While it's impossible to read every single new release on the book market, the judges of each year's biggest literary awards and prizes come closer than perhaps anyone else. Many of them have to read nearly 200 new titles each year in a matter of months, whittle them down to a 6-7 title shortlist, and (finally, with much difficulty) reason their way to a single winner. That's one of the many reasons why literary awards and prizes are a great way to find the best new books to read.
Far from a cliched, biased process in which publishers' influence on the judging juries vaults predictable names to stardom and accolades, many prizes have actually recently awarded new, little-known debut authors or under-read titles. Still others have made choices so unexpected and unprecedented they shocked the whole world: who could forget when Bob Dylan got the Nobel Prize for Literature?
Here's our collection of interviews with the judges of various book awards that we think are worth paying attention to, about their shortlists, year in and year out:
The Booker Prize (Fiction)
Nobel Prize (Literature)
The Baillie Gifford Prize (Nonfiction)
Wolfson Prize (History)
Walter Scott Prize (Historical fiction)
Arthur C Clarke Prize (Science fiction)
The Hugos (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
The Financial Times Book Prize (Nonfiction that's relevant to business)
The Royal Society Book Prizes (Science, both adults and children's)
The Pushkin House Prize (Nonfiction on Russia)
The Audies (Audiobooks)
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1
Peacemakers
by Margaret MacMillan -
2
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
by James Shapiro -
3
Nothing to Envy
by Barbara Demick -
4
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by Patrick Radden Keefe -
5
Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest
by Wade Davis -
6
One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time
by Craig Brown
The Best Nonfiction of the Past Quarter Century: The Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners, recommended by Sophie Roell
The Best Nonfiction of the Past Quarter Century: The Baillie Gifford Prize Winner of Winners, recommended by Sophie Roell
“All the best stories are true” runs the tagline of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, the UK’s pre-eminent nonfiction book award. This year, to celebrate the prize’s 25th birthday, a panel of judges picked out books for a winner of winners award, making for an excellent collection of nonfiction books from the last quarter of a century, as Five Books editor Sophie Roell explains.
The 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist, recommended by Cal Flyn
Every year, the Women’s Prize for Fiction highlights the best novels written by women over the previous twelve months. In 2023, the six-strong Women’s Prize shortlist features the latest books by beloved bestsellers Barbara Kingsolver and Maggie O’Farrell, plus a debut novel set during the siege of Sarajevo and a book told primarily from the point of view of a dolphin.
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1
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
by Beverly Gage -
2
The Grimkés: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family
by Kerri K. Greenidge -
3
Mr. B: George Balanchine’s Twentieth Century
by Jennifer Homans -
4
Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life
by Clare Mac Cumhaill & Rachael Wiseman -
5
Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
by Aaron Sachs
The Best Biographies of 2023: The National Book Critics Circle Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
The Best Biographies of 2023: The National Book Critics Circle Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Taylor
Talented biographers examine the interplay between individual qualities and greater social forces, explains Elizabeth Taylor—chair of the judges for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle award for biography. Here, she offers us an overview of their five-book shortlist, including a garlanded account of the life of J. Edgar Hoover and a group biography of post-war female philosophers.
The Best Historical Fiction: The 2023 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Cal Flyn
Every year, the judges for the Walter Scott Prize highlight the best new historical fiction. In 2023, the shortlisted books include a slow-burn mystery set in colonial Australia and a thrilling new novel from the author of Fatherland. Cal Flyn, our deputy editor, takes us through the seven books that are set 60+ years in the past and yet speak to the present.
The Best Political Novels of 2023, recommended by Boyd Tonkin
The Orwell Prizes are the UK’s most prestigious prizes for writing about politics, awarded annually to books and articles that best meet George Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art.” Boyd Tonkin, chair of this year’s judges, talks us through the books shortlisted for the 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.
The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Tom Hunter
Every year, the judges of the Arthur C Clarke Award select the best sci-fi novels of the previous twelve months. We asked prize director Tom Hunter to talk us through the six science fiction books that made the 2023 shortlist—including a space opera romance and a high-concept action thriller that has already won the most prestigious award in Francophone literature.
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1
In The Shadow of the Mountain
by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado -
2
High: A Journey Across the Himalaya, Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China
by Erika Fatland, translated by Kari Dickson -
3
Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia
by Shafik Meghji -
4
The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
by Rebecca Lowe -
5
The Po: An Elegy for Italy's Longest River
by Tobias Jones
The Best Travel Books of 2023: The Stanford Travel Writing Awards, recommended by Cal Flyn
The Best Travel Books of 2023: The Stanford Travel Writing Awards, recommended by Cal Flyn
Every year, Stanfords, the best travel bookshop in the world (in our view), sponsors the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, with travel writers and journalists judging the best travel book in a number of categories. Here Cal Flyn, our deputy editor, takes us through the eight books shortlisted for the 2023 ‘Travel Book of the Year’ award, taking us from Bolivia to Singapore via Europe, the Middle East and the top of Mt. Everest.
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1
The Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War
by Ian Williams -
2
Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival
by Luke Harding -
3
Who Cares: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It
by Emily Kenway -
4
The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy
by Philippe Sands -
5
The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule
by Angela Saini
The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by Martha Lane Fox
The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by Martha Lane Fox
The Orwell Prizes are the UK’s most prestigious prizes for writing about politics, awarded annually to books and articles that best meet George Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art.” Martha Lane Fox, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the shortlist of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, awarded annually to a nonfiction book.
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1
Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin and Russia’s War Against Ukraine
by Owen Matthews -
2
Russia's War
by Jade McGlynn -
3
Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia
by Natasha Lance Rogoff -
4
Places of Tenderness and Heat: The Queer Milieu of Fin-de-Siècle St. Petersburg
by Olga Petri -
5
Cigarettes and Soviets: Smoking in the USSR
by Tricia Starks -
6
Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling
by Ryan Tucker Jones
The Best Russia Books: The 2023 Pushkin House Prize, recommended by Ekaterina Schulmann
The Best Russia Books: The 2023 Pushkin House Prize, recommended by Ekaterina Schulmann
Since its invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia has been much in the news, with many of us struggling to better understand its politics, history, society and culture. Fortunately, we have the Pushkin House Book Prize, which every year celebrates the best nonfiction written about Russia and available in English. Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2023 shortlist.
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1
Bodies, Brains & Bogies
by Paul Ian Cross & Steve Brown (illustrator) -
2
Live Like a Hunter Gatherer
Naomi Walmsley, Mia Underwood (illustrator) -
3
Am I Made of Stardust?
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Chelen Écija (illustrator) -
4
Step Inside Science: Germs
by Sarah Hull & Teresa Bellon (illustrator) -
5
Ben Rothery's Deadly and Dangerous Animals
by Ben Rothery -
6
A Bug's World
by Dr Erica McAlister & Stephanie Fizer Coleman (illustrator)
The Best Science Books for Children: the 2023 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Usha Goswami
The Best Science Books for Children: the 2023 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Usha Goswami
The judges of the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize look for books that explain high quality science in an engaging and accessible way. Neuroscientist Usha Goswami, chair of the 2023 judging panel, explains why it is important to get children excited about science via books, and introduces us to the fabulous titles that made this year’s shortlist.