Costa Book Awards

Admittedly, I'm a week late with this post but I'm quite a fan of the Costa Book Awards and so I couldn't let it slip by entirely... I mean, come on, Costa coffee and books... could life get much better?

Some of the books on this years list are familiar to me - Moira Young's Blood Red Road was being published while I was working for its publisher and I was "lucky" enough to do some photocopying for Claire Tomalin's biography of Dickens (and I'm going to a talk by her next week). I'm not a massive fan of poetry and Carol Ann Duffy isn't my favourite person but I can't deny that her book, The Bees, is absolutely beautiful. If you judge books by their cover (and who doesn't?) then this might be one for you. Booker winner, Julian Barnes, was also on the list but, as you will see below, was pipped to the post by Pure by Andrew Miller. Set in pre-revolutionary Paris - it's Miller's historical novel that has made the headlines and has been paralleled to the likes of 2009 Booker winner, Hilary Mantel.

These awards are great for the general reader - they pick out some great titles that you will actually enjoy rather than have to struggle through because some intellectuals told you that you should. I've included the shortlist and winners below for you to have a browse...

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Novel:

The Sense of Ending, Julian Barnes(Jonathan Cape)

A Summer of Drowning, John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)

Pure, Andrew Miller (Sceptre)

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, Louisa Young (HarperCollins)

First Novel:

City of Bohane, Kevin Barry (Jonathan Cape)

The Last Hundred Days, Patrick McGuinness (Seren)

Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, Christie Watson (Quercus)

Pao, Kerry Young (Bloomsbury)

Biography:

Thin Paths: Journeys In and Around an Italian Mountain Village, Julia Blackburn (Jonathan Cape)

Henry’s Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, A Father and Son’s Story, Patrick and Henry Cockburn (Simon & Schuster)

Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas, Matthew Hollis (Faber and Faber)

Charles Dickens: A Life, Claire Tomalin (Viking)

Poetry:

The Bees, Carol Ann Duffy (Picador)

Night, David Harsent (Faber and Faber)

Fiere, Jackie Kay (Picador)

November, Sean O’Brien (Picador)

Children’s Book:

Flip, Martyn Bedford (Walker Books)

The Unforgotten Coat, Frank Cottrell Boyce (Walker Books)

Small Change for Stuart, Lissa Evans (Doubleday)

Blood Red Road, Moira Young (Marion Lloyd Books)