Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine2002
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich2001
Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold War by Frances FitzGerald2000
Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier1999
We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch1998
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman1997
Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War by Peter Maass1996
Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black by Gregory Howard Williams1995
Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger1994
Mexican Americans: The Ambivalent Minority by Peter Skerry1993
The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama1992
Why Americans Hate Politics by E. J. Dionne, Jr.1991
Disappearing Through the Skylight: Culture and Technology in the Twentieth Century by Jr. O. B. Hardison1990
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–63 by Taylor Branch1989
Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country by William Greider1988
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins1987
Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White by Joseph Lelyveld1986
Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life by Robert N. Bellah1985
Cities and the Wealth of Nations: Principles of Economic Life by Jane Jacobs1984
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy1983
The Fate of the Earth by Jonathan Schell1982
Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number by Jacobo Timerman1981
Without Fear or Favor: The New York Times and Its Times by Harrison E. Salisbury1980

Finalist 139

WorkYear
Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal by Bettina L. Love2023
American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 by Cameron McWhirter2023
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe2023
We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh2023
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy by Anand Giridharadas2022
They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent by Sarah Kendzior2022
The Storm Is Here: An American Crucible by Luke Mogelson2022
Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Dorothy Roberts2022
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott2021
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee2021
Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller2021
Wildland: The Making of America's Fury by Evan Osnos2021
A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett2020
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio2020
Waiting for an Echo: The Madness of American Incarceration by Christine Montross2020
Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff2020
The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California by Mark Arax2019
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow2019
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri2019
No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder2019
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou2018
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis2018
Becoming by Michelle Obama2018
The Library Book by Susan Orlean2018
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates2017
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr.2017
The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life by Lauren Markham2017
The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America by Rick Wartzman2017
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond2016
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer2016
City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlence2016
A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS by Robert F. Worth2016
Blue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American Policing by Joe Domanick2015
Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones2015
Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land by Sandy Tolan2015
How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy by Stephen Witt2015
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande2014
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson2014
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi2014
Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Héctor Tobar2014
Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel2013
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff2013
Manifest Injustice: The True Story of a Convicted Murderer and the Lawyers Who Fought for His Freedom by Barry Siegel2013
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright2013
Private Empire : Exxonmobil and American Power by Steve Coll2012
On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future by Karen Elliott House2012
Nature Wars: The Incredible Story of How Wildlife Comebacks Turned Backyards into Battlegrounds by Jim Sterba2012
The Outpost by Jake Tapper2012
Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything by David Bellos2011
El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency by Ioan Grillo2011
Pakistan: A Hard Country by Anatol Lieven2011
The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear by Seth Mnookin2011
The Promise: President Obama, Year One by Jonathan Alter2010
War by Sebastian Junger2010
All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis by Bethany McLean2010
Just Kids by Patti Smith2010
Columbine by Dave Cullen2009
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder2009
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof2009
The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T. R. Reid2009
The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century by Steve Coll2008
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins2008
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer2008
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor2008
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah2007
The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam (Vintage Departures) by Tom Bissell2007
The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America by Ronald Brownstein2007
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein2007
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley2006
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran2006
The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris by Alicia Drake2006
Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz2006
Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse by Steve Bogira2005
Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald2005
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr2005
Still Looking: Essays on American Art by John Updike2005
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong2004
Blue Blood by Edward Conlon2004
Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education by Michael Dirda2004
Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett2004
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer2003
Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11 by Gerald L. Posner2003
Cut Time: An Education at the Fights by Carlo Rotella2003
Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by Anthony Swofford2003
The New Killing Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention by Kira Brunner2002
Seeing in the dark by Timothy Ferris2002
Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips2002
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power2002
States of Denial: Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering by Stanley Cohen2001
The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued by Ann Crittenden2001
The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court by John W. Dean2001
Tom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore by Ron Powers2001
The Missionary and the Libertine: Love and War in East and West by Ian Buruma2000
The Mysteries Within by Sherwin B. Nuland2000
Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey Into the Heart of Cuban Sports by S.l. Price2000
Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon by Patrick Tierney2000
A Border Passage: From Cairo to America - A Woman's Journey by Leila Ahmed1999
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden1999
Chosen by God: A Brother's Journey by Joshua Hammer1999
An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton by Richard A. Posner1999
Cold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country (Modern Library Paperbacks) by William Finnegan1998
Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America by Cynthia Gorney1998
On the Outside Looking In: A Year in an Inner-City High School by Cristina Rathbone1998
American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth, and Memory by Russ Rymer1998
The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture by Daniel Harris1997
Race, Crime, and the Law by Randall Kennedy1997
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer1997
Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb by Bernard Lefkowitz1997
All God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence by Fox Butterfield1996
A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr1996
Moving Violations by John Hockenberry1996
Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris by Richard Kluger1996
Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk by Marc Parent1996
The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction by David Quammen1996
The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA by Evan Thomas1996
Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots by Nancy Abelmann1995
We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy by Jeffrey B. Abramson1995
Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps by Sara McLanahan1995
Beyond Individualism by Michael J. Piore1995
Original Intent & the Framers of the Constitution by Harry V. Jaffa1994
The Morning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism by Katie Roiphe1994
Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White by Brent Staples1994
The Moral Sense by James Q. Wilson1994
The Real Anita Hill by David Brock1993
Preparing for the Twenty-First Century by Paul Kennedy1993
African Laughter: Four Visits to Zimbabwe by Doris Lessing1993
Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military, Vietnam to the Persian Gulf by Randy Shilts1993
Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics by Thomas Byrne Edsall1992
Culture Wars: The Struggle To Control The Family, Art, Education, Law, And Politics In America by James Davison Hunter1992
The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto by Pico Iyer1992
Den of Thieves by James B. Stewart1992
The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power, and the Pursuit of Office by Alan Ehrenhalt1991
The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America by Nicholas Lemann1991
The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race In America by Shelby Steele1991
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergin1991
The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966 by Rick Atkinson1990
Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Huizdala by Václav Havel1990
My Traitor's Heart: A South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience by Rian Malan1990
The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath by Kevin P. Phillips1990

Descriptions

The Los Angeles Times has awarded a set of book prizes annually since 1980. Eligibility for the prizes requires a book to have its first United States publication between January 1 and December 31 of any given year. This American publication must be in English; however, English does not have to be the original language of the work. Authors may be of any nationality. They should be alive at the time of their book’s qualifying U.S. publication although eligibility is also extended to significant new translations of the work of deceased writers. Books by current employees of the Los Angeles Times, by current employees of Tribune Company or any of its other affiliates, by currently serving judges of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, or by immediate family members of these groups are not eligible. (English, Member-written)
This year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prizes honored outstanding literary achievement in nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction, history, mystery/thriller, poetry, science and technology, and young adult fiction. Each winner receives a $1,000 cash award. (English, Member-written)

Tags

20th century(548) adventure(781) Africa(1,146) American history(1,098) audiobook(792) autobiography(1,339) biography(2,604) biology(632) business(868) crime(718) current affairs(518) current events(566) ebook(967) economics(2,410) Everest(651) evolution(1,052) fiction(585) finance(542) genocide(645) goodreads(608) history(6,557) Hurricane Katrina(527) India(563) Iraq(625) journalism(1,030) Kindle(1,048) law(527) library(510) medicine(967) memoir(4,271) military(862) mountaineering(696) non-fiction(20,599) own(686) philosophy(586) politics(3,859) poverty(1,248) psychology(1,385) race(623) racism(553) read(2,062) religion(1,624) science(1,894) social justice(616) sociology(1,925) to-read(15,770) true crime(1,076) unread(841) usa(1,588) war(1,543)

Top Members

alo1224 (91 works), KelMunger (69), RLNunezKPL (69), BigTony (66), e-zReader (64), erohwedd (62), mffowler (62), Shinanoki (61), ThufirHawat (58), lafstaff (57), mcountr (55), benitastrnad (53), emaestra (52), LoriAnnK (52), Chatterbox (51), PeskyLibrary (50), jkellner (49), sethstern (49), kamintra (48), rivkat (48), casey2962 (44), benruth (43), Lemeritus (42), nate48281 (42), dvnmng (41), fledglingphoenix (41), Olivert12000 (41), aabdelrahmanm (40), Kaethe (40), meyerson (40), ShanLand (40), kageeh (39), rothwell (39), Steve_Walker (39), Adolf_Ledesma (38), mportley (38), Robert_Musil (38), augustgarage (37), LunaSlashSea (37), SoschaF (37), Yardape (37), azimrin (36), Citizenjoyce (36), HadriantheBlind (36), LamSon (36), Markober (36), ringthebell (36), settingshadow (36), unlikely (36), bujeya (35), FatimaElf (35), FlaglerBeachLibrary (35), hivetrick (35), jasbro (35), JeremyBrashaw (35), Jestak (35), paarth7 (35), SoutheastMBLibrary (35), SWade0126 (35), TJ0513 (35), arubabookwoman (34), bookmountain (34), bsuff (34), buffygurl (34), cacraig (34), kristiederuiter (34), kylerhea (34), claytonhowl (33), Dan_Park (33), drmom62 (33), Foulkeways (33), hatingongodot (33), jsewvello (33), nfulks32 (33), noiseguy (33), tomhed (33), tusiani (33), aimg (32), altonmann (32), auntieannie (32), etbm2003 (32), HarvReviewer (32), hubcapiv (32), LadyDita (32), lcdlover (32), nfactor13 (32), bganser (31), bltjna11 (31), Bookish59 (31), booksatasteal (31), bridgitshearth (31), joedoone (31), jonmower (31), jwagensveld (31), KrisR (31), megansbooklist (31), NafizaBMC (31), reecejones (31), revliz (31), Sandydog1 (31), uscer (31), WestBranch (31), AKBouterse (30), alaskabookworm (30), BubusJackson (30), claire.rivers (30), ltcl (30), MadLudwig (30), teenybeanie25 (30), theodarling (30), ts3155 (30), Coltime (29), eandino2012 (29), FurfuralAndVanillin (29), gbelik (29), GrettelTBR (29), j.a.lesen (29), MDGentleReader (29), moorho01 (29), richorlin (29), Schmerguls (29), shea0017 (29), alrajul (28), anirudhgarg100 (28), atheist_goat (28), atortorice001 (28), bragan (28), DebbyeC (28), Dureo (28), ecw0647 (28), featherbear (28), Frasp (28), gb24 (28), IraSchor (28), jetpackman1000 (28), jgmencarini (28), Jill.Mackin (28), lbelecki (28), lquilter (28), michaelg16 (28), MylesKesten (28), Nrg8000 (28), nytbestsellers (28), SleepySheep (28), thewordygecko (28), top19 (28), AzureMountain (27), Bodoni (27), CarlyleAddy (27), Caroline_McElwee (27), darwin.8u (27), FrankJLucatelli (27), JSWBooks (27), leah_markum (27), Lisa_Francine (27), melkor1917 (27), qebo (27), stevesmits (27), weird_O (27), Whisper1 (27)