Readers across the UK have picked books with a Japanese flavour among the best books of 2024, in the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, sponsored by National Book Tokens.
 
Announced tonight at an awards ceremony held at Foyles, Charing Cross Road and hosted by Loose Women’s presenter and author Charlene White, the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards celebrate the best books of the year. With a shortlist curated by booksellers, winners were selected entirely by readers across the UK and Ireland, through a public vote.
 
Japanese-inspired books were among the readers’ favourite books of the year, with Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad winning in the Non-Fiction category and also in the public vote driven category Readers’ Choice. The book chronicles the author’s life in Japan, which he also documents on his YouTube channel, followed by over 3.1 million fans. Meanwhile, Tokyo-born writer Asako Yuzuki was crowned Breakthrough Author, for her cult Japanese bestselling novel which took the world by storm, Butter, based on a real-life case of a cook turned murderer.
 
Other winners in the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2024 include: much-loved best-selling author David Nicholls, for his new love story of first encounters, second chances and the search for human connection in You Are Here; Readers Awards previous winner Hollie McNish, for her new poetry collection Lobster, exploring love in a flawed world; master of mystery Holly Jackson and creator of the best-selling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, for her the thrilling novel The Reappearance of Rachel Price; and Ross Montgomery, award-winning fantasy children’s author for his latest adventure, I Am Rebel.
 
The 2024 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards Winners, as voted by readers:
 
Fiction
You Are Here by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)
 
Non-Fiction
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad (Transworld)
 
Poetry
Lobster: and other things I’m learning to love by Hollie McNish (Little Brown)
 
Young Adult Fiction
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (HarperCollins)
 
Children’s Fiction
I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery (Walker Books)
 
Breakthrough Author
Asako Yuzuki, author of Butter (HarperCollins)
 
Readers’ Choice
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad (Transworld)
 
David Nicholls said: “I’m entirely thrilled to win the Fiction Award, and to find You Are Here alongside these fine novels. The booksellers who select the shortlist have chosen some fantastic books this year, and I’m hugely grateful to all the readers who voted. Thank you.”
 
Hollie McNish said: “I am totally honoured to have won the Books Are My Bag Poetry Award. I have such respect for this brilliant organisation and it was a real pleasure to sit alongside such beautiful other poets. Thank you really, that’s what I’d like to say. I love writing poetry so much and to get this award for a book I worked on for nearly four years is really lovely.”
 
Ross Montgomery said: “I'm absolutely made up that I Am Rebel has won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Children’s Fiction - I'm so happy that this book has found its readers, and that's in huge part thanks to the booksellers who have been so behind it, so this feels like a double honour. Rebel is absolutely speechless! Though that's mainly because he's a dog.”
 
Chris Broad said: “When I heard the Abroad in Japan book had been nominated by booksellers for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, I was shocked. I was happy. Because whilst I’m immensely proud of the book, the stories I get to tell, and the people I meet, I felt that what I’ve written is important. Knowing the Abroad in Japan book was shortlisted by booksellers themselves, who spend their days literally amidst a pile of fantastic books, it really genuinely does mean a lot. From the bottom of my heart, a huge thanks to the booksellers who shortlisted the book, to the readers who voted for it. I look forward to coming back to the UK very soon to celebrate the award with a pint of cider—cider’s quite rare in Japan!”
 
The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, now in their ninth year, are the only book awards curated by booksellers, and with winners chosen by readers. The judging panel of booksellers that selected the shortlist included: Rachel Airey (WHSmith), Jude Brosnan (Stanfords), James Firth (The Stripey Badger), Lucy Jakes (Waterstones), Elle Moyse (Sevenoaks Bookshop), Mariasanta Tedesco (Blackwell’s Oxford) and Christopher Walthorne (Foyles Charing Cross), with Vivien Godfrey (Stanfords) presenting an award at the ceremony.
 
National Book Tokens is the headline sponsor of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, which are part of Books Are My Bag – the annual campaign celebrating the vital importance of bookshops.
 
For more information visit www.booksaremybag.com and follow the latest developments on social media @BooksAreMyBag / #BAMBReadersAwards