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WELCOME TO THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
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ne of the most valuable gifts in life is the gift of reading, so what better present at any time of year than a book that will encourage and nurture a love of books and reading. At Christmas, when there are so many different friends and family members to please with gifts, you need all the inspiration and help you can get. The National Book Awards recognises the books
and authors that are guaranteed to entertain and inspire, because they are some of the country’s top sellers, and the most borrowed from libraries – the books everyone will be reading and talking about this year. Choose a book from amongst the nominees and you can be sure you’ll be gifting entertainment that will last. The Awards covers all categories of books so there really is something for everyone, even the most
reluctant of readers, and once they’ve enjoyed something from this list, hopefully they will get the reading bug! The Popular Fiction Award is hotly contested by some of my favourite writers, including, Kate Mosse, Caitlin Moran and Nathan Filer, who are all so different in style, yet what they all have in common is that they’ve written gripping stories. I wouldn’t want to have to choose between the amazing shortlist for Author of the Year – David Nicholls, Sarah Waters and David Mitchell are some of my all-time greats, but I enjoyed all the books in that category, they’re all future classics. The five shortlisted cookery books cater for all tastes, from Mary Berry’s more traditional guide, to the new way of eating healthily by the Hemsleys. Recommendations for children of all ages are taken care of with the Children’s Book of the Year category. Adults will be greatly entertained when reading along with the fiction from David Walliams and D.D. Everest, whilst the Minecraft handbook will help parents get their head round the game obsessing their kids, and learn some moves to surprise them before the book’s wrapped. The Crime Thriller category has some real titans of the genre
battling it out. This year’s Biographies range from historical – Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts, to hysterical - the brilliant Paul Merton’s hugely entertaining Only When I Laugh. I’m proud to be able to provide a platform to honour all the incredible authors nominated for The National Book Awards, their work proves a book is for life not just for Christmas! Happy reading!
Amanda Ross Executive Producer of the National Book Awards and Head of the selection panel for The TV Book Club
KEY Also available as an audiobook
Also available as an ebook Audiobooks are available as a digital download from audible.co.uk or from all good retailers. ebooks are available at the iBookstore, Google Play and all good ebook retailers
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Previous winners: 2013 Kate Atkinson 2012 Hilary Mantel 2011 Alan Hollingshurst 2010 Hilary Mantel
SHORTLISTED TITLES HOW TO BE BOTH
Ali Smith How to be both is a novel all about art's versatility. Borrowing from painting's fresco technique to make an original literary double-take, it's a fastmoving genre-bending conversation between forms, times, truths and fictions. Two tales of love and injustice twist into a singular yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real – and all life's givens get given a second chance.
THE PAYING GUESTS
Sarah Waters It is 1922, and London is tense, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. For impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, life in their large silent villa bereft of brothers, husband and servants is about to be transformed as they are obliged to take in lodgers.
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THE LOVE SONG OF MISS QUEENIE HENNESSY
Rachel Joyce From the author of the two million plus, worldwide bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, an exquisite, funny and heartrending parallel story. When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?
THE BONE CLOCKS
David Mitchell Metaphysical thriller, meditation on mortality and chronicle of our self-devouring times, The Bone Clocks follows Holly Sykes from her scarred adolescence in the 1980s to old age in Ireland when Europe’s oil supplies have run out: a life increasingly entangled in a murderous feud taking place on the margins of our world.
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David Nicholls Douglas Petersen understands his wife’s need to ‘rediscover herself’ now that their son is leaving home. He just thought they’d be doing their rediscovering together. So when Connie announces that she will be leaving too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again.The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed. What could possibly go wrong?
WINNER
UK AUTHOR O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14
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SPECSAVERS POPULAR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
Previous winners: 2013 An Officer And A Spy Robert Harris 2012 Fifty Shades of Grey E.L. James 2011 A Tiny Bit Marvellous Dawn French 2010 One Day David Nicholls ELIZABETH IS MISSING
Emma Healey Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back. A fast-paced mystery with a wonderful leading character: Maud will make you laugh and cry, but she certainly won't be forgotten.
HOW TO BUILD A GIRL
Caitlin Moran Imagine The Bell Jar written by Rizzo from Grease, soundtracked by the Happy Mondays and My Bloody Valentine, and devoted to trying to work out what it means to be a working-class girl in the era of Margaret Thatcher, the Brookside lesbian kiss, and Acid House.
SHORTLISTED TITLES SECRETS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE
Santa Montefiore Ellen is due to get married to a man she doesn't love, her job is dragging her down and her interfering mother is getting on her nerves. So she escapes to the one place she knows her mother won't follow her – to her aunt's house in rural Ireland. Once there, she uncovers a dark family secret and a future she never knew she might have.
THE TAXIDERMIST’S DAUGHTER
Kate Mosse Sussex, 1912. Constantia Gifford lives in a decaying house that contains the remnants of her father’s once-famous museum of taxidermy. When a woman is murdered, long-buried memories surface and Connie must discover the secret at the heart of Blackthorn House, hidden among the bell jars of her father's workshop.
POPULAR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
Nathan Filer ‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’ The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness. It is a brave and ground-breaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.
WINNER SPECSAVERS
POPULAR FICTION B O O K O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14 nationalbookawards.co.uk
SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
THE SHOCK OF THE FALL
A U T O B I O G R A P H Y / B I O G R A P H Y
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Previous winners: 2013 My Life David Jason 2012 My Animals and Other Family Clare Balding 2011 Charles Dickens Claire Tomalin 2010 The Fry Chronicles Stephen Fry
THE UNEXPECTED PROFESSOR
John Carey John Carey, English professor at Oxford, controversial commentator, book critic and beekeeper, reflects on a life immersed in literature, from grammar school beginnings to the Oxford establishment.
SO, ANYWAY...
John Cleese Candid and brilliantly funny, this is the story of how a tall, shy youth from Weston-super-Mare went on to become a self-confessed legend.
SHORTLISTED TITLES NAPOLEON THE GREAT
Andrew Roberts Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most extraordinary men who ever lived, transforming France and Europe and reinventing the art of warfare. Published to huge acclaim, Andrew Roberts's biography is the definitive modern life of Napoleon, overturning many received opinions and offering a complete re-evaluation of this exceptional man.
ONLY WHEN I LAUGH
Paul Merton Only When I Laugh, is the long-awaited autobiography from one of our best-loved comics, Paul Merton. In this rich and beautifully observed book Paul takes us on an evocative journey from his working-class Fulham childhood to the present day.
A U TO B I O G R A P H Y / B I O G R A P H Y O F T H E Y E A R
Alan Johnson Please, Mister Postman paints a vivid picture of England in the 1970s, where no celebration was complete without a Party Seven of Watney’s Red Barrel, smoking was the norm rather than the exception, and Sunday lunchtime was about beer, bingo and cribbage. But as Alan’s life appears to be settling down and his career in the Union of Postal Workers begins to take off, his close-knit family is struck once again by tragedy… Moving, hilarious and unforgettable, Please, Mister Postman is another astonishing book from the award-winning author of This Boy.
WINNER MAGIC FM
AUTOBIOGRAPHY O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14
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PLEASE, MISTER POSTMAN
P O P U L A R
N O N - F I C T I O N
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Previous winners: 2013 I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai & Christina Lamb 2012 Is It Just Me? Miranda Hart 2011 How To Be A Woman Caitlin Moran 2010 The Making Of Modern Britain Andrew Marr CLOTHES, CLOTHES, CLOTHES, MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC, BOYS, BOYS, BOYS
Viv Albertine Viv Albertine is one of a handful of original punks who changed music, and the discourse around it, forever. In Clothes ... Music ... Boys a story hitherto dominated by male voices is recast through the eyes of one of the most glamorous, uncompromising and iconic figures of the time.
HOW TO SPEAK MONEY
John Lanchester A funny, clear and brilliantly entertaining guide to the world of finance from the bestselling author of Capital and Whoops!
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SHORTLISTED TITLES WATERLOO
Bernard Cornwell Bestselling author Bernard Cornwall is celebrated for his ability to bring history to life. Here, in his first work of non-fiction, he has written the true story of the epic battle of Waterloo – a momentous turning point in European history – a tale of one campaign, four days and three armies.
CURIOUS
Rebecca Front Rebecca Front has always drawn on experiences from her life in her award-winning acting and comic writing. By turns poignant, comic and uplifting, Curious is a beguiling collection of true stories celebrating the curiosities of everyday life, and of what it is to be curious – in every sense of the word.
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Nina Stibbe In the 1980s Nina Stibbe wrote letters home to her sister in Leicester describing her time as a nanny to a London family. From the mystery of the unpaid milk bill to interesting mealtime discussions, Love, Nina is a laugh-out-loud story of the trials of a very particular family.
WINNER POPULAR
NON-FICTION B O O K O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14 nationalbookawards.co.uk
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LOVE, NINA
CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR
Previous winners: 2013 Demon Dentist David Walliams 2012 Rat Burger David Walliams 2011 A Monster Calls Patrick Ness 2010 Zog Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
SHORTLISTED TITLES
ARCHIE GREENE AND THE MAGICIAN’S SECRET
D.D. Everest Archie Green receives a mysterious present on his birthday. Deep within an ancient wooden box he finds an old book, written in a language he doesn't recognise. With the book comes a Special Instruction – Archie must travel to Oxford to return the book to the Museum of Magical Miscellany.
MINECRAFT: THE OFFICIAL CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK
Matt Needler & Phil Southam There’s nothing that can’t be built in Minecraft, but with so many possibilities, where do you start? And how will you ever match the creative style of the experts? The official Minecraft Construction Handbook is packed with tips and step-by-step instructions from master build team FyreUK. You’ll learn how to construct houses, bridges, ships, floating islands and rollercoasters of the highest quality.
ANIMALIUM
Katie Scott & Jenny Broom There are more than 160 animal specimens to be discovered in Animalium, the first in a series of virtual museums. Wander the galleries open 365 days a year and discover a collection of curated exhibits on every page, accompanied by informative text. Each chapter features a different branch of the tree of life, from the simple sponge to the enormous elephant.
GOTH GIRL & THE FETE WORSE THAN DEATH
Chris Riddell Preparations for the Ghastly-Gorm Garden Party and bake-off are under way. Celebrity cooks are arriving at the hall, and, true to form, Maltravers, the indoor gamekeeper is acting suspiciously. Ada vows to aid the course of true love and find out what Maltravers is up to, but everyone appears to have forgotten her birthday!
CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR
David Walliams From bestselling author David Walliams comes another heartfelt but hilarious hoot of an adventure. Stella Saxby is the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Aunt Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her. Luckily Stella has a secret – and slightly spooky – weapon up her sleeve…
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CHILDREN’S B O O K O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14 nationalbookawards.co.uk
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AWFUL AUNTIE
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Previous Winners: 2013 Eat Nigel Slater 2012 The Hairy Dieters Dave Myers & Si King 2011 The Good Cook Simon Hopkinson 2010 Plenty Yotam Ottolenghi
SHORTLISTED TITLES MARY BERRY COOKS
RIVER COTTAGE LIGHT & EASY
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Delicious, health-giving food doesn’t have to be time-consuming and complicated. In River Cottage Light & Easy Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall delivers wholesome delights with zero compromise on taste for all occasions. Each recipe is dairy-free and wheat-free, and all are guaranteed to bring a fresh energy and vitality to your everyday cooking and eating.
Mary Berry Mary Berry Cooks accompanies the BBC TV series of the same name and is a collection of 100 new mouth-watering recipes, including all the recipes from the TV programmes, along with Mary’s menus from each episode – from a warming kitchen supper or a sunday roast to a summer buffet or an afternoon tea.
THE ART OF EATING WELL
BEST EVER DISHES
Tom Kerridge As the most down-to-earth but high-flying chef on the food scene, Tom Kerridge has become known for his big flavours and beautifully crafted yet accessible food. And with more than 100 of his favourite recipes, Best Ever Dishes brings this spectacular cooking to the home kitchen.
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Jasmine & Melissa Hemsley A definitive healthy eating bible. More than 150 nutritious, delicious recipes that are good for the body and mind, and will make you look and feel amazing. The Art of Eating Well is a revolutionary cookbook that will help anyone who wishes to feel better, lose weight or have more energy.
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Yotam Ottolenghi When Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty was published four years ago it broke boundaries, bringing inventive vegetarian cookery to a much wider audience. Its emphasis on flavour, original spicing and freshness of ingredients, caused a revolution not just in this country, but, the world over. Yotam Ottolenghi is now regarded as one of the most innovative, creative chefs and cookery writers in the food world. Plenty More picks up where Plenty left off, with over 150 more inspiring, vegetable-based dishes.
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FOOD & DRINK B O O K O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14 nationalbookawards.co.uk
SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
PLENTY MORE
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Previous Winners: 2013 The Carrier Sophie Hannah 2012 A Wanted Man Lee Child 2011 Before I Go To Sleep S.J. Watson
SHORTLISTED TITLES MORIARTY
Anthony Horowitz After Sherlock Holmes and his arch-enemy Moriarty fall to their doom, Frederick Chase arrives in London. The death of Moriarty has created a poisonous vacuum, ready for a new criminal mastermind. Now Chase must fight through the darkest corners of the capital to shine a light on this shadowy figure.
THE MONOGRAM MURDERS
Sophie Hannah In the hands of the internationally bestselling author Sophie Hannah, Poirot plunges into a mystery set in 1920s London – a diabolically clever puzzle that can only be solved by the talented Belgian detective and his ‘little grey cells.’
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THE SILKWORM
Robert Galbraith When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days, but when Quine is found brutally murdered it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer.
PERSONAL
Lee Child Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he’s a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president. Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him.
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Terry Hayes Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation.But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found facedown in a bath of acid, her features erased, her teeth missing, her fingerprints gone. It is a textbook murder – and Pilgrim wrote the book.
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CRIME&THRILLER B O O K O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14 nationalbookawards.co.uk
SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
I AM PILGRIM
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
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Previous Winners: 2013 Gillian Flynn 2012 Eowyn Ivey 2011 Jennifer Egan 2010 Jonathan Franzen
SHORTLISTED TITLES
A GIRL IS A HALFFORMED THING
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL
Eimear McBride This award-winning experimental debut novel tells the story of a young woman's traumatic coming-of-age in rural Ireland, as she struggles with her abusive family and clings to her relationship with her
Jeff Kinney Greg Heffley and his family hit the road in author-illustrator Jeff Kinney's ninth instalment of the phenomenal bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
terminally-ill brother.
BURIAL RITES
Hannah Kent Northern Iceland, 1829. A woman condemned to death for murdering her lover. A family forced to take her in. A priest tasked with absolving her. But all is not as it seems, and time is running out: winter is coming, and with it the execution date. Only she can know the truth. This is Agnes's story.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN
Jonas Jonasson Translated by Rachel Wilson-Broyles Quirky and utterly unique, The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden is a charming and humorous account of one young woman’s unlikely adventure. Written with Jonasson’s light-hearted satirical voice, this is a picaresque tale of how one person’s actions can have far-reaching – even global – consequences.
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Karen Joy Fowler Rosemary is now an only child, but she used to have a sister the same age as her, and an older brother. Both are now gone – vanished from her life. There's something unique about Rosemary's sister, Fern. And it was this decision, made by her parents, to give Rosemary a sister like no other, that began all of Rosemary's trouble. So now she's telling her story: full of hilarious asides and brilliantly spiky lines, it's a looping narrative that begins towards the end, and then goes back to the beginning. Twice.
WINNER INTERNATIONAL
AUTHOR O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14
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SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES
A U D I O B O O K
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Previous Winners: 2013 The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman 2012 The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year Sue Townsend 2011 My Dear I Wanted To Tell You Louisa Young THE BONE CLOCKS
David Mitchell Narrators Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, Steven Crossley, Laurel Lefkow, Anna Bentinck One summer's day in 1984, teenage runaway Holly Sykes encounters a strange woman who offers a small kindness in exchange for 'asylum'. Decades will pass before Holly understands what sort of asylum the woman was seeking – The Bone Clocks follows Holly's life: not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air and brief lapses in the laws of reality.
MORE FOOL ME
Stephen Fry Following on from his hugely successful books, Moab is My Washpot and The Fry Chronicles, comes the third chapter in Stephen Fry's life. This audiobook edition of More Fool Me is performed by Stephen Fry himself.
SHORTLISTED TITLES MAN AT THE HELM
Nina Stibbe Narrator Imogen Church Not long after her parents' separation, nine-year-old Lizzie Vogel, her siblings and their now-divorcée mother are packed off to a small, slightly hostile village in the English countryside. Their mother is all alone, only 31 years of age, with three young children and a Labrador. It is no wonder, when you put it like that, that she becomes a menace and a drunk. And a playwright. Lizzie and her sister decide to contact, by letter, suitable men in the area. In order to stave off the local social worker they urgently need to find a new Man at the Helm.
WALKING HOME
Clare Balding In 1999, Clare took a call from a BBC producer looking for a presenter for a new radio series. 'Do you walk?' she asked. 'Well, I walk the dog . . .' That series, Ramblings, is still going strong – and Clare's caught the walking bug. Now she wants her family to share some of that pleasure. Clare and her brother Andrew are determined to conquer the Wayfarer's Walk, a 71 mile route. What could possibly go wrong?
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David Walliams, Also read by Nitin Gunatram & Maggie Steed From number one bestselling author David Walliams comes another heartfelt but hilarious hoot of an adventure. Stella Saxby is the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Aunt Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her. Luckily Stella has a secret – and slightly spooky – weapon up her sleeve…
WINNER AUDIBLE.CO.UK
AUDIOBOOK O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14
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SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
AWFUL AUNTIE
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Previous Winners: 2013 Liza Klaussmann 2012 Rachel Joyce 2011 Sarah Winman 2010 Edmund de Waal
SHORTLISTED TITLES IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT WE KNOW
Zia Haider Rahman One September morning in 2008, a London banker receives a surprise visitor at his home. He struggles to place the dishevelled figure, until he recognises a friend from his student days, a brilliant man who disappeared years earlier under mysterious circumstances. In the Light of What We Know tells a story of people wrestling with unshakeable legacies of class and culture, and pushes at the great questions of love, science, faith and war.
LOVE, NINA
Nina Stibbe In the 1980s Nina Stibbe wrote letters home to her sister in Leicester describing her time as a nanny to a London family. From the mystery of the unpaid milk bill to interesting mealtime discussions, Love, Nina is a laugh-out-loud story of the trials of a very particular family.
WAKE
Anna Hope A wartime secret connects three women's lives. As the mystery that binds them begins to unravel, far away, in the fields of Northern France, the Unknown Soldier embarks on his journey home. The mood of the nation is turning towards the future – but can these three women ever let go of the past?
ELIZABETH IS MISSING
Emma Healey Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back. A fast-paced mystery with a wonderful leading character: Maud will make you laugh and cry, but she certainly won't be forgotten.
BOOKS ARE MY BAG NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR
Jessie Burton Nella Oortman has come to Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. There she is presented with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinetsized replica of her new home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts‌ Nella is at first mystified by the closed world of the Brandt household, but as she uncovers its secrets she realises the escalating dangers that await them all.
WINNER
BOOKS ARE MY BAG
NEW WRITER O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 14
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SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
THE MINIATURIST
THE NATION’S FAVOURITE BOOKS
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egardless of the judges’ choice, it’s always salutary to cast an eye over the shortlists for the Specsavers National Book Awards to see what’s impressed this year, what there is still to anticipate and what to choose for those most important Christmas purchases. Before the winners of the awards were announced I picked out some personal favourites: I’ll start with Audiobook of the Year and for a real winner on audio you need a perfect balance between story and reader. Two audio readings in particular shone out for me, David Walliams reading his own book, Awful Auntie and Imogen Churches lovely, wide-eyed and innocent reading of Nina Stibbe’s first novel, Man at the Helm. In the crime award I enjoyed I am Pilgrim, a convoluted spy thriller from Terry Hayes, a rollercoaster
SUE BAKER TAKES A LOOK AT THE NOMINATED TITLES AND PICKS OUT SOME PERSONAL FAVOURITES
ride of a novel just begging for a transfer to film, it’s got the chutzpah and the pace. Of the books shortlisted for Popular Non-Fiction of the Year my favourite is, Love, Nina. It’s a joy, a wonderfully funny off-the-wall view of London middle-class life and in these dismal days anything that raises a smile is a blessing. Santa Montefiore’s books consistently delight and Secrets of the Lighthouse is no exception, a great book shortlisted in the Popular Fiction of the Year. The stand-out for me in the Auto/Biography of the Year award is Alan Johnson’s Please, Mr Postman, the sequel to This Boy. Autobiography, social history, a portrait of recent times that now seems so far away, beautifully told. The Newcomer of the Year shortlist is particularly strong this year but it’s Anna Hope’s Wake that I return to, set just after World War One as The Unknown Soldier is brought to Westminster Abbey, it is a delicate yet powerful recreation of the lives of three women coping with loss and change in the aftermath of war. 1920s claustrophia from Sarah Walters and The Paying Guests,
Middle-aged angst from David Nicholls with Us – I thoroughly enjoyed both these novels in the UK Author category. Shortlisted in International Author of the Year is Jeff Kinney who is personally responsible for making children love reading with his Wimpy Kid series – he deserves an award for that. If you have children who have not read these books yet these are a must! Also on the shortlist for International Author is Jonas Jonasson, whose second novel The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden reveals he’s lost nothing of the inventive and surreal style that made The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of a Window and Disappeared such a huge hit. An excellent year, there are some tough choices to be made, too many books and too little time. Sue Baker is a journalist and book reviewer with more than 30 years experience. Starting in libraries she changed to bookselling and now works as a reviewer for The Bookseller and Lovereading.co.uk.
Caboodle /ke’bu:d(a)l / – n – informal – a pleasurable selection of benefits made available to book lovers s To Caboodle – v – to knowingly engage and delight in bookish diversions: ‘It seemed that between the wars, Augustus and I would while away every afternoon, caboodling among the antiquarian bookshops of Shaftesbury Avenue.’ Collected Letters of Poet Laureate, Romney Dymchurch s Caboodloir – n – 18th Century, room specifically built for readings, annotation, diary writing and other aspects of literary engagement s Caboodlelabradoodle – n – a cross between two species of dog and a member of the Trollope family s Caboodling – v – antiq to spend time reading a new book in a leather-backed armchair; (20thC) to read the funny, gory or saucy parts of a book out to one’s (almost comatose) partner in bed. Will you give over wi’ yer feckin’ caboodling. I’m after being up at 5.30 to scrub Father O’Brien’s apse. Mrs Brown’s Boys, BBC s Caboodlated/caboodloodlated – n – v. rare – the state of having caboodled to excess s Caboodlicide – n – the act of killing in order to secure a cherished book – usually associated with the Twilight series s Caboodlepolitan – n – One given to displaying or discussing purchased books to display their wealth of culture and sophistication s Caboodlist – n – one who fantasises over future book purchases. Damian was a confirmed caboodlist.Turning into the high street, he grew aroused at the thought: the latest Julian Barnes, maybe a Houellebecq, the biography of Benjamin Britten acclaimed by the TLS and the 50 Shades of Grey sequel he’d pretend was for his dear old mother. Whatevs, Martin Amis s Caboodloglodyte – n – A tunnel-dwelling tribe whose culture was based around a worship of the hardback – or at least trade-format paperback – book s Caboodlessence – n – the unmistakeable arresting aroma of new books – found in bookshops, and occasionally libraries when not masked by damp clothes and soiled babies s Caboodle-la-di-da – exc – exclamation uttered when someone is perceived to be caboodling above their station s Caboodler – n – one given to literary pre-occupation: ‘Quite the caboodler, is our young Mister Poddlequit.’ Bartlesby Fudge, Charles Dickens s Caboodlum – n – a person behaving in an unruly fashion in the library s Caboodlista – n – A Honduran guerrilla group, the central tenet of whose armed struggle is a demand for bookstores with decent coffee blend, a selection of pastries (chocolate muffins, almond croissants and those swirly ones with raisins) and comfy chairs in every village s Caboodlism – n – a made-up word that starts with Caboodl…
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he Outstanding Achievement Award couldn’t go to anybody more deserving than Mary Berry; a national treasure who has been teaching us how to cook for over 60 years. Her eclectic career has taken her from recipe tester, cookery editor, bestselling author and entrepreneur to TV personality. Since releasing her first title, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, in 1966, Mary has published over 80 bestselling cookery books, selling more than five million copies around the world. Her latest book, Mary Berry Cooks, was published in February this year to accompany the TV series of the same title. It went straight to number one in the hardback non-fiction chart and remained there for 11 weeks, and also reached number one in the top 50 books across all UK sales by its third week. Brought up in Bath during the war,
Mary was the daughter of the city's mayor. Aged 21, she studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she was exhilarated by the food and flavours she encountered there. Mary has been on our TV screens since the 1970s, most recently delighting viewers as a much-loved judge on The Great British Bake Off and in her own BBC Two series Mary Berry Cooks. Next year will see the eagerly anticipated launch of her new show, Mary Berry Absolute Favourites. In 2009 she was awarded the highly coveted Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 the Queen awarded her a CBE for services to culinary arts. This year she received the Freedom of the City of Bath, her home town.
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