The Libby book app has announced its inaugural Libby Book Awards, which they call the Libbys.
So, what are the Libbys and what books and categories are nominated? Keep reading to find out the full list!
The Libbys is the latest book awards and the finalists for the best books of 2023 and the winners are chosen by an expert panel of librarians. All the finalists will then be voted on by librarians and library workers across North America for every category. The winners will be announced live on March 12.
As a fan of books, I am always eager for more awards for amazing books and highlighting the best books written the previous year. You can see the full list below!
Finalists for the Libby Book Awards
Finalists for Best Adult Fiction
- Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
- Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
- The Fraud by Zadie Smith
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Finalists for Best Adult Nonfiction
- The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen
- Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo
- Monsters by Claire Dederer
- The Wager by David Grann
- When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey
Finalists for Best Young Adult Fiction
- The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert
- The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
- Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
- What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
Finalists for Best Audiobook
- All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
- I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
- King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
- Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
- The Secret Hours by Mick Herron
Finalists for Best Debut Author
- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
- Marisa Crane
- Ana Reyes
- Selby Wynn Schwartz
- Alice Winn
Finalists for Best Diverse Author
- Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
- Liquid Snakes by Stephen Kearse
- Lone Women by Victor LaValle
- The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
- The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter
Finalists for Best Comic/Graphic Novel
- A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll
- One Bad Day: The Riddler (Batman) by Tom King & Mitch Gerads
- Roaming by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki
- Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed
- The Talk by Darrin Bell
Finalists for Best Memoir & Autobiography
- Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
- How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
- My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand
- Pageboy by Elliot Page
- You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Finalists for Best Cookbook
- Let’s Eat by Dan Pelosi
- Portico by Leah Koenig
- Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly
- Still We Rise by Erika Council
- Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon
Finalists for Best Mystery
- Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
- Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
- Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
- The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
- Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Suanto
Finalists for Best Thriller
- All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
- Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
- Pet by Catherine Chidgey
- The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
- The Secret Hours by Mick Herron
Finalists for Best Romance
- Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
- Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
- Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
- A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles
- We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
Finalists for Best Fantasy
- A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
- To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
- Witch King by Martha Wells
Finalists for Best Romantasy
- Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
- Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
- Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
- Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall
- The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
Finalists for Best Science Fiction
- Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
- Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
- System Collapse by Martha Wells
- The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
- Translation State by Ann Leckie
Finalists for Best Historical Fiction
- Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop
- Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
- Loot by Tania James
- North Woods by Daniel Mason
- The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng
Finalists for Best Book Club Pick
- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
- Maame by Jessica George
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
- Wellness by Nathan Hill
- Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
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There’s not much thrilling crime non-fiction about. However, there is one espionage thriller which is more a complex whodunnit in a remarkably thrilling autobiography. The author delves deep into his and MI6’s unsung roles during the 1970s in dealing with organised crime sans frontiers.
Entitled Beyond Enkription, this fact based narrative is set in 1974 and is about a real British accountant working in Coopers & Lybrand in London, Nassau, Miami and Port au Prince. He unwittingly worked for MI6 (later the CIA) while dealing with genuine organised crime. It’s a must read for espionage cognoscenti but remember the book has been written by a real agent not a John le Carré lookalike in dulcet diction. Nevertheless, its more erudite reviews rank it up there with Philby’s My Secret War and Blake’s No Other Choice. No wonder it’s mandatory reading on some countries’ intelligence induction programs.
To get the most out of the book do have a look at the author’s background and his ties to JleC and Philby in the news articles in TheBurlingtonFiles website about Pemberton’s People and the real IDs of characters in this thriller. You’ll soon feel like you are family.
Once you start reading the book, don’t be put off by the quasi-educational prologue (in hindsight it’s crucial reading) or the passing savagery of the opening chapter. You’ll just keep on rereading this after conducting ever more research and unravelling increasingly enthralling historical material. If you like unadulterated historical or noir espionage thrillers you should love Beyond Enkription.