ABA 2026 Book of the Year Awards Survey

The ABA 2026 Book of the Year shortlists are here!

Thanks to your nominations, we’re pleased to reveal the shortlisted titles for the ABA 2026 Book of the Year Awards—books that truly connected with readers and were championed by booksellers across the country.

Now it’s time to have your say.

Vote for the winners and help recognise the books that stood out most in your bookshop.

📅 Voting closes: 5 PM, Monday 11th May
🕯 Winners announced: Sunday 14 June at the ABA Gala Dinner & Awards Night

These awards celebrate the books you’ve loved handselling, the ones readers couldn’t put down, and the authors who sparked conversations in your shops.

Cast your vote and help recognise the books that defined 2025.

1.Bookshop Name

2.ABA BookData Adult Fiction Book of the Year

(select 1 title)

Lyrebird by Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (Macmillan Australia)

Tenderfoot by Toni Jordan (Hachette Australia)

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Random House Australia)

The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan (HarperCollins Publishers Australia)

A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose (Allen & Unwin)

3.ABA BookData Adult Non-Fiction Book of the Year

(select 1 title)

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (Hachette Australia)

Defiance by Bob Brown (Black Inc.)

The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein (The Text Publishing Company)

Unsettled by Kate Grenville (Black Inc.)

Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent (Picador Australia)

Earthquake by Niki Savva (Scribe Publications)

4.ABA Kids' Reading Guide Children's Book of the Year

(select 1 title)

There's a Prawn in Parliament House: The Kids' Guide to Australia's Amazing Democracy by Annabel Crabb & First Dog on the Moon (Allen & Unwin)

Dear Broccoli by Jo Dabrowski & Cate James (Affirm Kids)

Here Come the Cousins by Maggie Hutchings & Sarah Zweck (Thames & Hudson Australia)

Oceanforged 1: The Wicked Ship by Amelia Mellor (Affirm Kids)

Once I was a Giant by Zeno Sworder (Thames & Hudson Australia)

Ningaloo by Tim Winton & Cindy Lane (Fremantle Press)