
I try to read some of the prize winning books each year. Here is this year’s list of winners. If it is in bold, I have read it. This link takes you to a calendar of dates for the prizes.
2023 Winners
- Amazon Book Editors Book of the Year – December
- American Library Association book list of the year –
- Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Awards –
- Andrew Carneigie Medal for Excellence (AC)- The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
- Aspen Words Literary Prize (AWP)- 19th April – The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and other stories by Jamil Jan Kichal
- Audie Awards (AA) – 28th March – Finding Me by Viola Davis, Unprotected by Billy Porter, Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, Fairy Tale by Stephen King, Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris, The Heron by Don Winslow, The Ransomware Hunting Team by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden, Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner
- Arthur C Clarke Award – August – Venemous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman
- The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (BGP)- 8th Oct, 16th Nov
- The Baillie Gifford Winner of Winners Prize (BGWoW) – 27th April – 1599 A Year in the Life of Shakespeare
- The Best First Novel Award from The Author’s Club – 20th April, 24th May – When We Were Birds by Ayanna lloyd Banwo
- Betty Trask Award (BTA) – Mercia’s Take by Daniel Wiles
- The Booker Prize for Fiction – July, September 21st and October 26th
- The British Book Awards (BBA) – 15th May – Menopausing by Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter, Super Infinite by Katherine Rundell, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, Babel by R F Kuang, I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel, A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant, Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
- The Carol Shields Prize (CSP) – When we Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar
- Costa Book Prizes –
- Crime Fiction Lover Award – December
- Crime Writers Association Daggers Award – Agent Seventeen by John Brownlow, Dirt Town by Amy Scrivenor, The Darkest Sin by DV Bishop, Unlawful Killings by Wendy Joseph, Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas, Walter Mosley
- The Cundhill History Prize – Sept 27th
- The Desmond Elliot Prize – November
- The Dublin Literary Awards (DLA) – 25th May – Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp and translator Jo Heinrich
- Edgar Award (EA)– 27th April – Or Else by Joe Hart, Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry, Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
- Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Book Awards (F&M) – 11th April, 11th May – Food for Life by Tim Specter
- Foyles Book of the Year – December
- Garden Media Guild Awards – November
- Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award (GBGBA) – September
- The Gordon Burn Prize (Biennial) 2024
- The International Dylan Thomas Prize (DTP) – 11th May – God’s Children are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
- James Tait Black Prize (JTBP) – July – Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Come Back in September by Darryl Pinkney,
- Jhalak Prize – (JP) 18th April, 25th May – None of the Above by Travis Alabanza
- Joyce Carol Oates Prize (JCO)- Dec 22, March and April
- The Kirkus Prize – August, Oct 11th
- Independent Book Awards (IBA) – May 13th, – Runt by Craig Silvey
- The International Booker Prize (IBP) – 12th April, May – Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel
- The International Thriller Writers’ Best First Novel Award (ITW)- Feb and June The Resemblance by Lauren Nossett
- Lambda Literary Awards (Lammy Awards) –
- The Los Angeles Times Book Awards (LAT)- 23rd April, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage, Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, Wash Day Diaries by Rowser and Smith, By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners by Margaret A Burnham, Secret Identity by AlexSegura, How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, Spear by Nicola Griffith
- The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize –
- The McIlvanney Prize – 17th September – Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley
- National Book Awards – Mid September, 3rd October
- The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) -23rd March Bliss Montage by Ling Ma, The Method: How the 20th Century learned to Act by Isaac Butler, G-Man by Beverly Gage, Stay True by Hua Hsu, Night of the Living Res by Morgan Talty
- The Nebula Award (NA) – 14th May – Babel by R F Kuang
- Neustadt International Prize for Literature – (biennial) Not 2023
- The Nobel Prize for Literature – 10th December
- The Orwell Book Prize for Political Fiction – 22nd June – Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen by Peter Apps, New Life by Tom Crewe
- Pen America literary Awards (PFAWF) –
- Pen/Faulkner Awards – 4th April – The Book of Goose by Yiyun Lee
- Pulitzer Prize – 8th May – Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Trust by Hernan Diaz
- The Portico Prize – Biennial – Not 2023
- Rathbone Folio Prize (RFP)- 27th March Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson
- The Royal Society of Literature Awards – June Heritage Aesthetics by Anthony Anaxagorou
- Royal Society Science Book Prize – November
- The Scotiabank Giller Prize – 6th September, 11th October, 13th November
- Stanford Dolman Travel Award -(ESTW) – 16th March In the Shadow of the Mountain
- The Story Prize (TSP) – Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
- The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction –
- Waterstones Book of the Year – December
- Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize – August – In Memoriam by Alice Winn
- The Wainwright Prize – 23rd June, 28th July and 7th September – The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole, The Flow by Amy-Jane Beer
- The Women’s Prize for Fiction (WPFF)- 7th March, 26th April, 14th June Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
2022 Winners
- Amazon Book Editors Book of the Year – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- American Library Association book list of the year – See the book lists here
- Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Awards – Baking with Fortitude by Dee Rettali, Inside Burgundy by Jasper Morris,
- Andrew Carneigie Medal for Excellence – The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin (F) and A Little Devil in America: In praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
- Aspen Words Literary Prize – The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
- Audie Awards – Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Sherlock Holmes: The Seamstress of Peckam Rye by Jonathan Barnes, Somebodies Daughter by Ashley C Ford, The Parted Earth by Anjali Enjeti, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
- Arthur C Clarke Award – The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
- The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction – Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell
- The Best First Novel Award from The Author’s Club – Before My Actual Heart Breaks by Tish Delaney
- The Booker Prize for Fiction – The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
- The British Book Awards – Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson, The Lyrics 1956 – present by Paul McCartney, Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera, The Dark Remains by McIlvanney and Rankin, Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers, Windswept and interesting by Billy Connolly (audiobook)
- Costa Book Prizes – (2021)The Kids by Hannah Lowe, Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson, Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller, Fall by John Preston
- Crime Fiction Lover Award – The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths, Razor Blade Tears by S. A. Cosby, The Source by Sarah Sultoon, Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden, The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson, Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri
- Crime Writers Association Daggers Award – CJ Sansom, Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin, Dead Ground by M. W. Craven, The Appeal by Janice Hallett, The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey by Julia Laite, Hotel Cartagena by Simone Buchholz trans. by Rachel Ward, The 10:12 by Anna Maloney
- The Cundhill History Prize – All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
- Edgar Award – Five Decembers by James Kestrel, Deer Season by Erin Flanagan, Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks, Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green
- Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Book Awards – Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino, The Female Chef by Clare Finney & Liz Seabrook, Crave by Ed Smith, A Year in Beer by Jonny Garrett, Baked to Perfection by Katarina Cermelji, The South America Wine Guide by Amanda Barnes and Amigos
- Foyles Book of the Year – I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel, Otherlands: A Word in the Making by Thomas Halliday
- Garden Media Guild Awards – The Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening by Mark Ridsdill Smith, Wild Gardens by Stephanie Mahon
- Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award – The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
- The International Dylan Thomas Prize – No One is Talking about This by Patricia Lockwood
- Jhalak Prize – The Roles We Play by Sabba Khan
- Joyce Carol Oates Prize – Matrix by Lauren Groff
- The Kirkus Prize – Trust by Hernan Diaz, In Sensorium by Tanais
- The International Booker Prize – Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell
- Lambda Literary Awards (Lammy Awards) – Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie, 100 Boyfriends by
- Brontez Purnell, We Want What We Want by Alix Ohlin, Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton, Borealis by Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison, Let the Record Show: A Political History of Act Up New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman
- The Los Angeles Times Book Awards – Brood by Jackie Polzin, Burning Boy by Paul Aster, Real Estate by Deborah Levy, Midnight in Washington by Adam Schiff, In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo, Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer, The Turnout Megan Abbott
- The McIlvanney Prize – Five Decembers by James Kestrel
- National Book Awards – Longlist September 16th, Shortlist October 4th, Winners November 16th
- The National Book Critics Circle – The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
- Neustadt International Prize for Literature – (biennial) Boubacar Boris Diop
- The Nobel Prize for Literature – Annie Ernaux
- The Orwell Book Prize for Political Fiction – Small things Like These by Claire Keegan and My Fourth Time we Drowned by Sally Hayden
- Pen America literary Awards – Migratory Birds by Mariane Oliver, Fox and I: Uncommon friendship by Catherine Raven, The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernández, All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner
- Pen/Faulkner Awards – The Wrong End of the Telescope Rabih Alameddine
- Pulitzer Prize – The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen, Covered with Light by Nicole Eustace, Cuba by Ada Ferrer
- The Portico Prize – Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J Morgan
- Rathbone Folio Prize – The Magician, Colm Tóibín
- The Royal Society of Literature Awards – The Shadowy Third by Elizabeth Bowen
- Royal Society Science Book Prize – A Very Short History of LIfe on Earth by Henry Gee
- Stanford Dolman Travel Award – The Amur River by Colin Thubron, Ripe Figs by Yasmin Khan, The Country of Others by Leila Slimane
- The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction – News of The Dead by James Robertson
- Waterstones Book of the Year – The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel
- Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize – The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
- The Wainwright Prize – Goshawk Summer by James Aldred
- The Women’s Prize for Fiction – The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
2021 Winners
- Amazon Book Editors Book of the Year – The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
- Andrew Carneigie Medal for Excellence – Deacon King Kong by James McBride and Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs
- Andre Simon Awards (Food and Drink) – Red Sands by Caroline Eden
- Arthur C Clarke Award – The Animals in that Country by Laura Jean McKay
- The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction – Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
- The Best First Novel Award – Love after Love by Ingrid Persaud
- The Booker Prize for Fiction – The Promise by Damon Galgut
- The British Book Awards – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- Costa Book Prizes – The Kids by Hannah Lowe (Poetry)
- Crime Writers Association Daggers Award – We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan, When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
- Edgar Award – Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
- Garden Media Guild Book Awards – Cut and Dry by Carolyn Dunster, The Wardian Case by Luke Keogh,
- Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2021 –
- The International Dylan Thomas Prize – Luster by Raven Leilani
- Jhalak Prize – The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence
- Kirkus Prize – Harrow by Joy Williams and Punch me up to the Gods by Brian Broome
- Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Book Awards – English Pastoral by James Rebanks, Hungry by Grace Dent, Falastin by Sami Tamimi, Tara Wigley, Wine Girl by Victoria James,
- The Man Booker International Prize – At Night all Blood is Black by David Diop
- The McIlvanney Prize – Hyde by Craig Russell, Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison
- The National Book Critics Circle – The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe, Clairvoyant of the Small by Susan Bernofsky, Natasha Soudek, et al, A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib,
- The Orwell Book Prize for Political Fiction – Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition and Compromise in Putin’s Russia by Joshua Yaffa
- The Portico Prize – Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J Morgan
- Rathbone Folio Prize – In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado
- The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction – The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel
- Waterstones Book of the Year – The Lyrics 1956 – presented by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon
- The Wainwright Prize – English Pastoral by James Rebank and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
- The Women’s Prize for Fiction – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell