Kingsolver, Rundell and Kuang shortlisted for Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 

Books by Barbara Kingsolver, Katherine Rundell and Rebecca F Kuang have been shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. The shortlists were selected by booksellers across the UK and Ireland and the winners will be picked by readers. 

The public vote for the awards, which are sponsored by publishers and National Book Tokens, is now open until Sunday 29th October. Members of the public are also invited to nominate their favourite book that they’ve read in the past year as the Readers’ Choice winner.

Kuang is on the list for Yellowface (The Borough Press), while Kingsolver was shortlisted for Demon Copperhead (Faber). Actor Elliot Page is in the running for his memoir Pageboy (Doubleday) and Rundell was selected for Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury Children’s Books).

Moreover, Why Women Grow author Alice Vincent (Canongate) is shortlisted this year, as is Sheena Patel, the author of I’m A Fan (Granta Books) and Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday).

The shortlist judging panel was made up of Nick Campbell from Waterstones, Kirsty Hurst from W H Smith and Peri Cimen from Green Heart Books. Juliana Ocampo from Stanfords was also on the panel, alongside Richard Smartt from The Book Ends, Red Newsom from Blackwell’s Manchester and Marie Moser from The Edinburgh Bookshop.  

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at Foyles on Charing Cross Road on Tuesday 7th November. This will be hosted by Radzi Chinyanganya, with social media content creator Zubs Covered providing behind-the-scenes content on the night.

Kingsolver said: “Of all the honours that can come to an author, nothing tops the warm feeling of being chosen by booksellers. These people are my tribe, my fellow travellers, and my guardian angels. I owe my career to the booksellers who pressed my early novels into the hands of readers. All I can say is, thanks. You’re the best.”

Rundell added: “Without booksellers, we’d be at sea in a cold ocean of algorithms. Booksellers are such champions, for out-of-the-way books, for the strange and the bold — they are the best friend of new ideas and of original thought. I am so grateful for this nomination: it’s a real joy.”

Moser, owner of The Edinburgh Bookshop, commented: “It was very special to talk with colleagues from across the country about the books we felt were important this year. The range of titles shortlisted for the awards reflects both the diversity of UK publishing and the people who sell those books to the public.”

Newsom, lead bookseller at Blackwell’s Manchester, added: “With such a wide range of exciting and engaging ideas on offer, it was pleasantly difficult to narrow down our final selection! There’s something for everyone in this shortlist; from literary theft to modern myths, from time-travel to Dickens. It feels contemporary, culturally relevant and a great representation of the titles booksellers have been talking about passionately all year.”

The shortlists in full

Fiction:

• Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang (The Borough Press)
• Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St John Mandel (Picador)
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber & Faber)
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Chatto & Windus)

Non-Fiction:

• Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken (Cornerstone) 
• Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent (Canongate)
• Pageboy by Elliot Page (Doubleday)
• Strong Female Character by Fern Brady (Brazen)

Poetry:

• Divisible By Itself and One by Kae Tempest (Picador)
• More Fiya by Kayo Chingonyi (Canongate)
• Bad Diaspora Poems by Momtaza Mehri (Jonathan Cape)
• The Cat Prince by Michael Pedersen (Corsair)

Young Adult Fiction:

• Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (Bloomsbury YA)
• Promise Boys by Nick Brooks (Macmillan)
• The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes (Faber & Faber)
• Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald (Penguin)

Children’s Fiction:

• Jamie by L D Lapinski (Orion Children’s Books)
• Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Skull by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
• Greenwild by Pari Thomson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Breakthrough Author:

• Rebecca F Kuang, author of Babel and Yellowface (HarperCollins Publishers)
• Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday)
• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars (Harvill Secker)
• Sheena Patel, author of I’m A Fan (Granta Books)