O’Farrell, Kay and Kerr make IBW shortlists

Maggie O’Farrell, Adam Kay and Judith Kerr are amongst the authors on the Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) Book Award shortlists, as voted for by independent bookshops.

The IBW Book Award 2018 shortlist for the Adult category includes Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (HarperCollins), The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young (Faber), This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay (Pan Macmillan - Picador), Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively (Penguin - Fig Tree), A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Penguin Random House/Cornerstone - Windmill), I am I am I am by Maggie O'Farrell (Headline), Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore (Penguin Random House/Cornerstone - Windmill), Elmet by Fiona Mozley (John Murray), Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty (Penguin Random House - Vintage), and How Not to Be a Boy by Robert Webb (Canongate Books).

Nominations for the Children’s category are The Explorer by Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury), Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls (Andersen Press), Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll (Faber), Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone (Simon and Schuster Children's), A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge (Pan Macmillan), The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & illustrated by Terry Denton (Pan Macmillan), We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury), and The 1000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford (HarperCollins).

Also nominated for the children's category are Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (Orion), Release by Patrick Ness (Walker Books), A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens (Puffin), The Bolds on Holiday by Julian Clary & illustrated by David Roberts (Andersen Press), and Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne).

Up for the picture book award are Fantastically Great Women who Made History by Kate Pankhurst (Bloomsbury), Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies & illustrated by Emily Sutton (Walker Books), You Choose in Space by Pippa Goodhart & illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Penguin Random House Children's), Grandad's Secret Giant by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln Children's Books), Katinka's Tail by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins), and The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright & illustrated by Jim Field (Orchard).

Also shortlisted for the picture book award are I Love You, Stick Insect by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Bloomsbury), The Everywhere Bear by Julia Donaldson & illustrated by Rebecca Cobb (Pan Macmillan), The Grotlyn by Benji Davies (HarperCollins), Kevin by Rob Biddulph (HarperCollins), What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday by Julia Donaldson & illustrated by Lydia Monks (Pan Macmillan), Superbat by Matt Carr (Scholastic).

This year the IBW Book Award judging panels will be chaired by former Booksellers Association president, Rosamund de la Hey, and current BA president Nic Bottomley, and will include author Joanna Cannon; Debbie James of The Kibworth Bookshop; Sandy Mahal of UNESCO Nottingham City of Literature; Will Smith, Sam Read Booksellers; Yasmeen Ismail, author and illustrator; author and blogger Wei Ming Kam; Natasha Radford, Chicken & Frog Bookshop and Tony West, Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop.

Bottomley said: “This award is unique, in that its shortlist is generated from the opinions of the nation’s independent booksellers – the daily curators of an immense breadth of fiction and non-fiction titles. When a customer walks into a bookshop and asks for a recommendation, they never know what might fall into their hands; it could be a memoir of multiple close scraps with death, a novel set in 18th century Bristol or anything else in between. For myself and the rest of the panel, judging the variety of titles on offer is going to be a challenge, but an absolute joy to be a part of.”

As voted for by local independent bookshops and judged by a panel of authors, booksellers and journalists, the three winners - in Adult, Children’s and Picture Book categories - will be announced on Friday 15th June, the day before the start of this year’s IBW. The shortlisted and winning titles will be available at all participating bookshops.