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Rooney, Ishiguro and Azumah Nelson lead Book of the Year nominees for The British Book Awards
The 12 shortlists for the British Book Awards Book of the Year have been revealed, with Sally Rooney, Kazuo Ishiguro and Caleb Azumah Nelson all in the running for accolades.
For Fiction Book of the Year, Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber) takes on Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (Faber), in a field which also includes Meg Mason’s bestseller Sorrow and Bliss (Weidenfeld & Nicolson).
Shortlisted for the brand-new Discover Book of the Year, which focuses on underrepresented voices, are Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (Serpent’s Tail), Keisha the Sket by Jade LB (#Merky Books) and actor David Harewood for his book Maybe I Don’t Belong Here (Bluebird), among others.
In the fight for Non-Fiction: Lifestyle, are Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics (Allen Lane), Jane’s Patisserie by Jane Dunn (Ebury), Pinch of Nom Comfort Food (Bluebird), Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm by Jeremy Clarkson (Michael Joseph) and Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen (Macmillan).
Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka’s You Are a Champion (Macmillan Children’s Books) joins Dr Ranj Singh’s How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing! (Wren & Rook) and Abigail Balfe’s A Different Sort of Normal (Puffin) on the Children’s: Non-Fiction shortlist, while Adam Kay is shortlisted for the third year in a row with Kay’s Marvellous Medicine (Puffin).
This year, Audiobook of the Year is split into Fiction and Non-Fiction, with the former celebrating Lisa Jewell for The Night She Disappeared (Penguin Random House Audio), The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien, read by Andy Serkis (HarperFiction) and The Sandman Act II by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs (Audible). In Non-Fiction, Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller (Simon & Schuster UK) battles Will Smith (Will, Penguin Random House Audio) and Billy Connolly (Windswept & Interesting, Two Roads).
Connolly’s book receives its second nomination in the Non-Fiction: Narrative category, alongside Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green’s Vaxxers (Hodder & Stoughton) and Miriam Margolyes’ memoir This Much is True (John Murray Press).
The Début Book of the Year category sees Costa First Novel Award-winner Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking) up against Luster by Raven Leilani (Picador) and Foyles’ Fiction Book of the Year 2021, Assembly by Natasha Brown (Hamish Hamilton).
Last year’s Author of the Year Richard Osman is back with the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice (Viking) in the Fiction: Crime and Thriller Award category, alongside A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (Doubleday) and Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperFiction).
In Children’s: Fiction, David Walliams and J K Rowling return with Megamonster (HarperCollins Children’s Books) and The Christmas Pig (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) respectively, alongside Karen McManus’ You’ll Be the Death of Me (Penguin Random House Children’s). In Children’s: Illustrated, Julia Donaldson and Victoria Sandøy’s The Christmas Pine (Scholastic) goes up against Dapo Adeola’s Hey You! (Puffin Books) and Heartstopper Volume Four by Alice Oseman (Hodder Children’s Books).
The shortlist for the Pageturner Award, introduced last year aiming to reflect word-of-mouth popular fiction across all formats, includes Sophie Kinsella with The Party Crasher (Bantam Press), Jane Fallon’s Worst Idea Ever (Michael Joseph), Elodie Harper’s The Wolf Den (Apollo Fiction) and Claire Chambers’ Small Pleasures (Weidenfeld & Nicolson).
The winners will be decided by separate panels, with judges ranging from broadcaster Gabby Logan and “Sex Education” star Tanya Reynolds to former rugby union player and 2021 “Strictly Come Dancing” contestant Ugo Monye and skincare expert and fomer Nibbies winner Caroline Hirons.
Alice O’Keeffe, books editor of The Bookseller and overall chair of the Books of the Year awards, said: “From fresh new voices to big-brand authors, this year’s shortlists celebrate the very best books published in 2021. In Non-Fiction: Narrative we see the resurgence of the celebrity memoir reflected; the new Discover category showcases books from traditionally underrepresented writers; and this year’s Début shortlist includes some unforgettable first novels that will surely be read far beyond our present time. Some very difficult decisions lie ahead for our judges.”
