NBC, RBI Present Quill Awards

Nora Roberts's Angels Fall (Putnam) was named Book of the Year by readers (as well as winner in the Romance category) at the 2007 Quill Book Awards, held October 22 in New York City at the spectacular Jazz at Lincoln Center theater. Quills were awarded in 19 categories, plus Book of the Year and Variety's Blockbuster Book to Film Award, which went to the “Bourne Trilogy” by Robert Ludlum. The Quills also honored David Halberstam posthumously with a Platinum Quill. Presented by Reed Business Information (RBI) and NBC Universal Television Stations, the Quills were broadcast on NBC stations October 27, 7–8 p.m.

Kicking off the awards ceremony, The Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert lamented the loss of the oral tradition, took a swing at the National Book Awards, and wondered why the Quills were “being televised instead of novelized.” Presenters included Joan Allen, a star of the Bourne films and a supporter of First Book, which gives books to children from low-income families; footballer Tiki Barber; actress Brooke Shields; and novelist Mary Higgins Clark.

The Quills Literacy Foundation supports literacy-based initiatives, including this year's renovation of the Southeast Branch of the District of Columbia Public Library, spearheaded by LJ.