Thursday, January 31, 2008

Oranges are not the only fruit

I like the way Jeanette Winterson thinks. I don't always do this, but I actually read the introduction she wrote to this book and found that she had switched publishers at some point because her first one was bought by a media giant. This alone earned her a lot of points!

And the book... well, it won the Whitbread Award for a First Novel in 1985 (the list of recipients is impressive) and I can certainly see why. I can't quite believe that this was Jeanette Winterson's first novel!

It tells the story of a girl named Jeanette, who is adopted by a devoutly Christian family and told that she is destined to be a missionary in Africa or some other 'heathen' place. She has a girlhood of bible quizes, religious retreats and church events and she really believes in all of it - she doesn't even falter when she goes to school and sees that she is different from the other children. Until what she believes in doesn't come through for her. Jeanette develops a relationship with another girl - and the consequences of this reveal the truth about the God-obssessed people she grew up with.

This is a book about growing up, about understanding yourself and about religious fanaticism. But it's also more than that - it's a beatifully written story, full of symbolism and myth, and it really makes you think about life and people's attitudes towards each other.

It's also full of great thoughts - one that compelled me to find a notebook and write it down is:
"Of course people will laugh at you, but people laugh at a great many things, so there's no need to take it personally."
I can't pretend to have understood all the references in this book, I don't really know much about Christian religion, but I certainly got a lot out of the social commentary it includes. And wow, the beautifully crafted phrasing of certain thoughts and ideas... definitely worth reading!

And I have to add that this is the first book I can cross off my A-Z Challenge list for 2008!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

A-Z Reading Challenge

Boy, did I have fun compiling this list! I decided to use books that I already have in the house, since I have a book-buying problem. It worked for the most part, I even included some books that were bought by my boyfriend and that I'd never have considered reading if it wasn't for this challenge. And that's part of the point of this, right?

The great idea comes from Joy at Thoughts of Joy - and it has its own site too!

I'll be updating this throughout the year. If there's a link it means that I finished the book and reviewed it.

Completed: ALL as of November 29, 2008 - read my wrap-up post

A-Z by title

A - Are You There, God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume
B - The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
C - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
D - The Devil and Miss Prym by Paolo Coelho
E - Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
F - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
G - Gabriel's Gift by Hanif Kureishi
H - Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows by J.K. Rowling
I - I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
J - Jennifer Government by Max Barry
K - Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
L - Like Life by Lorrie Moore
M - Murder on a Girls' Night Out by Anne George
N - Number9Dream by David Mitchell
O - Oranges are not the only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
P - P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
Q - Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
R - The River King by Alice Hoffman
S - The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares
T - The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
U - Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes
V - The Vanishing by Tim Krabbe
W - Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
X - The Xmas Factor by Annie Sanders
Y - The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
Z - Zel by Donna Jo Napoli (discovered via Natasha)


A-Z by author

A - Atwood, Margaret - The Penelopiad
B - Boyne, John - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
C - Card, Orson Scott - Ender's Game
D - Davidson, MaryJanice - Undead and Unwed
E - Edwards, Kim - The Memory Keeper's Daughter
F - Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
G - Gaiman, Neil - Stardust
H - Homes, A.M. - This Book Will Save Your Life
I - Irving, Washington - Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
J - James, P.D. - Children of Men
K - Kinsella, Sophie - Can You Keep a Secret?
L - Lee, Harper - To Kill A Mockingbird
M - McEwan, Ian - Amsterdam
N - North, Freya - Chloë
O - O'Connor, Joseph - Star of the Sea
P - Pratchett, Terry - Wyrd Sisters
Q - Quindlen, Anna - One True Thing
R - Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Shadow of the Wind
S - Spark, Muriel - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
T - Taylor, Andrew - The American Boy
U - Updike, John - The Witches of Eastwick
V - Von Ziegesar, Cecily - Gossip Girl
W - Wilson, Jacqueline - Girls under Pressure
X - Xiaolu Guo - A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
Y - Yoshimoto, Banana - Kitchen
Z - Zusak, Markus - The Book Thief

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A late start to this year's reading challenges

The exciting world of reading challenges organised by booklovers everywhere inspired me to start my own reading blog. And although I know I'm really late to join this year's reading challenges, I still REALLY want to do it! So here I am. Here is my list for the 888 challenge - a link means that I finished the book and reviewed it.

Books that have been on my Amazon wish list for ages:
1) Hunting and Gathering by Ana Gavalda
2) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
3) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
4) Perfume by Patrick Suskind
5) Unstolen by Wendy Jean
6) Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson
7) Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
8) Witch Child by Celia Rees

Classics:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
3) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
5) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
6) The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7) Animal Farm by George Orwell
8) Winnie-the-pooh by A.A. Milne

Books in Polish:
1) Klub mało używanych dziewic - Monika Szwaja
2) Samotność w sieci - Janusz L. Wiśniewski
3) Polska - James Michener
4) Ono - Dorota Terakowska
5) A nie mówiłam - Katarzyna Grochola
6) Różowe tabletki na uspokojenie - Katarzyna Janda
7) Tego lata, w Zawrociu - Hanna Kowalewska
8) Dziennik Irlandzki by Heinrich Boll

Prize winners:
1) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
2) Wild Swans by Jung Chang
3) The Road by Cormac McCarthy
4) The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
5) The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
6) Bel Canto by Ann Patchet
7) Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
8) Ironweed by William Kennedy

Creativity and Spirit:
1) Many lives, Many masters by Brian L. Weiss
2) The Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love by Susan Jeffers
3) An ABC of Witchcraft by Doreen Valiente
4) A Witch Alone by Marian Green
5) True Magick by Amber K
6) Wicca by Scott Cunningham
7) The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
8) The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

Non-Fiction
1) Getting Things Done by David Allen
2) The Story of God by Robert Winston
3) The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
4) The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
5) Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński
6) The Celts, First Masters of Europe by Christiane Eluere
7) A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong
8) The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger

Women Writers
1) Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
2) Brick Lane by Monica Ali
3) Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
4) Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
5) Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
6) I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
7) The Boy on the Bus by Deborah Schupack
8) Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Books that have been on my shelf for way too long:
1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
2) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
3) The High Cost of Living by Marge Piercy
4) Chloe by Freya North
5) The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin
6) The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery
7) number9dream by David Mitchell
8) A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Orange Prize Project

An ongoing challenge with no time limit. The project's blog is here - all info is there.

Books I already read are in bold. Books I've read as of 2008, which is when I started blogging about my reading, link to my thoughts.


2007
Fiction Award:
Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Winner)
Arlington Park, by Rachel Cusk
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, by Xiaolu Guo
The Observations, by Jane Harris
Digging to America, by Anne Tyler

Longlist:
Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan
Peripheral Vision, by Patricia Ferguson
Over, by Margaret Forster
The Dissident, by Nell Freudenberger
When to Walk, by Rebecca Gowers
Carry Me Down, by MJ Hyland
The Girls, by Lori Lansens
Alligator, by Lisa Moore
What Was Lost, by Catherine O'Flynn
The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney
Careless, by Deborah Robertson
Afterwards, by Rachel Seiffert
Ten Days in the Hills, by Jane Smiley
The Housekeeper, by Melanie Wallace

New Writer Award
The Lizard Cage, by Karen Connelly (Winner)
Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan
Bitter Sweets, by Roopa Farooki

2006
Fiction Award:
On Beauty, by Zadie Smith (Winner)
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Beyond Black, by Hilary Mantel
The Accidental, by Ali Smith
Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, by Carrie Tiffany
The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters

Longlist:
Minaret, by Leila Aboulela
Harbor, by Lorraine Adams
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman
Watch Me Disappear, by Jill Dawson
House of Orphans, by Helen Dunmore
The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory
White Ghost Girls, by Alice Greenway
Dreams of Speaking, by Gail Jones
Lost in the Forest, by Sue Miller
Rape: A Love Story, by Joyce Carol Oates
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Frangipani, by Celestine Hitiura Vaite
The Position, by Meg Wolitzer

New Writer Award:
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman (Winner)
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, by Yiyun Li
The Dream Life of Sukhanov, by Olga Grushin

2005
Fiction Award:
We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver - WINNER
Old Filth, by Jane Gardam
The Mammoth Cheese, by Sheri Holman
Liars and Saints, by Maile Meloy
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka

Longlist:
Away From You, by Melanie Finn
Black Dirt, by Nell Leyshon
Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
Escape Routes for Beginners, by Kira Cochrane
The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates
It So Happens, by Patricia Ferguson
The Mysteries of Glass, by Sue Gee
Nelson's Daughter, by Miranda Hearn
The Remedy, by Michele Lovric
The River, by Tricia Wastvedt
The Great Stink, by Clare Clark
Tatty, by Christine Dwyer Hickey
The Zigzag Way, by Anita Desai
Ursula, Under, by Ingrid Hill

New Writer Award:
26a, by Diana Evans - WINNER
Lucky Girls, by Nell Freudenberger
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff

2004
Small Island, by Andrea Levy - WINNER
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
The Great Fire, by Shirley Hazzard
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ice Road, by Gillian Slovo
The Colour, by Rose Tremain

Longlist:
Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
The Sari Shop, by Rupa Bajwa
Kith and Kin, by Stevie Davies
State of Happiness, by Stella Duffy
The Flood, by Maggie Gee
The Electric Michelangelo, by Sarah Hall
Notes on a Scandal, by Zoe Heller
The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Visit from Voltaire, by Dinah Lee Kung
Gilgamesh, by Joan London
The Internationals, by Sarah May
Love, by Toni Morrison
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler

2003
Property, by Valerie Martin - WINNER
Buddha Da, by Anne Donovan
Heligoland, by Shena Mackay
Unless, by Carol Shields
The Autograph Man, by Zadie Smith
The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt

Longlist:
Special, by Bella Bathhurst
Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
English Correspondence, by Janet Davey
Dot in the Universe, by Lucy Ellmann
What the Birds See, by Sonya Hartnett
What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt
War Crimes for the Home, by Liz Jensen
The Solace of Leaving Early, by Haven Kimmel
In the Forest, by Edna O'Brien
Fox Girl, by Okja Keller
When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka
Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
The Cutting Room, by Louise Welsh
Water Street, by Crystal Wilkinson

2002
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett- WINNER
No Bones, by Anna Burns
The Siege, by Helen Dunmore
The White Family, by Maggie Gee
A Child's Book of True Crime, by Chloe Hooper
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters

Longlist:
Pop, by Kitty Aldridge
A True Story Based on Lies, by Jennifer Clement
Now You See Me, by Lesley Glaister
The Element of Water, by Stevie Davies
Five Quarters of an Orange, by Joanne Harris
Niagara Falls All Over Again, by Elizabeth McCracken
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk
Middle Ages, by Joyce Carol Oates
The Story of My Face, by Kathy Page
Crawling at Night, by Nani Power
La Cucina, by Lily Prior
The Hero's Walk, by Anita Rau Badami
Sister Crazy, by Emma Richler
The Dark Room, by Rachel Seiffert

2001
The Idea of Perfection, by Kate Grenville - WINNER
The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood
Fred & Edie, by Jill Dawson
Hotel World, by Ali Smith
Homestead, by Rosina Lippi
Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley

Longlist:
The Hiding Place, by Trezza Azzopardi
In the Blue House, by Meaghan Delahunt
The Last Samurai, by Helen Dewitt
Fish, Blood & Bone, by Leslie Forbes
The Wild, by Esther Freud
Dog Days, Glenn Miller
Nights, by Laurie Graham
Nowhere Else on Earth, by Josephine Humphreys
Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund
From Caucasia, with Love, by Danzy Senna
The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan
The PowerBook, by Jeanette Winterson
MotherKind, by Jayne Ann Phillips

2000
When I Lived in Modern Times, by Linda Grant - WINNER
If I Told You Once, by Judy Budnitz
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Dancers Dancing, by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith

Longlist:
The Translator, by Leila Aboulela
Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier
Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai
A Dangerous Vine, by Barbara Ewing
Danny Boy, by Jo-Ann Goodwin
A Sin of Colour, by Sunetra Gupt
Born Free, by Laura Hird
Everything You Need, by A.L. Kennedy
The Hunter, by Julia Leigh
Charming Billy, by Alice McDermott
Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, by Gina B. Nahai
Island, by Jane Rogers
Last Chance Texaco, by Christine Pountney
What the Body Remembers, by Shauna Singh Baldwin

1999
A Crime in the Neighborhood, by Suzanne Berne - WINNER
The Short History of a Prince, by Jane Hamilton
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
Paradise, by Toni Morrison
The Leper's Companions, by Julia Blackburn
Visible Worlds, by Marilyn Bowering

Longlist:
Master Georgie, by Beryl Bainbridge
The Voyage of the Narwhal, by Andrea Barrett
In A Fishbone Church, by Catherine Chidgey
Crocodile Soup, by Julia Darling
Restitution, by Maureen Duffy
Trumpet, by Jackie Kay
Comfort Woman, by Nora Okja Keller
Buxton Spice, by Oonya Kempadoo
The Vintner's Luck, by Elizabeth Knox
Marchlands, by Karla Kuban
The Giant O'Brien, by Hilary Mantel
The Most Wanted, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A History of Silence, by Barbara Neil
Evening News, by Marly Swick

1998
Larry's Party, by Carol Shield - WINNER
Lives of the Monster Dogs, by Kirsten Bakis
The Ventriloquist's Tale, by Pauline Melville
The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett
Love Like Hate Adore, by Deirdre Purcell
The Weight of Water, by Anita Shreve

Longlist:
Bitter Grounds, by Sandra Benitez
Man or Mango? by Lucy Ellmann
Gaglow, by Esther Freud
The Aguero Sisters, by Cristina Garcia
The House Gun, by Nadine Gordimer
The Breaking, by Kathryn Heyman
Round Rock, by Michelle Huneven
Ark Baby, by Liz Jensen
Undiscovered Country, by Christina Koning
The Orchard, by Drusilla Modjeska
Black and Blue, by Anna Quindlen
Impossible Saints, by Michele Roberts
The Underpainter, by Jane Urquhart
Baby Love, by Louis Young

1997
Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels - WINNER
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
One by One in the Darkness, by Deirdre Madden
Accordion Crimes, by E. Annie Proulx
Hen's Teeth, by Manda Scott
I Was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn

Longlist:
Every Man For Himself, by Beryl Bainbridge
Death Comes for Peter Pan, by Joan Brady
The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Last Thing He Wanted, by Joan Didion
The Cast Iron Shore, by Linda Grant
The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, by Siri Hustvedt
The Autobiography of My Mother, by Jamaica Kincaid
With Child, by Laurie R. King
Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald
All the Blood is Red, by Leone Ross
Red Leaves, by Paulina Simons
Anita and Me, by Meera Syal
Gut Symmetries, by Jeanette Winterson
The Frequency of Souls, by Mary Kay Zuravleff

1996
A Spell of Winter, by Helen Dunmore - WINNER
The Book of Colour, by Julia Blackburn
Spinsters, by Pagan Kennedy
The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan
Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler
Eveless Eden, by Marianne Wiggins

Longlist:
The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker
Official and Doubtful, by Ajay Close
The Rape of Sita, by Lindsey Collen
Keeping Up with Magda, by Isla Dewar
The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Private Parts of Women, by Lesley Glaister
The Passion of Alice, by Stephanie Grant
Egg Dancing, by Liz Jensen
So I Am Glad, by A.L. Kennedy
Never Far From Nowhere, by Andrea Levy
Mother of Pearl, by Mary Morrissy
Promised Lands, by Jane Rogers
River Lines, by Elspeth Sandys

Project - Costa Book Awards

An ongoing project, with no time limit. There is a separate blog for it here - it is also where I copied the below list from. Books of the year are marked with ***.

Titles in bold were read before I started blogging, the ones I read since should have a link to my thoughts.

2007
First Novel Award - What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
Novel Award - Day by A L Kennedy***
Biography Award - Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Poetry Award - Tilt by Jean Sprackland
Children's Book Award - The Bower Bird by Ann Kelley

2006
First Novel Award - The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney***
Novel Award - Restless by William Boyd
Biography Award - Keeping Mum by Brian Thompson
Poetry Award - Letter to Patience by John Haynes
Children's Book Award - Set in Stone by Linda Newbery

2005
First Novel Award - The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
Novel Award - The Accidental by Ali Smith
Biography Award - Matisse: The Master by Hilary Spurling***
Poetry Award - Cold Calls by Christopher Logue
Children's Book Award - The New Policeman by Kate Thompson

2004
First Novel Award - Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Novel Award - Small Island by Andrea Levy***
Biography Award - My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy
Poetry Award - Corpus by Michael Simmons
Children's Book Award - Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean

2003
First Novel Award - Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
Novel Award - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon***
Biography Award - Orwell: The Life by DJ Taylor
Poetry Award - Landing Light by Don Paterson
Children's Book Award - The Fire-Eaters by David Almond

2002
First Novel Award - The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
Novel Award - Spies by Michael Frayn
Biography Award - Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin***
Poetry Award - The Ice Age by Paul Farley
Children's Book Award - Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay

2001
First Novel Award - Something Like a House by Sid Smith
Novel Award - Twelve Bar Blues by Patrick Neate
Biography Award - Selkirk's Island by Diana Souhami
Poetry Award - Bunny by Selima Hill
Children's Book Award - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman***

2000
First Novel Award - White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Novel Award - English Passengers by Matthew Kneale***
Biography Award - Bad Blood by Lorna Sage
Poetry Award - The Asylum Dance by John Burnside
Children's Book Award - Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin

1999
First Novel Award - White City Blue by Tim Lott
Novel Award - Music and Silence by Rose Tremain
Biography Award - Berlioz, Volume 2 by David Cairns
Poetry Award - Beowulf by Seamus Heaney***
Children's Book Award - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

1998
First Novel Award - The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden
Novel Award - Leading the Cheers by Justin Cartwright
Biography Award - Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman
Poetry Award - Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes***
Children's Book Award - Skellig by David Almond

1997
First Novel Award - The Ventriloquist's Tale by Pauline Melville
Novel Award - Quarantine by Jim Crace
Biography Award - Victor Hugo by Graham Robb
Poetry Award - Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes***
Children's Book Award - Aquila by Andrew Norriss

1996
First Novel Award - The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester
Novel Award - Every Man for Himself by Beryl Bainbridge
Biography Award - Thomas Cranmer: A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Poetry Award - The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney***
Children's Book Award - The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine

1995
First Novel Award - Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson***
Novel Award - The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
Biography Award - Gladstone by Roy Jenkins
Poetry Award - Gunpowder by Bernard O'Donoghue
Children's Book Award - The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo

1994
First Novel Award - The Longest Memory by Fred D'Aguiar
Novel Award - Felicia's Journey by William Trevor***
Biography Award - D. H. Lawrence: The Married Man by Brenda Maddox
Poetry Award - Out of Danger by James Fenton
Children's Book Award - Gold Dust by Geraldine McCaughrean

1993
First Novel Award - Saving Agnes by Rachel Cusk
Novel Award - Theory of War by Joan Brady***
Biography Award - Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life by Andrew Motion
Poetry Award - Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy
Children's Book Award - Flour Babies by Anne Fine

1992
First Novel Award - Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington***
Novel Award - Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
Biography Award - Trollope by Victoria Glendinning
Poetry Award - The Gaze of the Gorgon by Tony Harrison
Children's Book Award -The Great Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross

1991
First Novel Award - Alma Cogan by Gordon Burn
Novel Award - The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam
Biography Award - A Life of Picasso by John Richardson***
Poetry Award - Gorse Fires by Michael Longley
Children's Book Award - Harvey Angell by Diana Hendry

1990
First Novel Award - The Buddha of Suburbia by Nicholas Mosley
Novel Award - Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley***
Biography Award - A A Milne: His Life by Ann Thwaite
Poetry Award - Daddy, Daddy by Paul Durcan
Children's Book Award - AK by Peter Dickinson

1989
First Novel Award - Gerontius by James Hamilton-Paterson
Novel Award - The Chymical Wedding by Lindsay Clarke
Biography Award - Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes***
Poetry Award - Shibboleth by Michael Donaghy
Children's Book Award - Why Weeps the Brogan? by Hugh Scott

1988
First Novel Award - The Comforts of Madness by Paul Sayer***
Novel Award - The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Biography Award - Tolstoy by A N Wilson
Poetry Award - The Automatic Oracle by Peter Porter
Children's Book Award - Awaiting Developments by Judy Allen

1987
First Novel Award - The Other Garden by Francis Wyndham
Novel Award - The Child in Time by Ian McEwan
Biography Award - Under the Eye of the Clock by Christopher Nolan***
Poetry Award - The Haw Lantern by Seamus Heany
Children's Book Award - A Little Lower than the Angels by Geraldine McCaughrean

1986
First Novel Award - Continent by Jim Crace
Novel Award - An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro***
Biography Award - Gilbert White by Richard Mabey
Poetry Award - Stet by Peter Reading
Children's Book Award - The Coal House by Andrew Taylor

1985
First Novel Award - Oranges are not the only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Novel Award - Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
Biography Award - Hugh Dalton by Ben Pimlott
Poetry Award - Elegies by Douglas Dunn***
Children's Book Award - The Nature of the Beast by Janni Howker

[Note: The issuance of a Book of the Year award began in 1985. Between 1971 and 1984, categories shifted and awards were not given in all categories. ]

1984
First Novel Award - A Parish of Rich Women by James Buchan
Novel Award - Kruger's Alp by Christopher Hope
Biography Award - T S Eliot by Peter Ackroyd
Short Story Award - Tomorrow is our Permanent Address by Diane Rowe
Children's Book Award - The Queen of the Pharisees' Children by Barbara Willard

1983
First Novel Award - Flying to Nowhere by John Fuller
Novel Award - Fools of Fortune by William Trevor
Joint Biography Award - Vita by Victoria Glendining and King George V by Kenneth Rose
Children's Book Award - The Witches by Roald Dahl

1982
First Novel Award - On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin
Novel Award - Young Shoulders by John Wain
Biography Award - Bismarck by Edward Crankshaw
Children's Book Award - The Song of Pentecost by W J Corbett

1981
First Novel Award - A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd
Novel Award - Silver's City by Maurice Leitch
Biography Award - Monty: The Making of a General by Nigel Hamilton
Children's Book Award - The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam

1980
Novel Award - How Far Can You Go? by David Lodge
Biography Award - On the Edge of Paradise: A C Benson the Diarist by David Newsome
Childen's Book Award - John Diamond by Leon Garfield

1979
Novel Award - The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston
Autobiography Award - About Time by Penelope Mortimer
Children's Book Award - Tulku by Peter Dickinson

1978
Novel Award - Picture Palace by Paul Theroux
Biography Award - Lloyd George: the People's Champion by John Grigg
Children's Book Award - The Battle of Bubble & Squeak by Philippa Pearce

1977
Novel Award - Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge
Biography Award - Mary Curzon by Nigel Nicolson
Children's Book Award - No End to Yesterday by Shelagh Macdonald

1976
Novel Award - The Children of Dynmouth by William Trevor
Biography Award - Elizabeth Gaskell by Winifred Gerin
Children's Book Award - A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively

1975
Novel Award - Docherty by William McIlvanney
Autobiography Award - In Our Infancy by Helen Corke
First Book Award - The Improbable Puritan: A Life of Bulstrode Whitelock by Ruth Spalding

1974
Novel Award - The Sacred & Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch
Biography Award - Poor Dear Brendan by Andrew Boyle
Joint Children's Books - How Tom Beat captain Najork & His Hired Sportsmen by Russell Hoban & Quentin Blake, The Emperor's Winding Sheet by Jill Paton Walsh
First Book Award - The Life & Death of Mary Wollstonecraft by Claire Tomalin

1973
Novel Award - The Chip Chip Gatherers by Shiva Naipaul
Biography Award - CB: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman by John Wilson
Children's Book Award - The Butterfly Ball & The Grasshopper's Feast by Alan Aldridge & William Plomer

1972
Novel Award - The Bird of Night by Susan Hill
Biography Award - Trollope by James Pope-Hennessey
Children's Book Award - The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden

1971
Novel Award - The Destiny Waltz by Gerda Charles
Biography Award - Henrik Ibsen by Michael Meyer
Poetry Award - Mercian Hymns by Geoffrey Hill