#BroaderBookshelf 2018: Read a Book That Has Won a Major Literary Prize in the Past 5 Years
- Chantal W.
- Wednesday, January 03, 2018
Collection
There are many literary prizes to be found covering a gamut of interests; some prizes are for both fiction and nonfiction. No matter what genre you like to read, or whether you prefer biographies and histories over mysteries and romances, you should be able to find something on this list to help you broaden your bookshelf.
Take a look below at a list of winners of some of the major literary prizes for the last five years and some of the recommended posts on the right to find your next great read! Remember, when you finish the book, record it on your bookmark, take a picture of the cover, and share it on social media with the hashtag #BroaderBookshelf.
Man Booker Prize for Fiction
- 2017: Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
- 2016: The Sellout, by Paul Beatty
- 2015: A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James
- 2014: The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan
- 2013: The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton
Agatha Award
2016 Winners (awarded in 2017):
- Best Contemporary Novel: A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny
- Best Historical Novel: The Reek of Red Herrings, by Catriona McPherson
- Best First Novel: The Semester of Our Discontent, by Cynthia Kuhn
- Best Nonfiction: Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats, by Jane K. Cleland
- Best Children/Young Adult: The Secret of the Puzzle Box: The Code Busters Club, by Penny Warner
See recommended posts to the right for previous year's winners.
Edgar Award
2017 Winners:
- Best Novel: Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley
- Best First Novel: Under the Harrow, by Flynn Berry
- Best Paperback Original: Rain Dogs, by Adrian McKinty
- Best Fact Crime: The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer, by Kate Summerscale
- Best Critical/Biographical: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin
- Best Juvenile: OCDaniel, by Wesley King
- Best Young Adult: Girl in the Blue Coat, by Monica Hesse
See recommended posts to the right for previous year's winners.
Nebula Awards
2016 Winners (awarded in 2017):
- Best Novel: All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders
- Best Novella: Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire
- Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: Arabella of Mars, by David D. Levine
2015 Winners (awarded in 2016):
- Best Novel: Uprooted, by Naomi Novik (Available from Overdrive as an eBook)
- Best Novella: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor
- Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: Updraft, by Fran Wilde
See recommended posts to the right for previous year's winners.
Thriller Awards
2017 Winners:
- Best Hardcover Novel: Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley
- Best First Novel: The Drifter, by Nick Petrie
- Best Young Adult Novel: Steeplejack, by A.J. Hartley
2016 Winners:
- Best Hardcover Novel: The Fifth Gospel, by Ian Caldwell
- Best First Novel : Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich
- Best Paperback Original Novel: Against All Enemies, by John Gilstrap
- Best Young Adult Novel: Pretending to Be Erica, by Michelle Painchaud
- Best E-Book Original Novel: The Prisoner's Gold, by Chris Kuzneski
RITA Awards
2017 Winners
- Contemporary Romance Long: Miracle on 5th Avenue, by Sarah Morgan
- Contemporary Romance Mid-Length: Carolina Dreaming, by Virginia Kantra
- Historical Romance Long: No Mistress of Mine, by Laura Lee Guhrke
- Historical Romance Short: A Duke to Remember, by Kelly Bowen
- Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance: The Moon in the Palace, by Weina Dai Randel
- Paranormal Romance: The Pages of the Mind, by Jeffe Kennedy
- Young Adult Romance: The Problem with Forever, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
National Book Critics Circle Award
2016 Winners:
- Fiction: LaRose, by Louise Erdrich
- General Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond
- Autobiography: Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren
- Biography: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin
- Criticism: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson
- Poetry: House of Lords and Commons, by Ishion Hutchinson
See recommended posts to the right for some of the previous year's winners.
Costa Book Awards
2016 Winners (Awarded in 2017):
- First Novel Award: Golden Hill, by Francis Spufford
- Novel Award: Days Without End, by Sebastian Barry
- Biography Award: Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory, by Keggie Carew
- Poetry Award: Falling Awake, by Alice Oswald
- Children's Book Award: The Bombs That Brought Us Together, by Brian Conaghan
2015 Winners (Awarded in 2016)
- First Novel Award: The Loney, by Andrew Michael Hurley
- Novel Award: A God in Ruins, by Kate Atkinson
- Biography Award: The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, by Andrea Wulf
- Children's Book Award: The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
- 2017 – A General Theory of Oblivion, by José Eduardo Agualusa
- 2016 – Family Life, by Akhil Sharma
- 2015 – Harvest, by Jim Crace
- 2014 – The Sound of Things Falling, by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
- 2013 – City of Bohane, by Kevin Barry
Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction
- 2017: The Power, by Naomi Alderman
- 2016: The Glorious Heresies, by Lisa McInerney
- 2015: How to be Both, by Ali Smith
- 2014: A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, by Eimar McBride
- 2013: May We Be Forgiven, by A.M. Homes
Lambda Literary Award
2017 Winners:
- Lesbian Fiction: Here Comes the Sun, by Nicole Dennis-Benn
- Gay Fiction: The Angel of History, by Rabih Alameddine
- Bisexual Fiction: Marrow Island, by Alexis M. Smith
- Bisexual Nonfiction: Black Dove: Mama, Mi’jo, and Me, by Ana Castillo, available via hoopla
- LGBT Nonfiction: How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS, by David France
- Lesbian Poetry: Play Dead, by Francine J. Harris
- Gay Poetry: Thief in the Interior, by Phillip B. Williams, available via hoopla
- Gay Mystery: Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery, by J. Aaron Sanders
- Gay Memoir/Biography: When We Rise, by Cleve Jones
- LGBT Anthology: The Remedy: Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care, by Zena Sharman, available via hoopla
- LGBT Children’s/Young Adult: Girl Mans Up, by M.E. Girard
- LGBT SF/F/Horror: The Devourers, by Indra Das
Hugos
2017 Winners:
- Best Novel: The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin
- Best Novella: Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire
- Best Related Work: Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Pulitzer Prize
2017: Winners
- Fiction: The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
- History: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson
- Biography/Autobiography: The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, by Hisham Matar
- Poetry: Olio, by Tyehimba Jess
- General Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond
National Book Award
2017 Winners:
- Fiction: Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
- Nonfiction: The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, by Masha Gessen
- Young People’s Literature: Far from the Tree, by Robin Benway
- Poetry: Half-Light, by Frank Bidart
Newbery Medal
- 2017: The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill
- 2016: Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Peña
- 2015: The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander
- 2014: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, by Kate DiCamillo
- 2013: The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
SC Book Awards – Junior Book Award
- 2017: The Swap, by Megan Shull
- 2016: Prisoner B-3087, by Alan Gratz
- 2015: The Raft, by S.A. Bodeen
- 2014: The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen
- 2013: Hero, by Mike Lupica
SC Book Awards – Young Adult Book Award
- 2017: Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
- 2016: The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey
- 2015: Alice in Zombieland, by Gena Showalter
- 2014: Divergent, by Veronica Roth
- 2013: Matched, by Allie Condie
Coretta Scott King Book Award
- 2017: March: Book Three, by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
- 2016: Gone Crazy in Alabama, by Rita Williams-Garcia
- 2015: Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
- 2014: P.S. Be Eleven, by Rita Williams-Garcia
- 2013: Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America, by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Pura Belpré Award
- 2017: Juana & Lucas, written and illustrated by Juana Medina
- 2016: Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, by Margarita Engle
- 2015: I Lived on Butterfly Hill, by Marjorie Agosín
- 2014: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, by Meg Medina
- 2013: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Printz Award
- 2017: March: Book Three, by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
- 2016: Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby
- 2015: I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
- 2014: Midwinterblood, by Marcus Sedgwick
- 2013: In Darkness, by Nick Lake