Recent Award Winners


Pulitzer Prize, 2023


Fiction


Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver


The son of an Appalachian teenager uses his good looks, wit and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses in the new novel from the best-selling author of Unsheltered.

Pulitzer Prize, 2023


Fiction

Trust by Hernán Díaz

Told from the perspective of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction, this unrivaled novel about money, power, intimacy and perception is centered around the mystery of how the Rask family acquired their immense fortune in 1920s-1930's New York City. 

National Book Award, 2022


Fiction

The Rabbit Hutch 

by Tess Gunty

Set in the post-industrial Midwest, this story of loneliness and community, entrapment and freedom, follows Blandine, who lives with three other teens in a run-down apartment building known as the Rabbit Hutch, as she embarks on a quest for transcendence that culminates in a shocking act of violence. 

National Book Award, 2022


Translated Literature

Seven Empty Houses 

by Samanta Schweblin, trans. Megan McDowell

Published for the first time in English, Schweblin presents seven stories in which seven houses are devoid of love or life or furniture, of people or the truth or of memories, but something always creeps back in. 

International Booker Prize, 2022

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjai Shree, trans. Daisy Rockwell

After her husband’s death, an 80-year old woman makes surprising life changes and travels back to Pakistan with her daughter.

British Book Awards, 2023

Fiction


Nebula Awards, 2022

Novel

Babel 

by R.F. Kuang


A Chinese boy orphaned by cholera and raised in Britain is trained to work at Oxford's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, the world's center for translation and magic through silver working where he must choose between competing loyalties. 

British Book Awards, 2023


Page Turner

Verity 

by Colleen Hoover

Struggling writer Lowen travels to the late bestselling author Verity Crawford's house in order to finish writing her remaining books. When she arrives, she finds Verity's unpublished and unread autobiography filled with secrets. 

British Book Awards, 2023


Crime & Thriller

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett


A new novel explores the mysterious connection between a teacher's disappearance and an unsolved code in a children's book.


British Book Awards, 2023


Debut Novel

Trespasses

by Louise Kennedy


As tender as it is unflinching, Trespasses is a masterfully executed and intimate portrait of those caught between the warring realms of the personal and political, rooted in a turbulent and brutally imagined moment of history where it's not just what you do that matters, but what you are. 

PEN America Literary Awards, 2023


Jean Stein Book Award

Dr. No by Percival Everett

The protagonist of Percival Everett’s puckish new novel is a brilliant professor of mathematics who goes by Wala Kitu. (Wala, he explains, means “nothing” in Tagalog, and Kitu is Swahili for “nothing.”) He is an expert on nothing. That is to say, he is an expert, and his area of study is nothing, and he does nothing about it. This makes him the perfect partner for the aspiring villain John Sill, who wants to break into Fort Knox to steal, well, not gold bars but a shoebox containing nothing. With the help of the brainy and brainwashed astrophysicist-turned-henchwoman Eigen Vector, our professor tries to foil the villain while remaining in his employ.

PEN America Literary Awards, 2023


Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty -- with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight -- breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. 

PEN America Literary Awards, 2023


Hemingway Award for Debut Novel

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah

Follows the life of Ever Geimausaddle, a young Native American, through the multigenerational perspectives of his family as they face policy corruption, threats of job loss, constant resettlement and the pent up rage of centuries of injustice. 

Nebula Awards, 2022


Novella

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk


Offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell, a magical detective in Chicago is given three days to track down the White City Vampire and the chance to live out the rest of her life. 
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World Fantasy Awards, 2022


Novella

And What Can We Offer You Tonight 

by Premee Mohamed

In a dystopian society, courtesan Jewel and a murdered friend who comes back to life seek revenge.

World Fantasy Awards, 2022


Novel

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Trapped in a ruined temple that once held mysterious magic, exiled Princess Malini meets Priya, the regeant's servant assigned to clean her chambers. 

Locus Awards, 2022

Science Fiction


Hugo Awards 2022

Novel

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (Teixcalaan #2) 

An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. 

Locus Awards, 2022


Fantasy

Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee (The Green Bone Saga #3)

The Kaul family, as the world demands access to jade and the supernatural abilities it provides, must discern allies from enemies, set aside bloody rivalries and make terrible sacrifices to ensure the survival of the Green Bone clans and the nation they are sworn to protect. 
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- Locus Awards, 2022

Horror

- Bram Stoker Awards, 2021

Novel

My Heart is a Chainsaw 

by Stephen Graham Jones

Intense and gory, this book is from the perspective of Jade, a 17-year-old girl who starts seeing the things that happen in horror films she watches happening in her town.

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Bram Stoker Awards,

2021


First Novel

Queen of Teeth 

by Hailey Piper

Yaya finds teeth between her legs and then AlphaBeta Pharmaceutical company starts to ruin her life.

Edgar Awards, 2023


Best Novel

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka


Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life.

Edgar Awards, 2023


First Novel

Don't Know Tough by Eli Cranor

 

Trent Powers relocates his family from Anaheim to Arkansas to take over as head coach of the Denton Pirates, a high school football team powered by a volatile but talented running back named Billy Lowe. Billy comes from an extremely troubled home: a trailer park where he is terrorized by his unstable mother's abusive boyfriend. Billy takes out his anger on the field, and it's not long before he crosses a line. Instead of punishing him, though, Trent takes Billy into his home, hoping to protect his star player as the Pirates begin their playoff run. But when Billy's stepfather is found murdered, nothing can stop an explosive chain of violence that could tear the town apart. 

Romance Novel Awards, 2022


Fantasy Romantic Novel

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Robin Blyth is accidentally named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society and is forced to contend with the beauty and danger operating beneath normal reality while uncovering what happened to his predecessor. 

Swoon Awards, 2022


Historical Romance

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was.

Swoon Awards, 2022


Contemporary Romance

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Agreeing to a holiday escape to the country, literary agent Nora keeps running into a bookish, hardheaded, arrogant editor she knows from Manhattan, and wishes she didn't, even as she discovers they have more in common than previously thought.

Swoon Awards, 2022


Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously. But someone does.  
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Society of American Historians Prize for Historical Fiction, 2021

Conjure Women 

by Afia Atakora

The interconnected stories of three women living on a plantation in the South before and after the Civil War: healing woman Miss May Belle, her daughter Rue, and the daughter of the plantation owner, Varina.

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David J. Langum Sr. Prize, 2021

Ridgeline 

by Michael Punke

An historical action book based on conflict between Crazy Horse and the Lakota and the white settlers intent on destroying the Lakota and claiming the land in December 1866.

Agatha Awards, 2022


Contemporary Novel

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

It's spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter, but not everything buried should come alive again, not everything lying dormant should reemerge. But something has... 

Agatha Awards, 2022


First Novel

Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss

The small town of Yarrow Glen is Willa's fresh start, and she's determined to make it a success – starting with a visit from the local food critic. What Willa didn’t know is that this guy never gives a good review, and when he shows up nothing goes according to plan. She doesn’t think the night can get any worse... until she finds the critic’s dead body, stabbed with one of her shop’s cheese knives. 
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Stonewall Awards, 2022


Barbara Gittings Literature Award

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

At 7 months pregnant, Vern escapes a religious compound and gives birth in the woods.
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Lambda Awards, 2022

Lesbian Fiction

Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie

Skye is forty and living out of a suitcase when a twelve-year old shows up and tells Skye she was born from one of the eggs that Skye donated fifteen years ago.
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Lambda Awards, 2022

Gay Fiction

100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

A book of funny, sometimes heartbreaking, often chaotic and brutally honest short stories about the lives and sexual experiences of gay men. 
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Lambda Awards, 2022

Bisexual Fiction

We Want What We Want 

by Alix Ohlin

Thirteen very different short stories about people’s lives, families, desires, and surprises.
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Lambda Awards, 2022

Transgender Fiction

Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton

Gala, a young trans woman, is obsessed with a band that stopped making music called the Get Happies and begins to write to B—-, the band’s leader.

National Jewish Book Award, 2022

JJ Greenberg Memorial Award for Fiction

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

When the Shenkmans arrive on Division Street, their brilliant, lonely son Waldo, who has a native ability to find connections in everything, befriends Dr. Wilf, who is harboring a dark secret, setting in motion a chain of events that cause the past to come back with a vengeance. 
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International Latino Book Awards, 2022

Latino Focused Fiction

 L.A. Weather 

by Maria Amparo Escandon

An affluent Mexican-American family of two parents and three daughters struggle to answer difficult questions as the weather changes.
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International Latino Book Awards, 2022

Inspiration Fiction

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water 

by Angie Cruz

When she loses her job in her mid-50s, Cara meets with a job counselor and ends up sharing her life story over the course of twelve sessions.

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International Latino Book Awards, 2022

Popular Fiction

All Day is a Long Time 

by David Sanchez

Growing up on Florida’s Gulf Coast, David struggles with addiction, rehab, and finding his place in the world.

Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, 2022

Mother Country by Jacinda Townsend

Shannon, an African American woman, follows her boyfriend to Morocco. There, she finds a toddler and makes the decision to adopt and raise the girl in Kentucky. But the girl already has a mother: Souria, an undocumented Mauritanian woman who was trafficked as a teen, and who managed to escape to Morocco to build another life. 

BCALA Literary Awards, 2023

First Novelist

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to 'share the black cake when the time is right'? 

BCALA Literary Awards, 2023

Fiction

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

In 1973 Montgomery, Alabama, Civil Townsend, a young Black nurse working for the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, grapples with her role when she takes two young girls into her heart and the unthinkable happens, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them. 

Asian/Pacific American Awards, 2023

Adult Fiction

American Fever by Dur E Aziz Amna

On a year-long exchange program in rural Oregon, sixteen-year-old Hira must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama. A skeptically witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. 

Arab American Book Award, 2022

Fiction

Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah

After the birth of their first child, newlyweds Muneer and Saeedah divorce. Muneer will return to Saudi Arabia, while Saeedah remains in Cleveland with their daughter, Hanadi. Consumed by a growing fear of losing her daughter, Saeedah disappears with the little girl, leaving Muneer to desperately search for his daughter for years. 

Christy Awards, 2022

Mystery, suspense, thriller

Aftermath by Terri Blackstock

A childhood friend and the faith she taught him got Dustin through his childhood. But friendship might be what destroys him now, and his faith is slipping away.

Christy Awards, 2022

General Fiction

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

When Sarah returns home with hopes of running Old Depot Grocery, the long-buried past will be brought into the light and threaten not only to destroy the family business but sever the family ties.

Christy Awards, 2022

Historical Romance

Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

When the Nazis march into Paris, an American woman uses her bookstore to aid the resistance, while a businessman chooses to sell his products to Germany--and send vital information home to the US. 

National Book Critics Circle Awards, 2022

Fiction

Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma


A new creation by the author of Severance, the stories in Bliss Montage crash through our carefully built mirages. 

National Book Critics Circle Awards, 2022

Autobiography

Stay True by Hua Hsu

A New Yorker staff writer, in this gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for self and the solace that can be found through art, recounts his close friendship with Ken, with whom he endured the successes and humiliations of everyday college life until Ken was violently, senselessly taken away from him. 

Women's Prize for Fiction, 2022

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Thirteen-year-old Benny Oh starts to hear voices after the death of his musician father.... At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices drive him to seek sanctuary in the silence of a large public library, where objects are quieter. There, Benny encounters a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he finds his very own Book, who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that are important.