本の雑誌 (Book Magazine) listed it as their top pick for the best books of the first half of 2018, and the magazine’s review panel was surprised that it hadn’t even been nominated for the Naoki Prize (having read the winner, 宝島, I am not at all surprised-the two books are on a completely different level). I think「そして、バトンが渡された」(And then the baton was passed) by 瀬尾まいこ (Maiko Seo) has a good chance of winning, given the enthusiastic response in newspaper reviews. For that reason, it’s always intriguing to see what is chosen, even if it’s not my favorite. Unlike the Akutagawa and Naoki awards-in fact, most other literary awards-this award is based on the votes of booksellers around the country and is as close as we can get to an award given by ordinary readers (some bookstores even had charts up letting readers vote for their favorite). I read those nominated books that appealed most to me (I wrote a brief summary of each of the 10 books nominated here). The winner of the 2019 Booksellers Award will be announced at 7pm on April 9 in Japan. The distant second-place winner was 「ひと」, with 297.5 points. Note: A few hours after I published this post, the winner was announced and it was indeed「そして、バトンが渡された」-an overwhelming favorite, with 435 points.

Shion force of will