The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book shortlists for 2018.
Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators, narrators, and publishers.
General fiction book of the year
- Force of Nature by Jane Harper
- The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
- The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green
- The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
- The Trip of a Lifetime by Monica McInerney
Literary fiction book of the year
- A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
- First Person by Richard Flanagan
- See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
- The Choke by Sofie Laguna
- Wimmera by Mark Brandi
General nonfiction book of the year
- Being 14 by Madonna King
- Depends What You Mean By Extremist by John Safran
- First, We Make The Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
- Saga Land by Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason
- The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
Biography book of the year
- Danger Music by Eddie Ayres
- Tracker by Alexis Wright
- Unbreakable by Jelena Dokic with Jessica Halloran
- Unmasked by Turia Pitt
- Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes
Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)
- Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian
- Begin, End, Begin edited by Danielle Binks
- My Life as a Hashtag by Gabrielle Williams
- Tales From a Tall Forest by Shaun Micallef & Jonathan Bentley
- The Silent Invasion by James Bradley
Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-13)
- Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase by Peter Helliar & Lesley Vamos
- Funny Kid for President by Matt Stanton
- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
- Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster by Sally Rippin
- The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)
- Do Not Lick This Book by Idan Ben-Barak & Julian Frost
- Florette by Anna Walker
- I’m Australian Too by Mem Fox & Ronojoy Ghosh
- No One Likes a Fart by Zoë Foster Blake & Adam Nickel
- Pig the Star by Aaron Blabey
Illustrated book of the year
- Basics to Brilliance Kids by Donna Hay
- Maggie’s Recipe for Life by Maggie Beer & Professor Ralph Martin
- Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants by Kate Herd & Jela Ivankovic-Waters
- Ostro by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
- Paris: Through a Fashion Eye by Megan Hess
International book of the year
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli & Francesa Cavallo
- Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
- La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust Book 1) by Philip Pullman
- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Small publishers’ adult book of the year
- Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy
- Cardinal by Louise Milligan
- The Australian Bird Guide by Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin
- The Restorer by Michael Sala
- The Museum of Words by Georgia Blain
Small publishers’ children’s book of the year
- Big Fella Rain by Beryl Webber & Fern Martins
- Hello, Melbourne! by Megan McKean
- It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do by Josh Langley
- The Elephant by Peter Carnavas
- Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys
The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year
- Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
- Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman
- The Girl from Munich by Tania Blanchard
- The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein
- Wimmera by Mark Brandi
The Audiobook of the year
- The Attachment written & narrated by Ailsa Piper & Tony Doherty
- Try Hard written & narrated by Em Rusciano
- Marge and the Great Train Rescue written & narrated by Isla Fisher
- Working Class Boy written & narrated by Jimmy Barnes
- The 91-Storey Treehouse written & illustrated by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, narrated by Stig Weymss
The Rising Star of the year
- Ali Hammond (Category Manager, Dymocks Booksellers)
- Cate Blake (Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House)
- Lex Hirst (Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House)
- Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson (Publicity Manager, Allen & Unwin)
- Shalini Kunahlan (Marketing Manager, Text Publishing)
