Which books would YOU pick for this year's National Book Awards?

The finalists for the 2012 National Book Awards were announced Wednesday of last week during MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

Five finalists were announced in the fiction category. They were:

- “This Is How You Lose Her” by Junot Diaz

- “A Hologram for the King” by Dave Eggers

- “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich

- “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk” by Ben Fountain

- “The Yellow Birds” by Kevin Powers

Five finalists were also named in the nonfiction category. They included:

- “Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956” by Anne Applebaum

- “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” by Katherine Boo

- “The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4” by Robert A. Caro

- “The Boy Kings of Texas” by Domingo Martinez

- “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East” by Anthony Shadid

Finalists in the poetry category were:

- “Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations” by David Ferry

- “Heavenly Bodies” by Cynthia Huntington

- “Fast Animal” by Tim Seibles

- “Night of the Republic” by Alan Shapiro

- “Meme” by Susan Wheeler

Five finalists were named in the young people’s literature category. They were:

- “Goblin Secrets” by William Alexander

- “Out of Reach” by Carrie Arcos

- “Never Fall Down” by Patricia McCormick

- “Endangered” by Eliot Schrefer

- “Bomb: The Race to Build---- and Steal-- - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon” by Steve Sheinkin

This year’s slate of winners will be announced on Nov. 14 at the 63rd National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony in New York City, and Faith Salie is set to host the event. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze statue, and finalists receive $1,000 and a bronze medal.

Many of you will be familiar with some of the past National Book Award Winners, especially from the fiction category. Past NBA fiction winners include “From Here to Eternity” by James Jones, “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison, “The World According to Garp” by John Irving, “Rabbit is Rich” by John Updike, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy and “Cold Mountain” by Charles Frazier.

For more information about the finalists mentioned above and past winners and finalists, visit www.nationalbook.org.

In the end, how many of the books mentioned above have you had the chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Which books would you pick to win this year’s round of National Book Awards? Let us know in the comments section below.