Prompt 6 & 7: A Book Nominated For An Award This Year and A Book That Won an Award Last Year

Image Credit: Ariel Besagar, Unsplash

Of all the prompts in all the reading challenges that I’ve participated in over the last few years, I must say that these ones are probably the most difficult for me to find a book that I like and actually finish. There are so many good books out there and it’s so difficult to choose! I spent so much time researching different kinds of book awards that I was spending more time researching books to read than actually reading any.

This initially started out as a post just for Prompt Six: A Book Nominated For An Award This Year, though through my research I found that many book award organizations still have their winners posted from previous years so this is a great way to also find a book for Prompt 7: A Book That Won an Award Last Year.

One thing to note for slow readers like me is that the biggest hurdle to finding a book that is nominated for an award this year is that many book award organizations don’t announce their lists until at least halfway through the year. My short list of suggested book awards has a mix of both diversity and timing of announcements.

Click on the title of the book award to visit the websites for more information.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction - announcement on June 16th
National Book Award - announced sometime in November or December
The Booker Prizes - longlist is announced in July; shortlist in September; winner announced in mid-November. Looks it is the same timing for both the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize.
Independent Publisher Book Awards - announcement in early May 2021
The Costa Book Award - unsure of when these are announced
The JCB Prize for Literature - unsure of when awards or winners are announced. The JCB Prize for Literature is a Rs 25-lakh award presented each year to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian author.
The Reading Women Podcast - Established in 2016, the Reading Women Award recognizes outstanding books written by or about women. Awarded annually, the prize is given to one fiction and one nonfiction work that embodies the mission of Reading Women.
Goodreads Choice Awards - voting starts in November and winners are announced in December. Previous Goodreads winners are here.
Nonfiction Book Awards - honors books year round.

Did I miss any of your favorites? Comment them below to share!