As you can see I feel the awards are valuable to give me a good overview of what’s good. And even with all these various awards I follow I know I still miss out on great reads. But, we all do no matter how we choose our reading pleasure.

Of course, in reading all these I have found authors that I read whether nominated or not. Because something has been nominated for an award it “forces” me to read new or different authors that I would never have picked up otherwise. (You are an example of that Justine. Without your win of the Andre Norton award I never would have read your Magic or Madness series. Which I am so glad I did – you see because it was so good it caused me to buy and read all three!) Sometimes this leads to an author I pray will never, ever be nominated again, other times it opens me up to a great and glorious read. Which then – like a long chain of others I will add to my “must read” list. This means I am never at a loss for something to read! I have a broad reading in the SF/F world and I have found authors I have enjoyed (and others I have hated!). But each book, whether an author I consider an old friend or completely new to me can be a revelation.

Also, I don’t know if the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list counts as a prize, but I’m trying to make my way eventually through that, too (Finnegans Wake…*shudder*).

1. I am a died-in-the-wool geek with her own plushy chthulu and custom velvet dice bag.

2. They are excellent value: as good as a Trina Shart Hyman cover for predicting hours-o-reading fun

3. I’m supposed to be the local go-to-gal for YA SF&F and they keep me honest.

I have been paying much closer attention to the Hugo Award since I started reading so many short stories, including science fiction, this year.

Seeing which books are nominated for Hugos and other major sf awards sometimes induces me to put something on my mental list of stuff I should read (Brasyl and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union being the big ones this year), but it doesn’t usually cause me to go rushing out to the bookstore immediately.

Being a huge fan of YA, I also try to read Newbery award nominees & winners.

I’ve never heard of the Cybils but I’m seeing them mentioned in your comments, I’ll have to check them out.

I should return to that Cybils awards activity (even though I know who won now). It was worthwhile.

I should return to that Cybils awards activity (even though I know who won now). It was a worthwhile activity.

I read Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union because it got FOUR awards (Hugo, Nebula, Sidewise, and Locus). Liked the book.

I think awards are particularly useful if you want to give a gift in a genre or category you don’t read yourself. I know my parents and grandparents automatically bought me any of the books that got the “griffel” awards for children’s books in the netherlands when I was yea high.

Why? Because I’ve never found that a book winning any particular award makes me noticeably more likely to enjoy it. And I have really disliked books that have won major awards. So I find it easier to stick to my ‘reading what sounds interesting based on what my trusted reader friends are saying about it’ strategy.