The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book longlists for 2016. Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers.
Biography Book of the Year
- Inside by Chris Judd (Allen & Unwin)
- Second Half First by Drusilla Modjeska (Penguin Random House)
- Plain-speaking Jane by Jane Caro (Pan Macmillan)
- Keating by Kerry O’Brien (Allen & Unwin)
- Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski (Text Publishing)
- Born to Rule by Paddy Manning (Melbourne University Publishing)
- Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover (ABC Books)
- A Mother’s Story by Rosie Batty (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Anti-Cool Girl by Rosie Waterland (HarperCollins Publishers)
General Fiction Book of the Year
- In the Quiet by Eliza Henry Jones (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Perfumer’s Secret by Fiona McIntosh (Penguin Random House)
- The Heat by Garry Disher (Text Publishing)
- Spirits of the Ghan by Judy Nunn (Penguin Random House)
- The Lake House by Kate Morton, Allen & Unwin)
- Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham (Hachette)
- Hope Farm by Peggy Frew (Scribe)
- The Patterson Girls by Rachael Johns (Harlequin)
General Non-fiction Book of the Year
- Green Nomads: Across Australia’s Wild Heritage by Bob Brown (Hardie Grant)
- Worst Words: A Compendium of Contemporary Cant, Gibberish and Jargon by Don Watson (Penguin Random House)
- Australia’s Second Chance by George Megalogenis (Penguin Random House)
- One Life: My Mother’s Story by Kate Grenville (Text Publishing)
- The Dismissal by Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston (Penguin Random House)
- Fromelles & Pozières: In the Trenches of Hell by Peter Fitzsimons (Penguin Random House)
- Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis by Tim Flannery (Text Publishing)
- Island Home by Tim Winton (Penguin Random House)
Illustrated Book of the Year
- Cornersmith by Alex Elliott-Howery and James Grant (Murdoch Books)
- Special Delivery by Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe (Murdoch Books)
- The Forgotten Notebook by Betty Churcher (Melbourne University Publishing)
- Shelter by Kara Rosenlund (Penguin Random House)
- The Happy Cookbook by Lola Berry (Pan Macmillan)
- Falafel For Breakfast by Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley (Murdoch Books)
- Super Green Smoothies by Sally Obermeder and Maha Koraiem (Allen & Unwin)
- I Quit Sugar: Simplicious by Sarah Wilson (Pan Macmillan)
- Wendy Whiteley and the Secret Garden by Janet Hawley (Penguin Random House)
International Book of the Year
- Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Day The Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante (Text Publishing)
- Gut: the inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ by Giulia Enders (Scribe)
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Pan Macmillan)
- Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee (Penguin Random House)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Penguin Random House)
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
- The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)
- A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones (Penguin Random House)
- The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (Hachette)
- The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop (Hachette)
- Six Bedrooms by Tegan Bennet Daylight (Penguin Random House)
- Napoleon’s Last Island by Tom Keneally (Penguin Random House)
Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
- Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman (Penguin Random House)
- Relativity by Antonia Hayes (Penguin Random House)
- Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar (Pan Macmillan)
- Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski (Text Publishing)
- Fever of Animals by Miles Allinson (Scribe)
- The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader (HarperCollins Publishers)
- The Anti-Cool Girl by Rosie Waterland (HarperCollins Publishers)
- Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett (Pan Macmillan)
Book of the Year Older Children (age range 8 to 14 years)
- Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin)
- Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (Pan Macmillan)
- The Cat With the Coloured Tail by Gillian Mears (Walker Books)
- The Red Queen by Isobelle Carmody (Penguin Random House)
- Soon by Morris Gleitzman (Penguin Random House)
- Friday Barnes 2: Under Suspicion by R.A. Spratt (Penguin Random House)
- The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan (Allen & Unwin)
- Paper Planes by Steve Worland (Penguin Random House)
Book of the Year for Younger Children (age range 0 to 8 years)
- My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester (Penguin Random House)
- The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton (Pan Macmillan)
- Being Agatha by Anna Pignataro (The Five Mile Press)
- This is a Ball by Beck and Matt Stanton (ABC Books)
- Perfect by Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood (Hardie Grant)
- The Amazing True Story Of How Babies Are Made by Fiona Katauskas (ABC Books)
- A is for Australia by Frane Lessac (Walker Books)
- Eye to Eye by Graeme Base (Penguin Random House)
Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
- Anzac Sons: The story of five brothers on the Western Front by Allison Paterson (Big Sky Publishing)
- Numerical Street by Antonia Pesenti and Hilary Bell (New South Books)
- Torri the Great Reef Surfing Turtle by B.B Byrnes with Bron Simpson (Renbro Publishing)
- My Pop is a Pirate by Damon Young and illustrated by Peter Carnavas (University of Queensland Press)
- The Underwater Fancy-Dress Parade by Davina Bell and illustrated by Allison Colpoys (Scribe)
- Kookoo Kookaburra by Gregg Dreise (Magabala Books)
- Horace the Baker’s Horse by Jackie French (National Museum of Australia)
- One Step at a Time by Jane Jolly and Sally Heinrich (MidnightSun Publishing)
Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
- Australia Remember When by Bob Byrne (New South Books)
- Long Tan: The start of a life long battle by Harry Smith (Big Sky Publishing)
- Body Lengths by Leisel Jones (Black Inc.)
- Ningaloo: Reflections on the Reef by Leith Holtzman (Renbro Publishing)
- All Fall Down by Matthew Condon (University of Queensland Press)
- The Art of Free Travel by Patrick Jones and Meg Ulman (New South Books)
- Global Megatrends: Seven Patterns of Change Shaping Our Future by Stefan Hajkowicz (Csiro Publishing)
- Give the Devil His Due by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press)
