Annual People's Choice Awards
The Library of Virginia established the People's Choice Awards in 2004 to give readers an opportunity to share their enthusiasm for favorite works by Virginia authors and on Virginia topics. Finalists for the People's Choice Awards are selected from the books nominated for the annual Virginia Literary Awards. The People's Choice winners are selected by readers through a secure online voting portal. Voting has closed for the 2024 awards.
The 2023 winners for the People's Choice Awards were “ Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver for the fiction category and “ Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, The Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire” by Jonathan M. Katz in the nonfiction category.
The 2024 fiction finalists for the People's Choice Awards are:
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| David Baldacci | Simply Lies |
| Rachel Beanland | The House Is On Fire |
| WINNER: Martin Clark | The Plinko Bounce |
| Alix E. Harrow | Starling House |
| Sadeqa Johnson | The House of Eve |
| Angie Kim | Happiness Falls |
The 2024 nonfiction finalists for the People's Choice Awards are:
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| (Maj. Gen.) Mari K. Eder | The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country’s First Female Investigator and Her Crime Fighting Squad |
| Drew Gilpin Faust | Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury |
| Russ Ford | Crossing the River Styx: The Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain |
| Cassandra A. Good | First Family: George Washington's Heirs and the Making of America |
| WINNER: Sheila Johnson | Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph |
| Dean King | Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite |
| Rachel Jamison Webster | Benjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family |
