Winning titles: The 13 winners of the 2014 Good Books Awards. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY (VNS) — Thirteen winners of the annual Good Books Awards in seven categories were announced yesterday in HCM City following a vote by the public.

The best original Vietnamese works and translations in education, research, economics, management, literature, children's books, and new discoveries were honoured.

Consultative Group on Macroeconomic Policy's Bao Cao Kinh Te Vi Mo: Cai Cach The Che, Chia Khoa Cho Tai Co Cau (Macroeconomic Report: Reform Institution, Key for Restructuring) and Tri Vuong's translation of Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle (Quoc Gia Khoi Nghiep) won in the economics category.

An economist said the former reveals the truth that Viet Nam has yet to revive its economy, continues to face many risks, and restructuring has yet to make much progress.

The other book is a good example for Viet Nam to follow since it is a story about a country – Israel – with immense disadvantages that has beaten the odds to become a leader.

Tran Hoai Duong's Mien Xanh Tham (Deep Blue Area) and translators Trac Phong and Huong Lan's Bo Sach Nhoc Nicolas (Le petit Nicolas) won in the children's books category.

Dr Quach Thu Nguyet of the Institute for Research on Education Development – which awards the prize – and a jury member said the two works are moving stories about teachers and friends of children respectively during and after the war.

One of Vietnamese greatest ethnologists, Nguyen Tu Chi, won in the research category with his Van Hoa Toc Nguoi Viet Nam (Vietnamese Minorities' Culture), while translator Nguyen Van Trong got the prize for Bon Tieu Luan ve Tu Do (Four Essays on Liberty).

Nguyen Manh Tuong's Ly Luan Giao Duc Chau Au: Tu Erasme toi Rousseau The Ky XVI, XVII, XVIII (European Theory on Education: From Erasme to Rousseau in the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries) and Nghia Vu Hoc Thuat (Academic Duty) won in the education category.

Nguyen Binh Phuong's Nguoi Di Vang (Absentee) and translator Phung Khanh's Bat Tre Dong Xanh (The Catcher in the Rye) won in the literature category.

The prizes in the new discoveries category went to Nguyen Dinh Dau's Chu Quyen Viet Nam tren Bien Dong va Hoang Sa-Truong Sa (Viet Nam's Sovereignty over East Sea, Paracel and Spratly Archipelagoes) and Tran Quang Duc's Ngan Nam Ao Mu (Thousand Years of Bonnet and Gown).

For the third straight year the organisers could not find any Vietnamese book to honour in the management category while the award for a translated work went to Vu Tien Phuc's 7 Thoi Quen De Thanh Dat (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).

Philosophy researcher and another jury member Bui Van Nam Son said the awards were initiated to encourage quality writing, spread the reading habit in society, and develop a democratic spirit and the attitude of dialogue in culture and academics.

"Each winning book contains progressive thoughts and philosophies and enlightenment," he said. — VNS