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11 books nominated for literary awards in 2020

One of the prompts for the 2020 Reading Challenge is “read a book nominated for an award in 2020.” But readers have lots of questions about literary awards. How many awards are there, who picks the winners, and what do those awards even mean? And if award-winning books are so great, why is actually reading them too often an underwhelming experience?

If you’ve asked yourself any of these questions, you’re not alone. In a recent podcast episode, What Should I Read Next guest Grettel Castro and I discuss literary awards more in depth, and address these dilemmas, in Episode 251 (“I love books and books love me back“), circling back to the idea that just because a book is highly acclaimed doesn’t mean it’s the right book for you.

While it’s exciting to track the awards and pick up the nominees and winners, there are now so many literary awards that sorting through the many lists can be tricky, if not downright overwhelming. But once you know what some of the literary awards mean, and which ones to watch for your own reading life, they may help you discover books you wouldn’t have read otherwise, or serve as a useful way to narrow down a long list of library holds.

To assist you in your own readerly challenge, today we’re sharing overviews of seven noteworthy literary awards. We’ve linked to each award’s home base so that you can browse current or past nominees.

Think of this post and book list as a companion to this previously published quick overview of 11 important literary awards, and pop over to that post for more about how awards work and what kinds of books they include.

Aspen Words

The Aspen Words foundation is a literary center in Denver, CO. They host writing festivals, hold classes for student writers, and form a committee to determine the best works of contemporary literature for their prize each year. This year the jury includes authors Emily Bernard and Viet Thanh Nguyen. The Aspen Words literary prize is “a $35,000 annual award for an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.”

International Dublin Literary Award

This award, sponsored by the Dublin City Council, is presented for a novel written in English or translated into English. Libraries from around the world submit nominations, and the Dublin City Libraries run the selection process. Winners are announced as part of the International Literature Festival in Dublin.

Lambda Literary

For 32 years, the “Lammys” have celebrated the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books. Unlike many awards in which publishers submit nominations, the Lambda Literary Foundation allows authors to directly submit their work. Books are judged based on both literary merit and relevant LGBTQ content. The 2020 winners have already been announced.

National Translation Award

This award goes to literary translators of poetry and prose who have done the best job of “masterfully recreating the artistic force of a book of consummate quality.” Both the translation and the original work get judged; this is the only translation award to do so.

Nebula Awards

These awards are voted on and presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The ceremony takes place as part of the Nebula Conference, which also features panels and community-building events for sci-fi and fantasy writers. This award dates back to 1965. Browse past Nebula winners here.

Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Literature gets awarded to an author for their overall body of work rather than one specific book. Past winners include Kazuo Ishiguro, Bob Dylan, Alice Munro, and Toni Morrison. I’m eagerly awaiting the 2020 announcement, coming October 8.

Women’s Prize for Fiction

2020 marks 25 years of the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction, and they’re celebrating with a public vote for the overall favorite from all past winners. Each year, this award goes to the best full length fiction novel by a woman author. Past winners include The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.

To help you get some more ideas for this category, today I’m sharing 11 books I’ve read and loved that are nominated for, or have already won, literary awards this year. With a mix of mystery, literary fiction, and Young Adult literature, this list features a variety of books to choose from.

Please tell us what you’re reading for this category in the comments section below. Which literary awards do you pay attention to? Is there a nomination or winner you’re excited about? We’d love to hear.

11 books nominated for literary awards in 2020

11 highly-acclaimed books to read

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Deacon King Kong

Deacon King Kong

Author:
Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for fiction. The story begins with a shooting: it's 1969, in the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn; a beloved drunk deacon named Sportcoat wanders into the courtyard and shoots the drug dealer he'd once treated like a son point-blank, in front of everyone. After this jolting beginning, McBride zooms out to show the reader how this violent act came to take place, exploring the lives of the shooter and the victim, the victim's bumbling friends, the residents who witnessed it, the neighbors who heard about it, the cops assigned to investigate, the members of the church where Sportcoat was a deacon, the neighborhood's mobsters (and their families). All these people's lives overlap in ways that few understand in the beginning, and McBride's gentle teasing out of these unlikely but deeply meaningful connections—and the humor and warmth with which he does it—is what captured me. More info →
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How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir

Author:
Winner of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography. Jones's remarkable coming-of-age memoir about being a Black gay man from the South is told in a series of moments and scenes from his childhood through young adulthood. My husband Will cited this one as a favorite in What Should I Read Next Episode 214: Deconstructing your best reading year yet because of Jones's storytelling. Note: the audiobook, read by the author, is excellent. More info →
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Disoriental

Disoriental

Author:
Shortlisted for the 2020 Dublin Literary Award, plus a National Book Award finalist and Winner of the 2019 Albertine Prize and Lambda Literary Award (and countless others). At the age of ten, Kimiâ Sadr fled Iran with her mother and sisters to join their father in France. Now 25, Kimiâ sits in the waiting room of a Paris fertility clinic while generations of her ancestors visit her, flooding her with memories, history, and stories. Merging a sweeping family story with factual Iranian history, this semi-biographical novel explores cultural and sexual identity, family tradition, and storytelling as a means of finding oneself. More info →
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Hamnet

Hamnet

Winner of the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction. In her sweeping new novel, Maggie O’Farrell takes a few historically known facts about Shakespeare’s wife and family and, from this spare skeleton, builds out a lush, vivid world. You should know this book is devastating, and I consumed the better part of a box of Kleenex while reading it. Yet with its captivating central character and evocative storytelling, I didn’t want to leave Shakespeare’s world—or put down O’Farrell’s writing. The story centers on Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife, who is torn apart by grief when their son Hamnet dies at age 11. Soon after, Shakespeare writes Hamlet—and O’Farrell convincingly posits that the two events are closely tied. In her distinctive style, O’Farrell takes you to the heart of what really matters in life, making you feel such a deep sense of loss for Hamnet that you won’t look at your own life the same way. More info →
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The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys

Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and 2020 Alex Awards. Colson Whitehead brings Jim Crow-era Florida to life through the real story of a reform school in Tallahassee that claimed to rehabilitate delinquent boys and instead abused and terrorized them for over one hundred years. Elwood Curtis is bound for a local black college when an innocent mistake lands him at The Nickel Academy instead. Elwood finds comfort in Dr. Martin Luther King's words and holds to his ideals, whereas his friend Turner believes the world is crooked so you have to scheme to survive. All this leads to a decision with harrowing repercussions for their respective fates. This was a tough read emotionally, but such a good one. More info →
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The River

The River

Author:
Edgar Award nominee for Best Novel. When two college friends plan a long canoeing trip in northern Canada, they anticipate a peaceful yet memorable summer escape filled with whitewater paddling, fly fishing, and campfire cooking. The first hint of danger is a whiff of smoke, from an encroaching forest fire. The next comes from a man, seemingly in shock, who reports his wife disappeared in the woods. If these boys didn't feel compelled to do the right thing and go look for her, they’d be fine, but instead they step in to help—and are soon running for their lives, from disasters both natural and man-made. A tightly-written wilderness adventure, a lyrical mystery, and a heartrending story of friendship, rolled into one. I didn’t know a book could be both gorgeous and terrifying—but then I devoured this in a day. More info →
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The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Author:
2020 Hugo Awards Finalist. This novel combines so many elements I love: it's a literary mystery, a book about books, a coming-of-age story, a tale of adventure and suspense and revenge. I recommended this on an episode of WSIRN: episode 196 with Anudeep Reddy as a gateway fantasy, a fantasy novel for people who don't like fantasy. Creative and inventive and lots of fun. This was also our February 2020 pick for Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club. The narration by January LaVoy (yes, you read that right!) is mesmerizing. More info →
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The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick

Author:
I was thrilled to see Mallory on the list of Hugo Award finalists for "Best Related Work." As an avid fan of monster movies, she was thrilled to discover that a woman designed the monster from one of her favorite films, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. But as she soon discovered, Millicent Patrick's design accomplishments were hidden from history, due to jealous male colleagues and pervasive sexism in the film industry. Following along with O'Meara's research process is just as delightful as learning all about Millicent. I got to chat with Mallory on Episode 176 of What Should I Read Next, and despite my total avoidance of the horror genre, we found some readerly common ground. More info →
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American Spy

American Spy

This fascinating and multi-layered spy thriller is told from the perspective of a Black woman, recruited by the CIA in the all-white, boys' club-era of the 1980s for an important African mission. Her assigned task is to fall in love—or pretend to—with Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkino Faso, known as "Africa’s Che Guevara." (Sankara is a real historical figure and I was so curious about how Wilkinson would handle his story.) The book's epigraph is from Ralph Ellison: he refers to being "a spy in enemy country," and I'm grateful this work inspired me to learn more about the rich literary history of African American spy novels and the theme of double consciousness. A rewarding read on so many levels.

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Such a Fun Age

Such a Fun Age

Author:
Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. On page one, we meet Emira, a twenty-five year old babysitter for a well-to-do Philadelphia family. Emira's out with friends when the mother calls to ask if Emira can rush over and pick up their daughter. Emira finds this strange because it's almost 11:00 p.m., but apparently something has happened at the house. This is important: Emira is black; the Chamberlains are white. She picks up the little girl and takes her down the road to the special, pricey grocery store. They're enjoying the thrill of being out past bedtime, when Emira is racially profiled for a crime she didn’t commit. This is the first domino in a chain of events that forever changes the lives of everyone involved. This all happens in the first 20 pages, and I don't want to share more, because whatever you're thinking right now--it’s not the direction this story goes in. Confident and complex and a total page-turner. More info →
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Clap When You Land

Clap When You Land

Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Young Adult fiction. Acevedo dedicates her new novel in verse to the memory of the lives lost on American Airlines flight 587, the passenger flight that crashed en route to Santo Domingo from JFK on November 12, 2001. Taking this historical event as her leaping off point, she tells the story of two teenage girls—one in New York, one in Santo Domingo—who are shocked to discover they are sisters in the aftermath of the crash, when the truth of their father’s double life was unceremoniously revealed. The girls tentatively bond as they explore the love—and pain—they share. A lyrical, heartfelt exploration of what it means to discover secrets, to find family, and to discover your own hidden resources in the face of great loss, and surprising joy. More info →
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Have you read any literary award winners or nominated books this year? Please tell us all about them in the comments section.

P.S. These 21 books that were nominated for awards in 2018, including some titles I still recommend all the time on WSIRN. Plus 20 past Pulitzer and National Book Award winners to add to your TBR.

11 books nominated for literary awards in 2020

55 comments

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  1. JJ says:

    I read Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli, which won the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction – it was excellent. I also have the Nonfiction winner (Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham) on my TBR shelf.

  2. Katherine says:

    I counted The River for this category of the challenge, though I also read Such a Fun Age and Clap When You Land. I LOVED Clap When You Land. I really liked Such a Fun Age, and The River was ok. I listened to it, and I think I would have liked it more if I had read it. I really need to stick to middle grade on audio, adult fiction audio is almost always a flop for me.

    I don’t usually follow any awards, but I’m heading over to check out the National Translation Award now.

  3. Alison says:

    I have read “The River,” but for this category I read “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” by Patti Callahan. Callahan won the Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020.

  4. Jan says:

    I finished the 2020 Reading Challenge last month. I had never challenged myself reading this way. I just read whatever. I so so so enjoyed this. Thank you Anne! I am looking forward to the 2021 challenge. Count me in. xoxo

    • Jan says:

      OOPs – its me again , Jan. I should have mentioned I read The Nickel Boys for this category. I loved it! Such a great twist at the end!

  5. Jennifer O. says:

    I read Redhead by the Side of the Road, longlisted for the Booker, for this category. I read The River (too stressful for me) and The Lady from the Black Lagoon (love!) in 2019 and Clap When You Land this year too. I have several more of these on my shelves to come.

  6. Maria Ontiveros says:

    I read Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, which was also nominated for an Edgar (best first mystery), for this category. Really interesting premise and structured as a court room drama. Definitely recommend it!
    I also read The River and Such a Fun Age this year (not overwhelmed by either). I still have re-read, local author and 3 by same author (2/3rds done) to complete the challenge, so I should finish it for the second year in a row!

  7. Michelle says:

    I haven’t read it yet, but I had a brief coaching session with an author who wrote a memoir about her time as a director of an International School in Afghanistan. She won the 2020 Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Educators Book Award for her work, Unveiled Truth. As I work with refugees, it’s a subject that interests me, and it will be great to read a book by someone I know in real life!

  8. Lynette says:

    Here are some ideas for the 2021 Reading Challenge:
    (1) A book about books or a book that takes place in a bookstore or library
    (2) A classic book, followed by a modern retelling of that classic book
    (3) A narrative nonfiction book
    (4) A ‘Hygge’book (a cozy book for wintertime)
    (5) A book that you find in a Little Free Library (or for free at a book swap if you don’t have a Little Free Library near you)
    (6) A book by a famous author you’ve never read and/or a ‘childhood’ book that you missed reading as a child
    (7) A book published ~100 years ago (in the 1920s)
    (8) A food book (fiction or nonfiction) and then fix a recipe/meal connected to the book and share about it here as a sort of recipe swap!
    (9) A ‘backlist’ book that has been sitting on your shelves for ages but that you’ve just not picked up yet…
    (10) A book mentioned by a guest (not Anne) on a 2020 episode of ‘What Should I Read Next?’
    🙂

  9. Lindsay says:

    Five of these books are on my shelves, just waiting to be read! I also hope to pick up Hamnet someday. A reader above mentioned Miracle Creek, and I’d recommend that book to anyone who loves literary mysteries. I didn’t care for The River, however. To each their own! It’s interesting to see which books are picked up by awards committees. I didn’t know about most of these awards. Thanks for compiling this post, Anne. 🙂

  10. Susan says:

    I am currently listening to “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” by Alix E. Harrow, but for this category I have chosen “All the Devils are Here” by Louise Penny. It has an AudioFile Earphones Award for narrator Robert Bathurst. Even though I will read it in paper form, I have listened to others in the series, and believe Mr. Bathurst to be very deserving.

  11. Katharine J. Phenix says:

    If you are looking for award winning books, or any books with a specific genre or tone or subject, consider using your library’s online resources. Most public libraries subscribe to Novelist, which has a huge list of current awards and the books that won, currently and historically.

  12. Bertha Mallard says:

    I read “The Nickel Boys” by C. Whitehead. I was transfixed by the horror and conditions endured by the young boys. In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined this story. I cried to think that one human could treat a child the way the boys were treated at Nickel Academy. In the end I shed tears of joy for Elwood. Highly recommend this book.

    • Sheryl Esau says:

      I’m going to use The Ten Thousand Doors of January for this category. I loved the cover, but not the book. Counting it here makes it worth that I finished it.

  13. Tracie says:

    I have read and enjoyed several of these books: Such a Fun Age — hard copy. Clap when You Land was fabulous on audio. I also listened to How We Fight For Our Lives, which was great, even as it was uncomfortable to hear at times. It felt important to witness his story.

    I also recently listened to and loved The Nickel Boys, which was amazing, heart wrenching, challenging. I have recommended it to many people since finishing it. It absolutely is deserving of all the awards!

    The Ten Thousand Doors of January is one of my favorites of the year! I partially read it with my eyes, partially on audio! I loved the engaging, transporting story and also loved the side of social commentary.

    I DNF’d American Spy on audio. I might try again with the hard copy. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I don’t enjoy Bahni Turpin’s voice. But I also expected this to be an action-filled spy novel, and it’s not that, at least not what I read.

    • Michelle L says:

      I agree with American Spy. I too listened to the audiobook (and I like Bahni Turpin), but I just didn’t love the story. The plot was all over the place and I couldn’t get a grasp on who the narrator was.

  14. Adrienne says:

    For this category I listened to and enjoyed the audiobook of Anne Tyler’s ‘Red Head by the Side of the Road,’ which was nominated for the Booker Prize. From Anne’s list, the only books I’ve read are ‘The River,’ which I likes, and ‘Ten Thousand Doors of January,’ which I absolutely loved.

  15. Cathy says:

    Hamnet was the best book I have read this year! I’m always hesitant that a book won’t meet the hype…but this book was just lovely! I was struck from page one by the beautiful language and the entire premise laid out masterfully by O’Farrell. Her focus on Agnes, the mother, was so interesting. Yes, it’s about death, plague, and grief but O’Farrell’s capable prose is memorable.

  16. Callie says:

    I’m currently reading American Spy, and then I was planning to turn my attention to this category of the Reading Challenge. So I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that American Spy will count…it’s so interesting so far!

  17. Elizabeth Grant says:

    This is the last category I have to read to finish my Challenge. I’m having a hard time finding anything that sounds like I will really enjoy reading…I don’t like really intense or really graphic stuff, so I’m apprehensive about some of these titles…

    • Susan P says:

      Try The Redhead By the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler, it’s not intense or graphic, and I am loving it! Longlisted for the Booker. Beautiful writing but so easy to read.

  18. Carol Quan says:

    I am almost done with this challenge. I was going to read Such A Fun Age since it has been sitting on my shelf since January. I am currently reading Caste and was delighted to see it is on the Longlist for the National Book Award in the non-fiction category. It is superb!!! Anyway, I am almost done with it and will be completing the Readibg Challenge.🎉🎉🎉

    • Pam says:

      Carol, I read “Caste” as well, to complete the 2020 reading challenge. I would also highly recommend this book. It is disturbing, compelling, and then ultimately somewhat hopeful that change is possible.

  19. Lisa F. says:

    I really enjoyed The River (except the ending) and have Hamnet quickly working its way to the top of my “don’t you dare buy more books until you read these” pile.

  20. I read “Know My Name” by Chanel Miller. It was nominated for and won the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Awards. We read it for book club and it made for an excellent discussion. It really made me think about what the justice system and we, as a culture, put victims through. Highly highly recommend it!

  21. barb says:

    I read Bill Bryson’s ‘The Body: A Guide for Occupants’ for this category. It won a PEN award. I love Bryson’s style and this book was fascinating and had his trademark dry wit.

    • Rebecca Safarcyk says:

      I almost bought The River awhile back but since I had never read Peter Heller, the bookstore clerk recommended I start with Celine, so I did. But I had the toughest time getting into it!? It started really slow and I didn’t finish it. I heard so much about this author and I was disappointed. I really hate to not finish a book. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.

  22. Kacie says:

    Somehow I’ve read 5 on this list, all outstanding (no surprise!). I also like to read Newbery award winners — love me some middle grade lit! This year’s winner is a graphic novel, New Kid, by Jerry Craft. It was fantastic and my kids enjoyed it as well. There is a sequel coming out in I think October.

  23. Diane says:

    For the 2020 Reading Challenge, I’m in the middle of Edwidge Danticat’s Everything Inside, which won the National Book Critic’s Circle Ward for Fiction. Beautiful short stories and a beautiful book cover!

  24. Mary Ann says:

    The reform school in Nickel Boys was based on a real reform school in Marianna, Florida not Tallahassee, Florida. I grew up in Marianna, Florida so I am very familiar with the former school. I was happy when it was shut down. I loved the book and it brought back memories of a very sad place.

  25. Sue P says:

    I’ve read The River (good one!) and Such a Fun Age (which was Such a Disappointment), but what about The Vanishing Half? It’s up for a National Book Award. It was REALLY thought-provoking!

  26. Pam says:

    I read “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson. Was planning to read it anyway, and when I saw it had been longlisted in the nonfiction category for the U.S. National Book Awards, I slotted it in here for the reading challenge.

    I’ve read two of the books listed above, and own a couple of the others. ”Hamnet” also sounds great!! (AKA “Hamnet and Judith”). I may own that one shortly, too. Oh dear.

  27. Sharon says:

    I read The River and Such A Fun Age this year, but the one I read for the Reading Challenge was The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefleri, winner of the 2020 Aspen Words Literary Prize. It was excellent!

  28. Michelle L says:

    When I decided to accept the reading challenge this year, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete this as I only get books from the library (it would take too long to get them once announced). Thanks to recommendations from WSIRN, I’ve read probably eight or nine books that fulfill this goal! Favorites were Hamnet, Such a Fun Age, Nickel Boys and The Lost Children Archive.

  29. Rada says:

    Planning for next year’s reading season is understandably challenging. But I don’t think it needs to be all light and breezy. Sometimes when you are going through a hard time, it’s nice to see other people/characters going through hard times too. I find it comforting to see that I’m not the only one in something and I also like the relief in saying ” Oh, I’m so glad I’m not going through that.” So maybe split the reading challenge 60/40 or 70/30 light to dark. That is my two cents.

  30. Sarah C says:

    The book I picked for this category was the Dutch House by Ann Patchett which was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Beautifully written with so many thoughts on familial relationships.

  31. KT says:

    I read Hamnet, and I have to say I think Maggie O’Farrell is a wonderful writer and would read her again, but I did not care for the book. Maybe it was a mood thing. I don’t recommend it, but I don’t NOT recommend it, either? I didn’t go into it with high expectations, as historical fiction about real people often is a miss for me, but I think O’Farrell handled that aspect extremely well. I am reading The Nickel Boys (thought Underground Railround was amazing) and Caste now. It’s hard to sift through these award-winners to find the ones that suit me, and I like being stretched as a reader, but sometimes I get annoyed with the over-marketing and hype. I like the balance of books you presented here.

    • KT says:

      OH! I forgot to mention that I only got half way through Deacon King Kong before I had to return it, but I think it was one of the best surprises in my reading this year! I think I decided to pick it up after seeing it on so many of your posts and I’m so glad I did! I expected it to be heavy in racial themes and depressing (like Underground Railroad), but there is so much physical comedy and humor in the storytelling from the very beginning and it just delighted me even though the story does have some tough elements to it. I found myself laughing out loud while reading it and told my husband that I have never read a book like this! It’s such a strange book, but so fresh and original, I think I will be recommending it over and over again in the years to come. Thanks again.

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