Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards
British literary award
The Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards are annual literary awards presented by the Booksellers Association in the UK and Ireland since 2016.[1] They are sponsored by National Book Tokens.
History and administration
The awards were launched at the 2016 Booksellers Association conference with the aim of being the first literary awards voted for by the public. A shortlist of books are voted for by bookshops who are members of the Booksellers Association, and the winner of each category is chosen by an online public vote, with over 40,000 people voting in the 2017 awards.[2] The ceremony takes place in November in Foyles bookshop in London.
In 2016, the awards are presented in seven categories of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Biography & Autobiography, Children's, Beautiful Book, Breakthrough Author and Readers' Choice.[3]
In 2017, there are three more categories presented which are Novel, Young Adult and Middle Grade.[4]
Shortlist and winners
| Year | Category | Shortlists | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016[5] | Fiction | Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter | Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter |
| The Green Road by Anne Enright | |||
| The Muse by Jessie Burton | |||
| This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell | |||
| The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon | |||
| Non-Fiction | It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan | Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig | |
| Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane | |||
| Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig | |||
| SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard | |||
| The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan | |||
| When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi | |||
| Biography & Autobiography | Alive Alive Oh! by Diana Athill | The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson | |
| At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell | |||
| Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham | |||
| The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf | |||
| The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink | |||
| The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson | |||
| Children's | Beetle Boy by M. G. Leonard | The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie | |
| One by Sarah Crossan | |||
| The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield | |||
| The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers | |||
| The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie | |||
| The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness | |||
| Beautiful Book | Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop | The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry | |
| Golden Hill by Francis Spufford | |||
| Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood | |||
| Herbarium by Caz Hildebrand | |||
| The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Abi Elphinstone | Joanna Cannon | |
| Amy Liptrot | |||
| Andrew Michael Hurley | |||
| Han Kang | |||
| Joanna Cannon | |||
| Kit de Waal | |||
| Lisa McInerney | |||
| Rowan Hisayo Buchanan | |||
| Readers' Choice | The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla | ||
| 2017[6] | Popular Fiction | Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman | How to Stop Time by Matt Haig |
| How to Stop Time by Matt Haig | |||
| Munich by Robert Harris | |||
| The Dry by Jane Harper | |||
| The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan | |||
| The Power by Naomi Alderman | |||
| Non-Fiction | East West Street by Philippe Sands | This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay | |
| Scribbles in the Margins by Daniel Gray | |||
| The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrère | |||
| This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay | |||
| Travels with my Sketchbook by Chris Riddell | |||
| Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge | |||
| Novel | Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore | The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead | |
| Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney | |||
| Hot Milk by Deborah Levy | |||
| Swing Time by Zadie Smith | |||
| The End We Start From by Megan Hunter | |||
| The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead | |||
| Young Adult | Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais | The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas | |
| Release by Patrick Ness | |||
| Ink by Alice Broadway | |||
| The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas | |||
| Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls | |||
| Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird | |||
| Middle Grade | Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll | Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll | |
| Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl | |||
| Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell | |||
| The Explorer by Katherine Rundell | |||
| The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stephens and Siobhan Dowd | |||
| Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans | |||
| Beautiful Book | As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Alex Preston and Neil Gower | The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris | |
| Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi | |||
| Ravilious & Co by Andy Friend | |||
| Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan | |||
| The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley | |||
| The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Abir Mukherjee | Kae Tempest | |
| Édouard Louis | |||
| Fiona Mozley | |||
| Harriet Cummings | |||
| Kae Tempest | |||
| Mary Paulson-Ellis | |||
| Readers' Choice | This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay | ||
| 2018[7] | Novel | Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie | The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton |
| Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty | |||
| The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar | |||
| The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce | |||
| The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton | |||
| Tin Man by Sarah Winman | |||
| Non-Fiction | Educated by Tara Westover | The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken by The Secret Barrister | |
| How Not to Be a Boy by Robert Webb | |||
| I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell | |||
| Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig | |||
| The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell | |||
| The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken by The Secret Barrister | |||
| Poetry | 100 Poems by Seamus Heaney | The Last Hedgehog by Pam Ayres | |
| England: Poems from a School edited by Kate Clanchy | |||
| Off the Shelf edited by Carol Ann Duffy | |||
| She Must Be Mad by Charly Cox | |||
| The Last Hedgehog by Pam Ayres | |||
| The Poetry Pharmacy by William Sieghart | |||
| Young Adult | A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge | La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One by Philip Pullman | |
| A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood | |||
| Bookshop Girl by Chloe Coles | |||
| Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi | |||
| La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One by Philip Pullman | |||
| Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean | |||
| Middle Grade | A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens | The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle | |
| Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy | |||
| Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend | |||
| Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks and Quinton Winter | |||
| The 1,000-year-old Boy by Ross Welford | |||
| The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle | |||
| Beautiful Book | A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood | Virago Modern Classics 40th anniversary series designed by Hannah Wood, illustrated by Yehrin Tong | |
| Bookworm by Lucy Mangan | |||
| Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively | |||
| The Librarian by Salley Vickers | |||
| The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood by John Lewis-Stempel | |||
| Virago Modern Classics 40th anniversary series designed by Hannah Wood, illustrated by Yehrin Tong | |||
| Breakthrough Author | A J Pearce | Sarah J. Harris | |
| Joe Heap | |||
| Laura Carlin | |||
| Polly Clark | |||
| Preti Taneja | |||
| Sarah J. Harris | |||
| Sophie Mackintosh | |||
| Tommy Orange | |||
| Readers' Choice | Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman | ||
| Outstanding Contribution to Bookselling | Vivian Archer, Newham Bookshop | ||
| 2019[8] | Fiction | Lanny by Max Porter | Circe by Madeline Miller |
| Circe by Madeline Miller | |||
| An American Marriage by Tayari Jones | |||
| The Binding by Bridget Collins | |||
| Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession | |||
| Washington Black by Esi Edugyan | |||
| Non-Fiction | The Salt Path by Raynor Winn | Becoming by Michelle Obama | |
| Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm by Isabella Tree | |||
| No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg | |||
| Becoming by Michelle Obama | |||
| Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez | |||
| A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings by Helen Jukes | |||
| Poetry | The Flame by Leonard Cohen | The Flame by Leonard Cohen | |
| Poems to Fall in Love With by Chris Riddell | |||
| The Poetry Pharmacy Returns by William Sieghart | |||
| The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta | |||
| The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell | |||
| A Year of Nature Poems by Joseph Coelho and Kelly Louise Judd | |||
| Young Adult | On the Come Up by Angie Thomas | Toffee by Sarah Crossan | |
| "I Will Not Be Erased": Our stories about growing up as people of colour by gal-dem | |||
| Proud by various authors with foreword by Juno Dawson | |||
| Toffee by Sarah Crossan | |||
| Becoming Dinah by Kit de Waal | |||
| Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman | |||
| Children's Fiction | Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love | No Ballet Shoes In Syria by Catherine Bruton | |
| Malamander by Thomas Taylor | |||
| Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James | |||
| No Ballet Shoes In Syria by Catherine Bruton | |||
| Rumblestar by Abi Elphinstone | |||
| The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell | |||
| Beautiful Book | Circe by Madeline Miller | The Binding by Bridget Collins | |
| The Binding by Bridget Collins | |||
| The Lost Words: Spell Songs by various including Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris | |||
| How To Eat a Peach by Diana Henry | |||
| Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders with foreword by Shaun Tan | |||
| All the Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Candice Carty-Williams | Greta Thunberg | |
| Raynor Winn | |||
| Ocean Vuong | |||
| Onjali Q. Raúf | |||
| Greta Thunberg | |||
| Kerry Hudson | |||
| Readers' Choice | Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez | ||
| Outstanding Contribution to Bookselling | Trevor Goul-Wheeker, former chairman at Blackwell's | ||
| 2020[9] | Fiction | Boy Parts by Eliza Clark | The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton |
| The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton | |||
| Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo | |||
| The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett | |||
| Weather by Jenny Offill | |||
| Non-Fiction | The Dance Cure by Dr Peter Lovatt | Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty | |
| Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty | |||
| Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman | |||
| Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent by Priyamvada Gopal | |||
| Poetry | Homie by Danez Smith | Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright: An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year by Britta Teckentrup and Fiona Waters | |
| Seagull Seagull by James K. Baxter | |||
| Sylvanian Family by Summer Young | |||
| Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright: An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year by Britta Teckentrup and Fiona Waters | |||
| Young Adult Fiction | Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi | Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron | |
| Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron | |||
| The Crossover: Graphic Novel by Kwame Alexander | |||
| Heartstopper Vol 3 by Alice Oseman | |||
| Children's Fiction | A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll | The Highland Falcon Thief by M. G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman | |
| Blended by Sharon Draper | |||
| Gargantis by Thomas Taylor | |||
| The Highland Falcon Thief by M. G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Brit Bennett | Jean Menzies | |
| Jean Menzies | |||
| Kiley Reid | |||
| Douglas Stuart | |||
| Readers' Choice | Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell | ||
| 2021[10] | Fiction | Still Life by Sarah Winman | Still Life by Sarah Winman |
| Assembly by Natasha Brown | |||
| Panenka by Rónán Hession | |||
| The Appeal by Janice Hallett | |||
| Non-Fiction | The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall | I Belong Here by Anita Sethi | |
| Ancestors by Alice Roberts | |||
| The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes | |||
| I Belong Here by Anita Sethi | |||
| Poetry | The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman | The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman | |
| Slug by Hollie McNish | |||
| Empty Nest by Carol Ann Duffy | |||
| The Heeding by Rob Cowen & Nick Hayes | |||
| Young Adult Fiction | The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff | Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé | |
| The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud | |||
| Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé | |||
| All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue | |||
| Children's Fiction | Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston | When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle | |
| Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll | |||
| By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison | |||
| When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Dara McAnulty | Marcus Rashford | |
| Elle McNicoll | |||
| Monique Roffey | |||
| Marcus Rashford | |||
| Readers' Choice | The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman | ||
| 2022[11] | Fiction | Heaven by Mieko Kawakami | Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson |
| Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson | |||
| Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield | |||
| Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | |||
| Non-Fiction | Ghost Signs by Stu Hennigan | The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye | |
| Otherlands: A World in the Making by Thomas Halliday | |||
| The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye | |||
| Without Warnings and Only Sometimes by Kit de Waal | |||
| Poetry | Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in her Head by Warsan Shire | The Fire People: A Collection of British Black and Asian Poetry by Lemn Sissay | |
| The Fire People: A Collection of British Black and Asian Poetry by Lemn Sissay | |||
| Limbic by Peter Scalpello | |||
| 100 Queer Poems edited by Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan | |||
| Young Adult Fiction | All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown | All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown | |
| I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston | |||
| The King is Dead by Benjamin Dean | |||
| When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando | |||
| Children's Fiction | Grimwood: Let the Fur Fly! by Nadia Shireen | Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell | |
| Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll | |||
| Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell | |||
| Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Mieko Kawakami | Alice Oseman | |
| Alice Oseman | |||
| Jamie Smart | |||
| Gabrielle Zevin | |||
| Readers' Choice | Heartstopper by Alice Oseman | ||
| 2023[12] | Fiction | Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin |
| Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver | |||
| Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel | |||
| Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang | |||
| Non-Fiction | Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken | Strong Female Character by Fern Brady | |
| Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent | |||
| Pageboy by Elliot Page | |||
| Strong Female Character by Fern Brady | |||
| Poetry | Divisible By Itself and One by Kae Tempest | The Cat Prince & Other Poems by Michael Pedersen | |
| More Fiya by Kayo Chingonyi | |||
| Bad Diaspora Poems by Momtaza Mehri | |||
| The Cat Prince & Other Poems by Michael Pedersen | |||
| Young Adult Fiction | Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher | Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher | |
| Promise Boys by Nick Brooks | |||
| The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes | |||
| Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald | |||
| Children's Fiction | Jamie by L. D. Lapinski | Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell | |
| Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell | |||
| The Skull by Jon Klassen | |||
| Greenwild by Pari Thomson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli | |||
| Breakthrough Author | Rebecca F. Kuang | Bonnie Garmus | |
| Bonnie Garmus | |||
| Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah | |||
| Sheena Patel | |||
| Readers' Choice | Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus |
References
- ^ "BAMB Readers Awards to launch this year | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ "Doctor's diary This is Going to Hurt wins public vote for book of the year". The Guardian. 21 November 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ^ "8 Penguin Random House nods for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards". www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ "The most beautiful books of 2017". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "BAMB Readers Awards Presented". Booksellers Association. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards: Shortlist Revealed". Booksellers Association. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "BAMBRA 2018 shortlists announced". Booksellers Association. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Obama, Porter and Thunberg shortlisted for BAMB reader awards". The Bookseller. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards shortlist announced". Booksellers Association. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2021 shortlist announced". Booksellers Association. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "BAMB Readers Awards 2022". National Book Tokens. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ "Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2023". National Book Tokens. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
