The Indie Book Awards has announced their shortlists across four categories, bringing together the best in book publishing for summer 2025, including a national treasure and Booker shortlisted author
Awards season isn’t over yet, as the book industry continues to kick into gear to celebrate the best books of the year. On May 9, The Booksellers Association announced the shortlists for this year’s Indie Book Awards.
This is a unique award, as it is for both authors and illustrators, and judged by independent bookshops across the United Kingdom. The category winners will be announced during Books Are My Bag’s annual Independent Bookshop Week (Saturday 14th – Saturday 21st June 2025).
The Indie Book Awards is a part of the year-round campaign activity of Books Are My Bag promotes the crucial role that independent bookshops play in adding economic, cultural and community value at both a local and national level.
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The Indie Book Awards aims to champion the best paperbacks of the summer by celebrating the best books across four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Picture Book. The bumper list of shortlisted authors for 2025 includes national treasure Jacqueline Wilson and international bestselling author shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Costa Book Award and The Woman’s Prize For Fiction Elif Shafak.
Ahead of the shortlist announcement, Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, said: “We are privileged to regularly witness the alchemy of authors and independent booksellers working in tandem to place the perfect books into the hands of exactly the right reader; it is a magical pairing of brilliant writers and expert curators.”
The Adult categories judging panel consists of Charlotte Vaughan (Kenilworth Books), Tom Owen (Gay on Wye), Amber Harrison (FOLDE), Jacqui Delbaere (The Little Green Bookshop) and Tomás Kenny (Kenny’s Bookshop & Art Gallery)
The Children’s categories judging panel consists of Amy Moorhouse (The Thoughtful Spot Children’s Bookshop), Molly Murray (Seahorse Bookstore), Heather Slater (Forum Books), Trish Hennessy (Halfway Up the Stairs) and Sarah Skelton (The Book Nook Stewarton).
A judging panel of independent booksellers will decide on the four category winners which will be announced on Thursday 19 June.
The full Indie Book Awards 2025 shortlist
Children’s
- Finding Bear by Hannah Gold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
- Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
- Murder for Two by Niyla Farook (Piccadilly Press)
- The Falling Boy by David Almond (Hodder Children’s Books)
- Brielle and Bear: Once Upon a Time by Salomey Doku (Harper Fire)
- Reek by Alastair Chisholm (Barrington Stoke)
Picture Book
- Bear by Natalia Shaloshvili (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
- The Dinosaur Next Door by David Litchfield (Magic Cat Publishing)
- Farah Loves Mangoes by Sarthak Sinha (Flying Eye Books)
- The Golden Hare by Paddy Donnlley (The O’Brien Press)
- Invisible Dogs by Ruby Wright (Rocket Bird Books)
- Runaway Cone by Morag Hood (Two Hoots)
Fiction
- James by Percival Everett (Picador)
- There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Viking)
- The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate Books)
- Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan (Faber)
- The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier (The Borough Press)
- Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson (Bantam)
Non-Fiction
- A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Cholmeley (Mudlark)
- Ingrained by Callum Robinson (Transworld)
- Dispersals by Jessica J. Lee (Hamish Hamilton)
- Reading Lessons by Carol Atherton (Fig Tree)
- The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing (Picador)
- Welcome to the Club: The life and lessons of a Black Woman DJ by DJ Paulette (Manchester University Press)