Indie Book Awards 2023 Shortlist Revealed

 

The Best Summer Reads as Picked by Independent Bookshops

Indie Book Awards 2023 Shortlist Revealed

Douglas Stuart, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Richard E Grant, Rachel Bright & Jim Field, Katherine Rundell, Kamila Shamsie, Louie Stowell and Jarvis among shortlisted authors

Best paperbacks for the summer selected by indie booksellers

Winners announced on Scala Radio on Friday 23 June

The shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2023, the annual awards curated exclusively by independent bookshops as part of Independent Bookshop Week (IBW, 17-24 June 2023), has been announced.

The awards celebrate the best paperbacks of the summer across four categories – Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Picture Book – and are curated exclusively by the expertise of independent booksellers. The Indie Book Awards are part of Independent Bookshop Week, the annual campaign celebrating indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland between 17 and 24 June, organised by the Booksellers Association.

This year’s shortlist includes the Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart (Young Mungo), Oscar-nominated actor from Withnail and I and Can You Ever Forgive Me? Richard E. Grant (A Pocketful of Happiness), Women Prize-shortlisted author Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead), comedian, actor and writer Robin Ince (The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity), Nigerian writer named among the “BBC's 100 women of 2021” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Notes on Grief) and international best-selling fantasty author A F Steadman (Skandar and the Unicorn Thief).

A judging panel of independent booksellers will decide on the four winners, to be announced on Friday 23 June, the penultimate day of Independent Bookshop Week. The winners will be announced exclusively on Scala Radio, the official media partner of the Indie Book Awards, by Penny Smith at 10:30am.

The full Indie Book Awards 2023 shortlist:

FICTION

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber & Faber)

You Made a Fool Out of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (Faber & Faber)

Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury Circus)

The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews (Raven Books)

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (Picador)

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Picador)

NON-FICTION

Super Infinite by Katherine Rundell (Faber & Faber)

The Instant by Amy Liptrot (Canongate Books)

A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant (Simon & Schuster UK)

The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity by Robin Ince (Atlantic Books)

Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate)

Consumed: The Need for Collective Change; Colonialism, Climate Change & Consumerism by Aja Barber (Brazen)

CHILDREN’S FICTON

The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna (Welbeck Flame)

Marv and the Pool of Peril by Alex Falase-Koya, pictures by Paula Bowles (Oxford University Press)

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A F Steadman (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)

The Elemental Detectives by Patrice Lawrence (Scholastic)

Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Ruling the World by Louie Stowell (Walker Books)

PICTURE BOOK

A Hero Like Me by Jen Reid and Angela Joy, illustrated by Leire Salaberria (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)

John Agard’s Windrush Child by John Agard, illustrated by Sophie Bass (Walker Books)

The Boy With Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis (Walker Books)

Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Nosy Crow)

The Gecko and the Echo by Rachel Bright & Jim Field (Orchard Books)

Timid by Harry Woodgate (Little Tiger)

The Adult categories judging panel consists of Tom Rowley (Backstory, London), Olivia Rosenthall (Maldon Books), Nik Lowe (The Book Stop, St Helens), Lizz de Saulles (Max Minerva’s Marvellous Books & More, Bristol), Mel Griffin (Griffin Books, Penarth).

The Children’s categories will be judged by Alan Flack (The Wonky Tree Bookshop, Leyburn), Liz Tye (Next Page Books, Hitchin), Kayleigh Diggle (Liznojan Books, Tiverton), Emma Corfield-Walters (Book-ish, Crickhowell).

Hannah Gold, author of The Lost Whale, said: “To be shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards for the second-year running is such a huge honour! The Lost Whale covers topics especially close to my heart - the devastating impact of humans on our beautiful marine life but also on a more positive note, the beneficial effects of nature upon our mental health. I call it my love letter to the ocean and I feel especially touched by the support of the independent booksellers, not just of my writing, but also of my goal to ignite a passion for the environment in the hearts of our children. Over the past two years, I have loved seeing my relationship with independent booksellers grow and flourish and one of my favourite things is going to visit them - especially when they offer cake! They really are the true champions of the high street, especially in children's publishing - often hand selling books to their community and being a beacon of hope and compassion in difficult times.”

Skye McKenna, author of Hedgewitch, said: “Independent bookshops are vital to our communities, helping children to develop a love for reading with personal recommendations and providing a safe space for them to explore and discover. Indies across the UK have been incredibly supportive of my debut novel, Hedgewitch, and I've loved working with them to deliver events and book clubs throughout the year. I am delighted to be shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2023 and look forward to meeting more brilliant independent booksellers.”

Amy Liptrot, author of The Instant, said: “I’m really pleased to hear that my book The Instant is up for an Indie Book Award. Individual booksellers have been so important in spreading the word about my books and I’ve often been encouraged just when I’ve needed it by their support, so it’s great that this prize is voted for by them.”

Jen Reid, author of A Hero Like Me, alongside Angela Joy, said: “I was both proud and very excited to learn that A Hero Like Me had been shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards. I cannot wait to share my inspiring story with the younger generations and I hope this beautiful book will inspire them.”

Emily St John Mandel, author of Sea of Tranquility, said: "I am thrilled and honoured to be shortlisted! My first three books were published by a very small press in North America—I didn't even have a UK publisher for them—and independent booksellers championed those books at a time when very few people read my work. I remain immensely grateful for that, and as a reader, there are few spaces I love more than independent bookshops."

Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, said: “We are delighted to celebrate the best paperback reads of the summer in the shortlist of the Indie Book Awards. This year’s shortlist is full of brilliant authors and as they are judged by independent booksellers, you can be sure they’ll be spot-on recommendations for your summer reading list – spanning throught-proviking non-fiction, absorbing novels, delightful picture books and entertaining children’s fiction. We encourage all book-lovers to explore the shortlist, and maybe grab a book or two from your nearest indie bookshop.”

For more information about the Indie Book Awards and previous winners, please visit https://www.booksaremybag.com/IndieBookAwards/About

Follow the latest developments via social media: #IndieBookshopWeek #IndieBookAwards @BooksAreMyBag

About Independent Bookshop Week (IBW)

Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) was launched in 2006 and is part of the Books Are My Bag campaign. It is a celebration of independent bookshops nationwide, and the role ‘indies’ play in their communities. At the end of 2022, the number of independent bookshops in BA membership grew to 1072 shops, up from 867 in 2016. The headline sponsor of Independent Bookshop Week is Hachette UK.

About the Indie Book Awards

Formerly known as the Independent Bookshop Week Book Awards, the Indie Book Awards are voted for by independent bookshops and judged by a panel of independent booksellers.

#IndependentBookShopWeek 15-22 June 2019

15 February - 22nd  June 2019

Independent Bookshop Week (IBW), the annual celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland taking place from 15-22 June, has announced that Hachette UK will continue their longstanding support of IBW as lead campaign sponsor for 2019, with a special ‘OiBW’ Limited Edition Bag (inspired by the iconic Oi books), authors Cressida Cowell, Patrick Gale, and Ben Aaronovitch touring bookshops across the country, and much more.

Cressida Cowell and Patrick Gale

 

Katherine Rundell and Ben Aaronovitch

 

Run by the Booksellers Association as the key summer element of the Books Are My Bag campaign, IBW aims to raise awareness on the role of independent bookshops in their communities. It is designed to drive book lovers into their local bookshop during IBW and beyond.

This year’s IBW will celebrate holiday reading, bookshop tourism, and Bookshop Heroes.

OiBW Limited Edition Bag

Hachette Children’s Books will be producing a special OiBW Limited Edition Bag exclusively for IBW, featuring illustration inspired by the much-loved and hugely successful series of picture books by Kes Gray and Jim Field. 

Author Tours - The 2019 campaign will include tours of award-winning authors across the country.

Hachette Children’s Books will be touring How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell with the paperback of The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic, which is published on 13 June. 

Headline will be arranging a series of special musical events with Sunday Times bestseller Patrick Gale, for the paperback of Take Nothing With You. 

And author and screenwriter Ben Aaronovitch will tour bookshops across the country, which will also have the opportunity to order an exclusively signed independent bookshop edition of The October Man.

Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and prize-winning author Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury) will release a powerful short essay for adult readers on the importance of children’s literature exclusively for IBW. Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise explores how children’s books ignite, and can re-ignite, the imagination and create new perspectives on the world. During IBW, Katherine will be visiting independent bookshops around the UK, talking about her essay as well as her new adventure story for children The Good Thieves.

Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, said “This year’s IBW is already looking bigger and better than ever. We’re hugely excited to have Hachette continuing as our lead publishing sponsor in 2019, and extremely grateful for the incredible support we’re receiving from across the publishing sector, from all our partner publishers. Publishers have been full of ideas for IBW 2019 and we look forward to revealing more about this year’s plans in the coming months!”

Ben Aaronovitch commented: “I love a good independent bookshop, nowhere else can get the same sense of cosy familiarity coupled with the excitement of never knowing what you're going to find on the next shelf. I think, like libraries, that they are cultural resource we will lose at our peril.”

Visit your Indie Book shop and find your next read 

To keep up to date on IBW 2019 follow the latest developments via social media: 

Website

Twitter  @BooksAreMyBag #IndieBookshopWeek

#OneInAMillion Competition...

#OneInAMillion Competition Launches on Bookshop Day

Celebrate 1 Millionth Books Are My Bag Supporter

One Lucky Book Lover Will Win:

A one-off Orla Kiely bag | £250 in National Book Tokens | A Golden Ticket to Hay Festival |A rare print signed by Quentin Blake | Special edition Handmaid’s Tale | Lots of new books expected to be bestsellers this Christmas | West End Tickets

And much more!

London. 9 October 2017. Book lovers in the UK & Ireland have the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime competition with an incredible bundle of prizes on offer to celebrate Books Are My Bag (BAMB) – the annual bookshop campaign – reaching one million supporters this year.

One lucky book lover is in with the chance of winning a host of extraordinary prizes donated from across the book industry and beyond, including a beautiful, totally one-off Orla Kiely luxury leather bag, in the style of this year’s Books Are My Bag tote bag.

To enter, book lovers just need to Tweet #OneInAMillion saying what their favourite bookshop is and why.

The #OneInAMillion Prize winner will take home:

· An exclusive, one-off Orla Kiely leather bag

· £250 in National Book Tokens

· A golden ticket to Hay Festival

· Afternoon Tea for Two at Claridges (Hachette)

· London Zoo tickets and a copy of Zoo Quest (Hachette)

· A limited-edition copy of Alan Bennett’s Keeping on Keeping On, RRP £200 (Faber)

· A limited-edition print from Billy and the Minpins, signed by Quentin Blake (Puffin)

· A special edition Handmaid’s Tale (Vintage)

· A set of Vintage Classics Dickens (Vintage)

· A signed Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World print by Kate Pankhurst (Bloomsbury)

· A signed first-edition copy of Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst (Pan Macmillan)

· A set of PanMacmillan70th Anniversary edition books (Pan Macmillan)

· A pair of tickets to The Christmasaurus Live on Stage at the London Apollo (Penguin Random House) – any date between 20 – 28th December

wo runners up will also be in with the chance of winning the following fantastic prizes:

Second Prize

· A signed copy of Hurrah for Gin by Katie Kirby, together with a bottle of Sipsmith gin (Hachette)

· A copy of Nigella Lawson’s new cookbook, At My Table (Vintage)

· A signed copy of The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein (Bloomsbury)

· A signed copy of My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley (Bloomsbury)

· A signed copy of Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)

· Subscription to the New Scientist magazine (Hachette)

· Haunted House tour and a signed copy of Devil’s Day by Andrew Hurley (Hachette)

· A mounted Emily Sutton print (Bloomsbury)

Third Prize

· A copy of Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and a box set of Stephen King DVD’s (Hachette)

· A signed copy of Down to Earth: Gardening Wisdom by Monty Don (DK)

· A copy of The Creakers by Tom Fletcher (Puffin)

· A signed print of Oliver Jeffers’ new book Here We Are (Penguin Random House)

· A Perfectly Norman print by Tom Percival (Bloomsbury)

The competition marks the 1 millionth Books Are My Bag tote bag to be worn by the public, showing their support for bookshops in the UK & Ireland.

Meryl Halls, Head of Membership Services at the Booksellers Association, said: “Reaching our one millionth supporter is a hugely exciting milestone, and we’re delighted to be able to show our thanks to bookshop lovers across the UK & Ireland with this fabulous prize. It is wonderful to see the book industry coming together to support bookshops with the amazing prizes they have donated. We wish everyone the best of luck, and look forward to hearing all about our supporters’ favourite bookshops!”

Bookshop lovers will have until 7th November to enter the competition, with the lucky winners being revealed on 25th November, when bookshops across the country will offer a Saturday Sanctuary as respite from the business of daily life.

Orla Kiely, said: “I am so happy to have collaborated with the Bookseller’s Association. As a great lover of books and bookshops, nothing gives me more pleasure than discovering a new book, whether it’s a beautiful edition on a new favourite photographer, a great novel or a rare out of print edition. There is nothing more relaxing, inspiring or stimulating than reading and losing oneself in another world. We should all take time to read and importantly, to encourage our children to love books.”

Now in its fifth year, the Books Are My Bag campaign highlights and celebrates the vital role of high street and campus bookshops. Over the last four years, a million people have worn a Books Are My Bag canvas bag in support of the campaign.

More details on Books Are My Bag 2017 will be unveiled in the coming weeks; keep an eye on www.booksaremybag.com for updates.

For more information on events, visit www.booksaremybag.com



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Books Are My Bag 2014....

Are books your bag? 

The biggest-ever promotion of books and bookshops is back for round two. 

Books Are My Bag 2014 launches Thursday 9th October with Big Bookshop Parties on Saturday 11th October

follow on Twitter

#This Bookshop

My Favourite book shop

ebb & flo Bookshop

12 Gillibrand Street 

Chorley

Lancashire

Jo at Ebb & Flo Bookshop

Ebb and Flo is a glorious independent bookshop, which not only has the delicious scent of new books, but also the dazzling aroma of coffee and the enticing lure of cake. It is obvious that the proprietress, Diane, has a real passion for books and is doing all she can to encourage reader participation by organising author events and reading groups.

So, if your town is lucky enough to still have an indie bookshop - do pop in to browse, buy, and to say hello, and  instead of hearing the ping of an email from an on-line book seller, you hear instead the ping of a shop door as it opens into an Aladdin's cave of literary adventure.

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For more information visit

Books Are My Bag