Posted by: Lisa Hill | March 7, 2019

2019 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) longlist

The ABIA 2019 longlists were announced today

Literary fiction book of the year
Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate), see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums
Bridge of Clay (Markus Zusak, Picador)
In the Garden of the Fugitives (Ceridwen Dovey, Hamish Hamilton), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
Shell (Kristina Olsson, Scribner), see my review
The Children’s House (Alice Nelson, Vintage), see my review
The Shepherd’s Hut (Tim Winton, Hamish Hamilton), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
Too Much Lip (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP), see my review
Wintering (Krissy Kneen, Text)

General fiction book of the year
Nine Perfect Strangers (Liane Moriarty, Macmillan), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
Scrublands (Chris Hammer, A&U), see Kim’s review at Reading Matters
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (Holly Ringland, Fourth Estate), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
The Lost Man (Jane Harper, Macmillan), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
The Nowhere Child (Christian White, Affirm), see Kim’s review at Reading Matters
The Other Wife (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
The Rúin (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Heather Morris, Echo), see my review

General nonfiction book of the year
Any Ordinary Day (Leigh Sales, Hamish Hamilton)
Boys Will Be Boys (Clementine Ford, A&U)
Dear Santa (Samuel Johnson, Hachette)
No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (Behrouz Boochani, trans by Omid Tofighian, Picador)
The Arsonist (Chloe Hooper, Hamish Hamilton), see my review
The Land Before Avocado (Richard Glover, ABC Books)
Welcome to Country: A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia (Marcia Langton, Hardie Grant Travel)
Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths (Eddie Woo, Macmillan)

Biography book of the year
Back, After the Break (Osher Günsberg, HarperCollins)
Butterfly on a Pin: A Memoir of Love, Despair and Reinvention (Alannah Hill, Hardie Grant)
Challenge Accepted! (Celeste Barber, HarperCollins)
Eggshell Skull (Bri Lee, A&U), see Kate’s review at Books Are My Favourite and Best
Johnathan Thurston: The Autobiography (Johnathan Thurston with James Phelps, HarperCollins)
One Hundred Years of Dirt (Rick Morton, MUP)
Speaking Up (Gillian Triggs, MUP), on my TBR
Teacher (Gabbie Stroud, A&U)

International book of the year
Becoming (Michelle Obama, Viking), on The Spouse’s TBR
CIRCE (Madeline Miller, Bloomsbury)
Fear: Trump in the White House (Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster)
Less (Andrew Sean Greer, Abacus)
Lost Connections (Johann Hari, Bloomsbury Circus)
Milkman (Anna Burns, Faber), on my TBR
Normal People (Sally Rooney, Faber)
Ottolenghi Simple (Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year
A Superior Spectre (Angela Meyer, Peter Bishop Books), see my review
Blakwork (Alison Whittaker, Magabala)
Deep Time Dreaming (Billy Griffiths, Black Inc.)
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia (ed by Anita Heiss, Black Inc.), see my review
The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted (Robert Hillman, Text)
The Geography of Friendship (Sally Piper, UQP)
The Western Front Diaries of Charles Bean (ed by Peter Burness, NewSouth, published in association with the Australian War Memorial)
Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean (Joy McCann, NewSouth)

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year
Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate), see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums
The Nowhere Child (Christian White, Affirm)
Eggshell Skull (Bri Lee, A&U), see Kate’s review at Books Are My Favourite and Best
One Hundred Years of Dirt (Rick Morton, MUP)
Teacher (Gabbie Stroud, A&U)
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (Holly Ringland, Fourth Estate)
The Rúin (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Heather Morris, Echo), see my review

Shortlists will be announced on 11 April, and the winners on 2 May at a ceremony in Sydney.

Visit the ABIA website to see longlists for these awards

  • Small publishers’ children’s book of the year
  • Illustrated book of the year
  • Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)
  • Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-12)
  • Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)

 


Responses

  1. I’ve read quite a few of these, in the different fiction categories. Some very good books listed. Thanks for the mentions!

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  2. Thanks for the links Lisa. I’m pleased to see Dalton getting noticed.

    I’d like to read Less, Milkman and Normal People on the International list but whether I will is another thing.

    Mr Gums read and really enjoyed The Land Before Avocado.

    I have just started Too Much Lip but Dad has been in hospital for nearly a week, and various family members have been coming and going so reading time has been severely curtailed. And I’m behind one review!

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    • That’s no good about your dad, it’s hard, I know.
      I think I’ll probably read Circe at some stage, I quite like Miller’s rewrites of ancient texts. But I haven’t heard anything about Less, I must not have been paying attention!

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      • My daughter LOVED Circe, so I’m tempted to read that one too, I must admit. I gave Less to my son for Christmas. A Pulitzer prize winner, which can be hit and miss, but this one sounds interesting.

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        • Ah, that explains it, I really can’t follow all the prizes and the Pulitzer is one that often passes me by… until someone reviews it:)

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          • Me too. It caught my attention in some bloggers’ top reads last year because it uses humour.

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      • Oh, and re Dad – 99 in May – we really had him down and out last night but today he’s alert, eating, and ready to sit up and do what the physio says. As our nurse niece says, he’s the cat with 9 lives.

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  3. I like the idea of a ‘literary fiction’ prize, it tells me where I should concentrate my attention (though why Winton and not Murnane?). If I were reading more than a few pages per week I think I would buy myself the Krissy Kneen.

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    • Because Winton would outsell Murnane by zillions to one!

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  4. Read 2 books and #DNF one biography.
    This is a sad reading result.
    I’ve been sidetracked lately by reading classics and
    Irish authors for #ReadingIrelandMonth19.
    I have to ‘get back Down Under”!
    Thanks for this handy list!

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    • Which biography?

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      • Speaking Up
        It is was very matter-to-fact and I missed
        a release of emotion that I could relate to or reflect on.
        I still have it on Kindle…should I give it another go?
        Have you heard of any other readers who had trouble with this book?…or am I the exception on the other side of the world!

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        • Ah, I have that one myself. She spoke very powerfully about it at the NF Festival last year, but I haven’t had time to tackle it yet.
          But, apropos of what you say about emotion, I would say that her media performances show her to be a very controlled person.

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  5. Hmmm… these are interesting categories… I’ve read The Nowhere Child https://readingmattersblog.com/2019/02/03/the-nowhere-child-by-christian-white/ and Scrublands https://readingmattersblog.com/2019/01/06/scrublands-by-chris-hammer/

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    • Thanks Kim, I’ll add them in. I *knew* I’d read a review of Scrublands somewhere quite recently !

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  6. I wish I was a speed reader with 100% comprehension. So many good books on this list and have only read two or three.

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  7. I think I’ll wait for the winner to be announced and then, if I like the sound of it, add it to my wishlist…..If I don’t restrain myself I’ll end up with an enormous TBR stack

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    • Yes, it gets a bit out of hand… I know:)

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