Sally Rooney, Kazuo Ishiguro, Julia Donaldson, Caleb Azumah Nelson, and even Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford have been nominated across various categories for the British Book Awards 2022.

Announced today, the 2022 shortlists are the broadest yet, reflecting how publishers and booksellers are finding readers for a more diverse range of titles, as book buyers continue to read their way through the pandemic.

Following the success of virtual ceremonies in 2020 and 2021, the British Book Awards 2022 will return to a live event from Grosvenor House London on May 23 this year.

Alice O’Keeffe, books editor of The Bookseller and overall chair of the Books of the Year, said: “From fresh new voices to big brand authors, this year’s shortlists celebrate the very best books published in 2021. In Non-Fiction: Narrative we see the resurgence of the celebrity memoir reflected in the shortlist with three famous, and now bestselling, faces telling their own stories.

"This year’s Debut shortlist includes some unforgettable first novels that will surely be read far beyond our present time. Some very difficult decisions lie ahead for our judges!"

British Book Awards 2022 nominations

Fiction Book of the Year

  • The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz (Pushkin Press)
  • Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (4th Estate, HarperCollins)
  • Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)
  • Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (HarperVoyager, HarperCollins)
  • Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion)
  • Beautiful World, Where are You by Sally Rooney (Faber)

Debut Book of the Year

  • Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking, Penguin General)
  • Assembly by Natasha Brown (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin General)
  • Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden (Canongate Books)
  • Luster by Raven Leilani (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
  • How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie (Borough Press, HarperCollins)
  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Crime & Thriller Book of the Year

  • Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)
  • The Appeal by Janice Hallett (Viper Books, Profile Books)
  • A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (Doubleday, Transworld)
  • 1979 by Val McDermid (Sphere, Little, Brown)
  • The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin (Canongate Books)
  • The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (Viking, Penguin General)

Discover Book of the Year

  • Keeping the House by Tice Cin (And Other Stories)
  • We Have a Dream by Mya-Rose Craig (Magic Cat Publishing)
  • Nen and The Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton (Owlet Press)
  • Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood (Bluebird, Pan Macmillan)
  • Keisha the Sket by Jade LB (#Merky Books, Cornerstone)
  • Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (Serpent ’s Tail, Profile Books)

Pageturner of the Year

  • Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion)
  • Worst Idea Ever by Jane Fallon (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)
  • The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper (Head of Zeus)
  • The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella (Bantam Press, Transworld)
  • The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan (HQ, HarperCollins)
  • The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Viper Books, Profile Books)

Children's Fiction Book of the Year

  • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi (Usborne)
  • When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle (Andersen Press)
  • The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus (Penguin Random House Children’s)
  • The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling, illstrated by Jim Field (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
  • Megamonster by David Walliams, illustrated by Tony Ross (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Children's Non-fiction Book of the Year

  • A Different Sort of Normal written and illustrated by Abigail Balfe (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
  • Grown: The Black Girls’ Guide to Glowing Up by Melissa Cummings-Quarry and Natalie A. Carter, illustrated by Dorcas Magbadelo (Bloomsbury)
  • First Questions and Answers: What is racism? by Katie Daynes and Jordan Akpojaro, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Usborne)
  • Kay’s Marvellous Medicine by Adam Kay, illustrated by Henry Paker (Puffin Books, Penguin Random House)
  • You Are a Champion by Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka (Macmillan Children’s Books)
  • How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing! by Dr Ranj Singh, illustrated by David O’Connell (Wren & Rook, Hachette Children’s Group)

Children's Illustrated Book of the Year

  • Hey You! curated by Dapo Adeola (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
  • The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Victoria Sandøy (Alison Green Books, Scholastic)
  • Supertato: Night of the Living Veg by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
  • Greg the Sausage Roll: Santa’s Little Helper by Mark and Roxanne Hoyle, illustrated by Gareth Conway
  • (Puffin, Penguin Random House)
  • Heartstopper Volume Four written and illustrated by Alice Oseman (Hodder Children’s Books)
  • Peekaboo by Camilla Reid, illustrated Ingela P Arrhenius (Nosy Crow)

Non-fiction Lifestyle Book of the Year

  • Pinch of Nom Comfort Food by Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone (Bluebird, Pan Macmillan)
  • Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm by Jeremy Clarkson (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)
  • Jane’s Patisserie by Jane Dunn (Ebury, Penguin Random House)
  • ONE: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones (4th Estate, HarperCollins)
  • The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney (Allen Lane, Penguin Press)
  • Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan)

Non-fiction Narrative Book of the Year

  • Windswept & Interesting by Billy Connolly (Two Roads, John Murray Press)
  • Vaxxers by Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes (John Murray Press)
  • And Away... by Bob Mortimer (Gallery UK, Simon & Schuster UK)
  • Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
  • Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera (Viking, Penguin General)

Audiobook: Fiction Book of the Year

  • Careless by Kirsty Capes, Narrated by Amber Gadd (Orion Audio)
  • The Wizards of Once: Never and Forever by Cressida Cowell, Narrated by David Tennant (Hodder
  • Children’s Books)
  • The Sandman Act II by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs, Narrated by Full Cast (Audible)
  • The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, Narrated by Joanne Froggatt (Penguin Random House Audio)
  • The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, Narrated by Lesley Manville (Penguin Random House
  • Audio)
  • The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, Narrated by Andy Serkis (HarperFiction)

Audiobook: Non-fiction Book of the Year

  • Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth by Amnesty International with Angelina Jolie and Geraldine Van Bueren QC, Narrated by Angelina Jolie, Ariyon Bakare, Daisy Head, Homer Todiwala, Amanda Shodeko (Bolinda Audio)
  • Windswept & Interesting by Billy Connolly, Narrated by Billy Connolly (Two Roads, John Murray Press)
  • The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, Narrated by Dave Grohl (Simon & Schuster UK)
  • How to Be a Rockstar by Shaun Ryder, Narrated by Shaun Ryder (W. F. Howes Ltd & Atlantic Books)
  • Will by Will Smith, Narrated by Will Smith (Penguin Random House Audio)
  • What Happened to You by Oprah Winfrey and Dr Bruce Perry, Narrated by Oprah Winfrey and Dr Bruce Perry (Bluebird, Pan Macmillan)