BookPeople Annual Awards
Through our annual awards BookPeople celebrates the work of Australian booksellers and the books they love to sell. The annual BookPeople Bookseller awards recognise the unique role played by booksellers in distributing learning, ideas, and literature and the positive role they continue to play in their communities.
The BookPeople Book of the Year awards recognise the Australian new release books our booksellers have selected as their favourite hand-sells as part of their ongoing commitment to bring writers and readers together.
BookPeople will announce the 2026 award winners at the Conference Gala Dinner and Awards Night in Canberra on Sunday 14 June.
2025 Book of the Year Awards winners
The BookPeople Book of the Year Awards recognise the Australian books published in 2024 that our booksellers have selected as their favourite books to personally recommend as part of their ongoing commitment to bring writers and readers together. These awards celebrate the unique role played by booksellers in sharing their knowledge and passion with communities across the country.
Previous winners include Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton, Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski, Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder, and The 52-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton.
BookPeople BookData
Adult Fiction Book of the Year
Dusk by Robbie Arnott
(Picador Australia)
2025 shortlist:
Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Picador Australia)
Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press)
Sanctuary by Gary Disher (Text Publishing)
The Valley by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser (Text Publishing)
Juice by Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton)
BookPeople BookData
Adult Non-Fiction Book of the Year
The Season by Helen Garner
(Text Publishing)
2025 shortlist:
The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston (Scribner Australia)
The Forever War by Nick Bryant (Viking)
We Are the Stars by Gina Chick (Summit Books)
The Season by Helen Garner (Text Publishing)
RecipeTin Eats: Tonight by Nagi Maehashi (Macmillan Australia)
You Don’t Have To Have A Dream by Tim Minchin (Penguin)
BookPeople Kids’ Reading Guide
Children’s Book of the Year
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell
(Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
2025 shortlist:
Thunderhead by Sophie Beer (A & U Children)
All the Beautiful Things by Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books)
Dog Beach by Julie Murphy (National Library of Australia)
Landovel by Emily Rodda (A & U Children)
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson (Puffin)
2025 Bookseller of the Year Awards winners
BookPeople Penguin Random House Australia
Young Bookseller of the Year Award
Sophie Wigan,
Harry Hartog Carindale.
The BookPeople Penguin Random House Australia Young Bookseller of the Year Award recognises and rewards the excellence of a bookseller 35 or under and promotes bookselling as a career choice for young people. This award gives booksellers the chance to be recognised by the book industry for their career achievements, innovation and outstanding performance in their stores as well as the local and wider community.
2025 shortlist:
Grace Brewin, Boardwalk Books
Bella Lloyd, Heads and Tales Bookstore
Amy McKinnon, Where the Wild Things Are Bookshop/Avid Reader
Alana Smith, BOOK FACE Erina
Jing Xuan Teo, Amplify Bookstore
Sophie Wigan, Harry Hartog Carindale
BookPeople Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing
Children’s Bookseller of the Year Award
Allyx Lathrope,
Kinokuniya Sydney.
The BookPeople Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing Children’s Bookseller of the Year Award recognises individual children’s specialist booksellers for their outstanding achievements in the past twelve months. The winner will not only be identified for their exceptional performance within the bookshop that they work in but also for their achievements within the book industry as well as the local and wider community. This award gives booksellers the chance to be recognised by the book industry for innovation, excellence and career achievements.
2025 shortlist:
Jennifer Jackson, Paper Bird Books & Art
Cholm Johnson, Bright and Early Books
Genevieve Kruyssen, Where the Wild Things Are Bookshop
Allyx Lathrope, Kinokuniya Sydney
Anna Sheen, Quick Brown Fox Bookshop
BookPeopleText Publishing
Bookseller of the Year Award
Sally Tabner,
Bookoccino.
The BookPeopleText Publishing Bookseller of the Year Award recognises an individual bookseller for their outstanding achievement in the past twelve months. The winner will not only be identified for their exceptional performance within the bookshop that they work in but also for their achievements within the book industry as well as the local and wider community. This award gives booksellers the chance to be recognised by the book industry for innovation, excellence and career achievements.
2025 shortlist:
Sarah Deasy, Avid Reader
Amy Hoskings, Harry Hartog & Berkelouw
Noel Lee, The Bookshop Darlinghurst
Lydia Lindfield, Maclean’s Booksellers
Allison Rogers, Abbey’s Bookshop
Sally Tabner, Bookoccino