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Ta-Nehisi Coates鈥� 鈥淏etween the World and Me鈥� and Adam Johnson鈥檚 鈥淔ortune Smiles,鈥� took some of the major prizes at the 2015 National Book Awards.

Coates鈥� 鈥淏etween,鈥� which is a discussion of race addressed to the writer鈥檚 son, won the nonfiction National Book Award. Monitor reviewer Chris Hartman called 鈥淏etween鈥� 鈥渁 highly provocative, thoughtfully presented, and beautifully written narrative concerning his own misgivings about the ongoing racial struggle in America.鈥澛�

Meanwhile, Johnson took the National Book Award for fiction for 鈥淪miles,鈥� his short story collection.

Writer Neal Shusterman won the young people鈥檚 literature prize for his book 鈥淐hallenger Deep,鈥� which tells the story of a teenager who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and the interaction of his hallucinations and his real life. 鈥淰oyage of the Sable Venus鈥� by Robin Coste Lewis took the poetry prize for the year.

鈥淪miles鈥� taking the prestigious fiction prize is unusual, as short story collections don鈥檛 often take the award. Notable works in the same vein that won the fiction prize before now include last year鈥檚 winner, Phil Klay鈥檚 鈥淩edeployment,鈥� as well as Andrea Barrett鈥檚 鈥淪hip Fever and Other Stories,鈥� which took the prize in 1996, and 鈥淓asy in the Islands鈥� by Bob Shacochis, which won in 1985.聽

Many factors, of course, go into the judges鈥� decision to give the National Book Award to its recipient. But two short story collections taking the fiction prize two years in a row shows that a collection winning the award is far from impossible, and collections continue to break through with audiences, too 鈥� Stephen King鈥檚 story collection 鈥淏azaar of Bad Dreams鈥� is currently a bestseller (though of course King鈥檚 work comes with his celebrity attached) and 鈥淩edeployment鈥� became a bestseller as well after its publication. George Saunders鈥� 鈥淭enth of December鈥� also did well in sales.

"I think they're difficult," Johnson himself said of short stories in . "But they can be very perfect and powerful."

Why would readers pick up a short story collection? , who co-created a short story salon, told the Telegraph in 2014, 鈥淟ife is increasingly hectic and connected. Many people struggle to find the time to engage with a full-length novel when they鈥檙e dealing with emails every second of every day or having to meet deadlines or rush home to put the kids to bed. A short story offers the perfect antidote 鈥� it鈥檚 the equivalent of listening to a single track of music instead of the whole album.鈥�