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Holiday Cheer 2011

At Bookreporter.com, we've been celebrating the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, we've been spotlighting a book and give five lucky readers a chance to win it.

Although the contests have ended, we encourage you to take a look at this year's featured titles. These are books you'll want to read during the holidays --- and throughout the year as well!

Hillary Jordan, author of When She Woke

WHEN SHE WOKE is a fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future --- where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

October 2011

Hillary Jordan’s debut novel, MUDBOUND, won a number of prizes and became a reader favorite for its honest portrayal of a family struggling to make ends meet on its Mississippi Delta farm during the 1940s. The topic of WHEN SHE WOKE couldn’t be much more of a 180, as it’s a dystopian novel set in the not-too-distant future where criminals are referred to as Chromes. The skin color of all Chromes is dyed to reflect their crime. At the start of the sentence, their jail time is continuously filmed in a reality show kind of format, and their actions are broadcast nationwide. Once released from their original sentence, they remain dyed, and their skin tones define them and keep them ostracized from the general public. It’s chilling and haunting and a brilliant social commentary.

Great Choices for Book Lovers 2011

Fiction and Nonfiction Highlights

Got someone on your list who loves great fiction and nonfiction reads? Our "Great Choices for Book Lovers" category is bound to give you some ideas for what to get the avid reader(s) in your life.