ForeWord Reviews has announced the 2010 Book of the Year Awards list of finalists. Representing more than 350 publishers, the finalists were selected from over 1,400 entries. These books are examples of independent publishing at its finest. Armen Melikian is a national finalist for the Book of the Year Awards in the literary fiction category. There are 13 more finalists in this category. The winners will be announced at a special program at the Annual Conference in New Orleans this June. Award winners will be chosen by real judges -  working librarians and booksellers, who are on the front lines everyday working with patrons and customers. Los Angeles author Armen Melikian's Journey to Virginland: Epistle I, is an iconoclastic novel that proposes an original vision of human transformation. Journey to Virginland is the author’s debut novel. Leia Menlove, a distinguished member of ForeWord'sreview team, describes Journey to Virginland: Epistle I as "an engrossing, brilliantly crafted read; a searing commentary on the world and its inhabitants." Menlove adds, "Melikian's prodigious writing talent and ability to show the world's history in a different air creates an entertaining ride into warring religions, warring cultures, warring sexes, and the histories and raison d'etre behind each. Melikian is an astonishing writer who teaches his reader about the world and the human condition through tragedy and humor." Journey to Virginland is in certain respects reminiscent of the novelistic tapestries of James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Umberto Eco, and others. With its ebullient style, innovative language, and kaleidoscopic yet highly calibrated thematic range, it is an extraordinary example of a literary revolution in the making. ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Awards program was established to help publishers shine an additional spotlight on their best titles and bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors. Award winners are chosen by real judges – working librarians and booksellers, who are on the front lines everyday working with patrons and customers. Since 1998, ForeWord Reviews has been one of the publishing industry's most respected print magazines and online review services for readers, booksellers, book buyers, publishing insiders, and librarians. ForeWord is published six times a year and each issue reaches 26,000 librarians and booksellers. As a review service for small and independent publishers, ForeWord influences the buying decisions of booksellers and librarians across the United States and Canada.