Australian independent booksellers have nominated their favourite Australian books of 2024 and are thrilled to announce their Longlist for the Indie Book Awards 2025!
Since 2008, the Indie Book Awards have celebrated the very best in Australian writing and who better to nominate and judge the best-of-the-best than indie booksellers? These passionate and knowledgeable booksellers are champions of Australian literature and recommend far beyond the big brands, contributing to the diversity of Australia's reading landscape. These awards honour their vital role in promoting and nurturing Australian literary talent.
Leanne Kadareanu, Head of Books at Leading Edge Retail, proud facilitator of the awards says, "We are thrilled to announce the Longlist for the Indie Book Awards 2025 – the books indie booksellers loved most this past year. Independent bookstores are more than places to purchase books; they are welcoming spaces where readers of all ages find inspiration, guidance, and connection. When these booksellers declare these the best of the best, you know they are worth reading.”
The Awards cover the best Australian books in six categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction, Illustrated Non-Fiction, Children’s books (up to 12yo) and Young Adult (12+).
Since the Awards inception, independent booksellers have a well-deserved reputation for picking the best of the best in Australian writing. Past Book of the Year winners have gone on to be bestsellers and win other major literary awards. Previous winners include: Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr, Runt by Craig Silvey, Love Stories by Trent Dalton, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton; Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend; The Dry by Jane Harper; The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood; The Bush by Don Watson; The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan; The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; All That I Am by Anna Funder; The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do; Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey; and Breath by Tim Winton.
Announced early in the award calendar year, The Indie Book Awards are now considered the forerunners of all major Australian book awards.
The Longlist for the Indie Book Awards 2025 is:
FICTION LONGLIST
Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Picador Australia)
Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press)
The Valley by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
Rapture by Emily Maguire (Allen & Unwin)
Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin)
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty (Macmillan Australia)
Cherrywood by Jock Serong (Fourth Estate Australia)
The Thinning by Inga Simpson (Hachette Australia)
The Ledge by Christian White (Affirm Press)
Juice by Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton)
NON-FICTION LONGLIST
The Chairman's Lounge by Joe Aston (Scribner Australia)
Australian Gospel by Lech Blaine (Black Inc.)
We Are the Stars by Gina Chick (Summit Books)
Milk by Matthew Evans (Murdoch Books)
The Season by Helen Garner (Text Publishing)
Mr and Mrs Gould by Grantlee Kieza (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
Sister Viv by Grantlee Kieza (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
The Way We Are by Hugh Mackay (Allen & Unwin)
Kosciuszko by Anthony Sharwood (Hachette Australia)
Three Wild Dogs and the Truth by Markus Zusak (Picador Australia)
DEBUT FICTION LONGLIST
The Death of Dora Black by Lainie Anderson (Hachette Australia)
The Deed by Susannah Begbie (Hachette Australia)
Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn (Hachette Australia)
A Town Called Treachery by Mitch Jennings (HarperCollins Australia)
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston (Michael Joseph)
All The Bees in the Hollows by Lauren Keegan (Affirm Press)
The Work by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan (Allen & Unwin)
The Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell (Affirm Press)
Tilda Is Visible by Jane Tara (Affirm Press)
ILLUSTRATED NON-FICTION LONGLIST
Bake with Brooki by Brooke Bellamy (Penguin Australia)
The Paintings of Criss Canning by Criss Canning (Thames & Hudson Australia)
My Mediterranean Life by Sarah Di Lorenzo (Simon & Schuster Australia)
How to Do It in the Garden by Sabrina Hahn (Fremantle Press)
What Can I Bring? by Sophie Hansen (Murdoch Books)
RecipeTin Eats: Tonight by Nagi Maehashi (Macmillan Australia)
The Diaries of Fred Williams 1963–1970 by Patrick McCaughey (Miegunyah Press)
Tony Tan's Asian Cooking Class by Tony Tan (Murdoch Books)
The Natural Gardener by Richard Unsworth (Thames & Hudson Australia)
Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky (Murdoch Books)
CHILDREN’S LONGLIST
Thunderhead by Sophie Beer (Allen & Unwin Children's)
The Garden of Broken Things by Freya Blackwood (HarperCollins Australia)
Hazel's Treehouse by Zanni Louise (Walker Books Australia)
To Stir with Love by Kate Mildenhall (Simon & Schuster Australia)
All the Beautiful Things by Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children's Publishing)
How to Move a Zoo by Kate Simpson, illustrated by Owen Swan (Allen & Unwin Children's)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (And Some Things You Didn't) by Briony Stewart (Lothian Children's Books)
Reading to Baby by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Hannah Sommerville (Affirm Press)
The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson (Penguin Australia)
YOUNG ADULT LONGLIST
Comes the Night by Isobelle Carmody (Allen & Unwin Children's)
Eleanor Jones Can’t Keep a Secret by Amy Doak (Penguin Australia)
Return to Sender by Lauren Draper (Macmillan Australia)
My Family and Other Suspects by Kate Emery (Allen & Unwin Children's)
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma (Lothian Children's Books)
My Brother, Finch by Kate Gordon (Riveted Press)
White Noise by Raelke Grimmer (UWA Publishing)
I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin Children's)
The Skin I'm In by Steph Tisdell (Macmillan Australia)
Deep Is the Fen by Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin Children's)
The Shortlist will be announced on 15 January 2025, with the Category Winners and the Overall Book of the Year Winner being announced at a virtual awards event on Monday 24 March 2025.
The Indie Book Awards would like to gratefully acknowledge the 2025 Awards Sponsors: HarperCollins Publishers, Allen & Unwin, Melbourne University Press, Affirm Press, Thames & Hudson, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House.