These are the shortlists for the 2020 Indie Book Awards for the best Australian books published in 2019.
Fiction
- There Was Still Love (Favel Parrett, Hachette)
- Bruny (Heather Rose, A&U)
- The Wife and the Widow (Christian White, Affirm)
- The Weekend (Charlotte Wood, A&U)
Hmm. Let’s take another look at the longlist, announced in December:
FICTION LONGLIST
- The White Girl by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press), see my review
- The Rip by Mark Brandi (Hachette Australia)
- Silver by Chris Hammer (Allen and Unwin)
- There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett (Hachette Australia), see my review and Theresa’s at Theresa Smith Writes
- Maybe the Horse Will Talk by Elliot Perlman (Vintage Australia), see my review
- Bruny by Heather Rose (Allen and Unwin), see my review
- Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas (Allen and Unwin)
- The Wife and the Widow by Christian White (Affirm Press)
- The Yield by Tara June Winch (Hamish Hamilton Australia), see my review
- The Weekend by Charlotte Wood (Allen and Unwin), see my review and Theresa’s at Theresa Smith Writes
Nonfiction
- Your Own Kind of Girl (Clare Bowditch, A&U), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
- 488 Rules for Life: The thankless art of being correct (Kitty Flanagan, A&U)
- Tell Me Why (Archie Roach, S&S)
- Sand Talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world (Tyson Yunkaporta, Text)
I went to the session about Sand talk at the Non Fiction festival in Geelong and started the book when I got home, but it lost me in the Introduction. I might have another go at it during 2020 Indigenous Literature Week, or I might not, depending on my tolerance for rambling at the time. I haven’t read any of the others, and don’t want to.
Debut fiction
- Wearing Paper Dresses (Anne Brinsden, Macmillan)
- Allegra in Three Parts (Suzanne Daniel, Macmillan), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
- The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone (Felicity McLean, Fourth Estate)
- Heart of the Grass Tree (Molly Murn, Vintage)
Illustrated nonfiction
- The Lost Boys (Paul Byrnes, Affirm)
- Finding the Heart of the Nation (Thomas Mayor, Hardie Grant)
- The Whole Fish Cookbook (Josh Niland, Hardie Grant)
- In an Australian Light (ed by Jo Turner, Thames & Hudson)
Young adult
- The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling (Wai Chim, A&U)
- Aurora Rising: The Aurora Cycle 1 (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
- It Sounded Better in My Head (Nina Kenwood, Text)
- Monuments (Will Kostakis, Lothian)
Children’s
- The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
- Into the Wild: Wolf Girl Book 1 (Anh Do, illus by Jeremy Ley, A&U)
- The Tiny Star (Mem Fox, illus by Freya Blackwood, Puffin)
- Young Dark Emu: A truer history (Bruce Pascoe, Magabala). Update: I’ve read the adult version of this and am pleased to see a junior edition of it.
The winners will be announced on 23 March at the 2020 Leading Edge Books conference in Brisbane. For more information about the awards, visit the website.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
I don’t have any opinions about who should win (I wasn’t a fan of either Bruny or The Weekend) but I bought Aurora Rising for Ms YA and I’d like to look at the Pascoe and the Anh Do for her young sister (all right, I don’t remember her age. I guess she’ll turn either 8 or 9).
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 10:54 am
Have you seen the furore over Bruce Pascoe’s Aboriginality being questioned, by another Aboriginal? (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/11/peter-duttons-office-referred-complaint-accusing-bruce-pascoe-of-falsely-claiming-to-be-indigenous-to-afp)
What a sad state of affairs it is…
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:04 am
I read it, yesterday I guess. I think the complainant wants a registry of Aboriginality. Seems excessive. And we already have an Aboriginal electoral roll. Anything which involves Dutton has to be bad, I hope they sort it out.
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 11:10 am
I think that referring it to Dutton says more about the complainant than it does about Dutton.
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:13 am
I’m going to pick up the Favel Parret and Perlman book. Both sound interesting.
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By: TravellinPenguin on January 15, 2020
at 11:11 am
Let me know what you think of them, do!
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:13 am
Hmmm… the fiction shortlist doesn’t fill me with great excitement. I liked The Weekend but didn’t think much of Bruny…
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By: kimbofo on January 15, 2020
at 4:44 pm
Sometimes this award is more of a bestsellers award…
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 6:13 pm
I’ve read a few on this list. The Weekend, There Was Still Love, Your Own Kind Of Girl (which I’m thrilled to see on the shortlist), Allegra in Three Parts. All good reads!
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 6:33 pm
Can I please have your URLS if you’ve reviewed them so that I can link to the reviews? (Don’t worry if it goes to moderation, my settings send any URLS more than two in a comment to moderation).
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 7:26 pm
The Weekend: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/27/book-review-the-weekend-by-charlotte-wood/
There Was Still Love: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/03/book-review-there-was-still-love-by-favel-parrett/
Your Own Kind Of Girl: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/26/book-review-your-own-kind-of-girl-by-clare-bowditch/
Allegra In Three Parts: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/06/26/book-review-allegra-in-three-parts-by-suzanne-daniel/
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 7:59 pm
Done! Thank you!
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 8:22 pm
I’m sitting bored at a roadhouse table and was just getting warmed up! Oh well, I do have a review to write.
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 8:23 pm
Anytime! 😊
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 8:25 pm
[…] Short Stories from the top menu). Her first novel, Wearing Paper Dresses was shortlisted for the 2020 Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction. Now that I’ve read it, I know […]
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By: Wearing Paper Dresses, by Anne Brinsden | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on February 15, 2021
at 1:55 pm