2018 Australian Book Industry Awards Longlist

 

 

 

 

The titles in each category are:

General fiction book of the year

  • Force of Nature (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
  • On the Java Ridge (Jock Serong, Text)
  • The Dark Lake (Sarah Bailey, A&U)
  • The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
  • The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
  • The Secrets She Keeps (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
  • The Tea Gardens (Fiona McIntosh, Michael Joseph)
  • The Trip of a Lifetime (Monica McInerney, Michael Joseph)

Literary fiction book of the year

  • A Long Way Home (Peter Carey, Hamish Hamilton)
  • Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
  • First Person (Richard Flanagan, Knopf)
  • See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
  • Taboo (Kim Scott, Picador)
  • The Choke (Sofie Laguna, A&U)
  • The Life to Come (Michelle de Kretser, A&U)
  • Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)

General nonfiction book of the year

  • Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness (Kate Cole-Adams, Text)
  • Being 14 (Madonna King, Hachette)
  • Depends What You Mean By Extremist (John Safran, Hamish Hamilton)
  • First, We Make The Beast Beautiful (Sarah Wilson, Macmillan)
  • Not Just Lucky (Jamila Rizvi, Viking)
  • Saga Land (Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason, ABC Books)
  • Taming Toxic People (David Gillespie, Macmillan)
  • The Harbour: A City’s Heart, A Country’s Soul (Scott Bevan, S&S)
  • The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)

Biography book of the year

  • A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work (Bernadette Brennan, Text)
  • Danger Music (Eddie Ayres, A&U)
  • The Enigmatic Mr Deakin (Judith Brett, Text)
  • Tracker (Alexis Wright, Giramondo)
  • Unbreakable (Jelena Dokic & Jess Halloran, Ebury)
  • Unmasked (Turia Pitt, Ebury)
  • Wednesdays with Bob (Derek Rielly & Bob Hawke, Macmillan)
  • Working Class Man (Jimmy Barnes, HarperCollins)

Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)

  • Beautiful Mess (Claire Christian, Text)
  • Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology (ed by Danielle Binks, HarperCollins)
  • Frogkisser! (Garth Nix, A&U)
  • My Life as a Hashtag (Gabrielle Williams, A&U)
  • Take Three Girls (Simmone Howell, Cath Crowley & Fiona Wood, Pan)
  • Tales From a Tall Forest (Shaun Micallef, illus by Jonathan Bentley, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • The Silent Invasion (James Bradley, Pan)
  • Untidy Towns, (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)

Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-13)

  • Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase (Peter Helliar, illus by Lesley Vamos, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • Funny Kid for President (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)
  • Maybe (Morris Gleitzman, Viking)
  • Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
  • Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Sally Rippin, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • The Bad Guys Episode 6 (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
  • The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U)
  • The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
  • The 91-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)

Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)

  • Do Not Lick This Book (Idan Ben-Barak, illus by Julian Frost, A&U)
  • Florette (Anna Walker, Viking)
  • I Just Ate My Friend (Heidi McKinnon, A&U)
  • I’m Australian Too (Mem Fox, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)
  • Mopoke (Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
  • Pig the Star (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
  • No One Likes a Fart (Zoë Foster Blake, Viking)
  • The Bum Book (Kate Mayes, illus by Andrew Joyner, ABC Books)
  • The Very Noisy Baby (Alison Lester, Affirm)

Illustrated book of the year

  • Basics to Brilliance Kids (Donna Hay, Fourth Estate)
  • Cornersmith: Salads and Pickles (Alex Elliott-Howery & Sabine Spindler, Murdoch Books)
  • Hummus and Co (Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley, Murdoch Books)
  • Maggie’s Recipe for Life (Maggie Beer & Professor Ralph Martins, S&S)
  • Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants (Kate Herd & Jela Ivankovic-Waters, Thames & Hudson)
  • Ostro (Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Plum)
  • Paris: Through a Fashion Eye (Megan Hess, Hardie Grant Books)
  • The Vegetable (Caroline Griffiths & Vicki Valsamis, Smith Street Books)

International book of the year

  • Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman, HarperCollins)
  • Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (Elena Favilli & Francesa Cavallo, Particular Books)
  • Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth (Oliver Jeffers, HarperCollins)
  • Home Fire (Kamila Shamsie, Bloomsbury Circus)
  • La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One (Philip Pullman, David Fickling Books)
  • Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders, Bloomsbury)
  • Mythos (Stephen Fry, Michael Joseph)
  • The Sun and her Flowers (Rupi Kaur, S&S)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

  • Atlantic Black (A S Patric, Transit Lounge)
  • Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth (Charles Massy, UQP)
  • Cardinal (Louise Milligan, MUP)
  • Journeys into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis (introduction & commentary by Bob Brown, NLA Publishing)
  • The Australian Bird Guide (Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin, CSIRO Publishing)
  • The Restorer (Michael Sala, Text)
  • Museum of Words (Georgia Blain, Scribe)
  • Mirror Sydney (Vanessa Berry, Giramondo)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

  • At the Beach I See (Kamsani Bin Salleh, Magabala)
  • At the Zoo I See (Joshua Button & Robyn Wells, Magabala)
  • Big Fella Rain (Beryl Webber, illus by Fern Martins, Magabala)
  • Hello, Melbourne! (Megan McKean, Thames & Hudson)
  • It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do (Josh Langley, Big Sky Publishing)
  • The Elephant (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
  • Slow Down, World (Tai Snaith, Thames & Hudson)
  • Under the Love Umbrella (Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys, Scribble)

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year

  • Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
  • Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
  • See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
  • Terra Nullius (Claire G Coleman, Hachette)
  • The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
  • The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
  • The Last Man in Europe: A Novel (Dennis Glover, Black Inc.)
  • The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
  • Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)