The BA is delighted to reveal booksellers’ favourite books and authors of 2017 across six categories as part of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards – the only book award curated by bookshops – supported by National Book Tokens.

Best-selling and award-winning writers are among this year’s shortlist, as well as numerous debut authors. New for this year, winners from the Middle Grade (7-11) and Young Adult (12-18) shortlists will be voted for by children and teenagers across the UK and Ireland.

The 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers Awards Shortlist, as chosen by bookshops:
Non Fiction
East West Street by Philippe Sands
Scribbles in the Margins by Daniel Gray
The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrere
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 Renni Eddo-Lodge
Novel
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
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
Popular Fiction
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
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
 Young Adult (12-18)
Ink by Alice Broadway
Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais
Release by Patrick Ness
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls
Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird
Middle Grade (7-11)
The Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl
Radio Boy by Christian O’Connell
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Hannah Horn
The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens & Siobhan Dowd
Who let the Gods Out by Maz Evans
Breakthrough Author
Abir Mukherjee (A Necessary Evil)
Kate Tempest (The Bricks that Built the Houses)
Eduard Louis (The End of Eddy)
Mary Paulson-Ellis (The Other Mrs Walker)
Fiona Mozley (Elmet)
Harriet Cummings (We All Began as Strangers)
 
The book awards, now in their second year, are curated by bookshops, with booksellers selecting the shortlists in each category. The public will now be invited to vote for a winning title from each shortlist from 6^th October until 13^th November, with the winners being announced on Tuesday 21^st November at an awards ceremony at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, in London. The public will be able to vote in bookshops across the country, as well as online at the following links:

• www.nationalbooktokens.com/vote
• www.nationalbooktokens.com/young-readers-vote

 
Alan Staton, Head of Marketing & Communications at the Booksellers Association, said: “The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards were greeted with an incredibly warm reception by the public, authors, booksellers and publishers last year, and we’re very excited to see what this year’s awards will bring. The Shortlist is a fascinating insight into the books of the year, as decided by bookshops, and will make for an excellent reference list for those shopping for book lovers this Christmas.”

The Books Are My Bag Readers Awards (#BAMBReadersAwards) are supported by National Book Tokens, and are part of Books Are my Bag – the annual campaign that allows readers to display their love and support for local bookshops. This year Books Are My Bag reached its landmark millionth supporter.