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PARIS BOOK FESTIVAL NAMES DYSTOPIAN NOVEL FOR TOP HONORS
PARIS_ The story of a strange new society and an entertainment empire built
around two bizarre TV shows is the top book of the 2026 Paris Book Festival,
which honors the best of international publishing.
Author J Loretta’s The Aspirants is centered on a TV show featuring
terminally ill patients committing suicide on live TV and another broadcast
featuring dangerous rescue missions.
Set in a world of the near future, with drones monitoring the world and homeless
tent cities creating separate societies within society, the story examines the
limitations of the health care system, homelessness, and the inequalities caused
by poverty that results in hard life choices.
Using the backdrop of the streets of Paris, the page-turning story makes the
reader reflect on the morality of society and the impact of policies on our
collective humanity. Ultimately, the characters must consider how far is too far
for a good cause.
The book won the General Fiction category and is well worthy of top honors.
Other winners in the competition.
BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY
WINNER: Six Weeks: A Literary Memoir - William Ledbetter
RUNNER-UP: The Legacy of the Twins Platoon - Christy Sauro Jr.
HONORABLE MENTION:
- Faith, Cancer, God's Miracle - Ray Scott
BUSINESS
WINNER: The Million Dollar Hurdle - Jim Fitzgerald
RUNNERS-UP:
- 10 Things I Learned From the Billionaire - Calvin Barry Schwartz/Kae
Wagner
- The Happy High-Performing Lawyer - Dr. Stephen Rue
- The Listening Advisor - John Gatewood
- Marketing Mindset in Motion - Leora Lanz
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Do Your Thing - Ralph Hamers
- FIATA Forever: A Leadership Legacy - FIATA and the Council of Past
Presidents
CHILDREN'S BOOKS:
WINNER: Summer is Calling - Jan Thornton Jones
RUNNERS-UP:
- Bailey's Awesome Day - Mary Mayo Balfour Calvert
- Izzy - An Octopus Tale - Charles E. Rawlings
- Le Noeud d'Amour - Vassi Rombis
- Four Bears in a Box: Birthday Bash - Dreama Denver
- First There Was Bird - Keith Garton
- One Inch at a Time - Alyssa Herrera
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Pablo - Mar Andersons
- Moo-Nay R U Monet? - Loni Belle and J.E. Laufer
- Litter Lady Leads - Martha Goldner
- Line 'Em Up! - Oscar Avery
- Will My Haircut Hurt? - Martha Goldner
COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES
WINNER: The KEAK Anthology - Dr. Katherine E.A. Korkidis
RUNNER-UP: Prine on Prine - Holly Gleason
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Fantastic! A Celebration of Fans Discovering Doctor Who - Nicholas
Seidler, Editor
- Fierce & Fearless Phoenix: Rises From the Ashes - Ciara Lewis
COOKBOOKS
WINNER: Y'all Eat Yet? - Miranda Lambert with Holly Gleason
GENERAL FICTION:
WINNER: The Aspirants - J Loretta
RUNNERS-UP:
- Encrypted Patriot: The Ghosts That Protect America - Dennis Currie
- Escala's Wish - David James
- The Reincarnation of Marie - Jim Woodman
- Roscoe - Andrew James Gregor
- The Hero - Eve M. Riley
- Straw Shoes - Mathias B. Freese
- Manroot - Ann Steinberg
- Beneath The Rings - Joe Battaglia
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Palimony - Steve Grossman
- The Shadow Kingdom and The Land of Nines - Pranab Kumar Mishra
- Punishment - Kujtim Hajdari
- L'Ombre de la Taupe - Bob Van Laerhoven
- Bolero A Novel - Raquel Puig Zaldivar
- Dream of a Murder - Vicki Mastriani Walker
- The Hero - Eve M. Riley
- The Quantum Mirror - Jayson L. Adams
- The Shadow Kingdom and The Land of Nines - Pranab Kumar Mishra
- Railroad Man: Legacies Son - Dan E. Hendrickson
- The Goldilocks Genome - Elizabeth Reed Aden
- The TellTale Lie - Richard Kiehr
- Zetta: A Three-Act Play with Music - Zishan Evans
- Gods and God Particles - Raghavan Jayakumar
GENERAL NON FICTION
WINNER: Polar War - Kenneth R. Rosen
RUNNERS-UP:
- Hey Baby - The Elk That Survived! - Pamela J. Howard
- Connections, Academics, and Purpose - Dr. Cinde Lock
- 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute.. - Stefanie
Halpern, Editor
- American Moon - David W Berner
- Developing Your Marketing Mindset - Leora Lanz
- From Coercion to Courage - Dr. Stevie Carnegie
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
HOW-TO:
WINNER: You Are Capable of More - Chris Sund
RUNNERS-UP:
- The End of Autoimmunity - Leland Stillman
- Les différents types de psychothérapie - R. K. Compton
- Turning Skills Into Dumb Luck - Simon Vine
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Pack « Débuter et terminer une thérapie » - R.K. Compton
- The Terminal ATC Training Guide - Randolph Arslanian
- Your Guide to Counselling and Psychotherapy in the UK - R. K. Compton
MEMOIR:
WINNER: Empowered by the Dream - Gladys A. Barrio
RUNNERS-UP:
- Dancing Through the Shadow - Agnes Briow
- Mud, Microbes & Medicine - Elizabeth Reed Aden
- Six Weeks: A Literary Memoir - William Ledbetter
- Thank God I Failed - Orlando Da Silva
- Saying the Hard Parts Out Loud - Maranda Dziekonski
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Heart Life Music - Kenny Chesney w Holly Gleason
- Chasing Legends: Motorcycle Stories from the Podcast Trail - Aaron
Pufali
- A Mad Box of Rain - Brian J. Quattlebaum
- Finding My Way: A Memoir - Jerry Morton
PHOTOGRAPHY/ART
WINNER: In the Valley of the Shadow - Steven Manchester and Brian Fox
RUNNER-UP: 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute.. - Stefanie
Halpern, Editor
POETRY
WINNER: Endless - Dr. Joe Ferry
RUNNERS-UP:
- How Does It Matter? Portrait of an Artist as a Woman - Lopamudra
Banerjee
- All the Things I Want to Tell You - C.J. Canino
- On Love - Zishan Evans
- Skies and Chasms: Poems - James Richard Hansen
ROMANCE
WINNER: The Hero - Eve M. Riley
SELF-HELP
WINNER: A Problem to Solve - Brad W. Garner
RUNNER-UP: La dissonance cognitive et nos façons d'y répondre - R.K. Compton
SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS
WINNER: The Reincarnation of Marie - Jim Woodman
RUNNERS-UP:
- Sacred Crossroads - Mitch Russo
- Catch the Wave - Steven Cole
- I'm On Assignment! - Diane Marie Taylor
- Spirit Guides and Angels: Death and Taxes - Wayne Cesaro
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- There's a Tortoise in My Hair - Calvin Barry Schwartz
- Faith, Cancer, God's Miracle - Ray Scott
- There is a Doorway.... - Rick L. Johnson
UNPUBLISHED
WINNER: Seeing Sunny Again - Paul Clayton
RUNNER-UP: T.V. Holiday's Angelface - T.V. Holiday
WILD CARD
WINNER: Escala's Wish - David James
RUNNERS-UP:
- EroTech - Sean Haines and Geoffrey Krawczyk
- Heir To The Pridelands (Pridelands Series Book 1) - M.S. West
- Questions for Werewolves - Forrest Wolfe
- Prince Adam’s Quest - Terrence Walsh
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- The Perils of Privilege - John W. Roberts
- Lady of the Castle - Rachel Elwiss Joyce
- Pablo - Mar Andersons
- Custom Maid Palestine for New World Disorder - Peter G. de Krassel
YOUNG ADULT:
WINNER: The Hunt for Alesta - Mark K. McClain
RUNNERS-UP:
- The Mermaid Riot - Joy E. Held
- Lake of Clouds - A.B. Ruiz
- The Door In the Carnegie Library - VC Williams
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Terra Nova - Anniversary Edition - MtG
- The Greenbrier Mermaid - Rusty McQuade
- The Greenbrier River Adventures: JoJo the Dragon - Rusty McQuade
- Journey to Superhero School: - Gracie Dix
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