Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Booker Prize Longlist Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

The Booker Prize Longlist was recently announced. What is the Booker Prize? From their About Page:

The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades

Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. It is a prize that transforms the winner’s career. 

Go to this page, helpfully titled, "Everything you need to know about the Booker Prize 2026 longlist." The page itself is a gold mine of a resource to help readers. It had details about every book, information about the judges. And on the prize's main page, there are even more articles about this year's longlist. I will link to some of the article below.

But even with the regular. display, backlist, and collection development advice I give for every award (access above), The Book Prize is an award you need to know about for a variety of reasons, reasons which give you even more options to serve your patrons.

First, these books are always among the top books written in English every year, which means this year and past year's lists make for reliable suggestions to your curious readers. The backlist is also very easy to access in two different ways. The first is a page here where you can use drop down menus to do so deep dive searching and/or scroll under those drop downs to see the announcements for each year in reverse chronological order. The second is a page here with a list of each year (reverse chronological order) of every title beginning with the winner and then listing all of the longlist titles and the titles are linked to get even more information about them.

Second, these titles (2026 or any year in the recent past) tend to be on the "readable side." What do I mean with that? What I mean is that they tend to pick excellent titles of high literary merit that are readable for a general adult audience. These are critically acclaimed, literary fiction titles that you can give out to a wide swath of readers with confidence. 

Third, the Booker Prize has a history of identifying authors worth you time early in their careers, sometimes earlier than they get singled out for other major awards. These are authors worth having on yourself and suggesting, but you (and your readers) may not have them on their radar yet. 

Fourth, this award list serves as a readalike for itself. Not all awards can do this, but I have used this award list as a suggestion engine for readers who have enjoyed any book that has appeared on the longlists. In fact, back in the early days of the 2000s, I offered a "Holds Without Hassle" program at my library, and not only did we allow them to pick authors for that list, but we also had a few awards they could select. This award (called the Man Booked back in the day) was one of the most popular choices. People wanted the winner put on automatic hold and then after reading it, we helped them find the other nominated titles. I have seen this work in action, even with the books being about widely different topics and from a range of authors.  

Fifth, and this is how my readers first found out about this award in the first place, these titles make excellent book discussion choices. There is a very helpful Booker Library, where you can find books by author, title, or even pick a prize year. And to make it even easier for you, they have Reading Guides designed specifically for libraries. Using the backlist from 2-5 years ago is a great resource for winning discussion titles.

And finally, the judges. I have talked about this before, but look at that list of judges from this year or past years. (Click on the post for each year on that page and scroll down to read about the judges.) Take this year for example. The judges themselves are excellent options for displays, suggestions, and purchase if you don't own their books. You can also use the judges list as one of my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without-- Author Recs of Other Authors. A couple years ago year, I wrote about how that works in relation to the NYT Best Books of the Century discussion.

I am sure there are even more reasons why this award is a great resource for you to help your readers. Click through for all of the details and information and decide how you can best use this list for your library. The site is really a treasure trove of resources, suggestions, and lists all year long. 

I will end this post with  the most basic info-- the titles on the long list and the summary by the jurors about the list as a whole. All from this page:

The Booker Prize 2026 longlist has now been announced – a selection of 13 superb works of long-form fiction, chosen from 163 titles written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.   

As Mary Beard, Chair of this year’s judges, says: ‘Great books have never been written to a single formula. We are confident that our longlist of books has something for everyone. There’s the funny and the unsettling (and in some cases the funny and unsettling); there’s dystopian fantasy and domestic drama; there’s the gritty and the magically mysterious; there are some that will please and some that may shock.’

The 13 nominated books, and their UK publishers, are:  

• The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis (Chatto & Windus) 

• Switzy by Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus) 

• Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman (Fitzcarraldo Editions) 

• The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail) 

• The Disappearers by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton) 

• Black Bag by Luke Kennard (John Murray) 

• The Renovation by Kenan Orhan (Hamish Hamilton) 

• May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta) 

• The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley (Picador)   

• The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Viking)  

• John of John by Douglas Stuart (Picador) 

• All Them Dogs by Djamel White (John Murray) 

• The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams (4th Estate)

Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: The Center For Fiction First Novel Prize Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

Yesterday, The Center for Fiction recently announced their longlist for the First Novel Prize. From that announcement: 

Announcing The Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize Longlist

We are pleased to announce The Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize Longlist. This year, we received over 180 submitted titles with U.S. publication dates between January 1 and December 31, 2026. More than 500 participants in The Center’s First Novel Prize Readership—including writers, librarians, booksellers, and other devoted readers—reviewed the submissions to help determine the 19 debut novels below.

Inaugurated in 2006, the First Novel Prize honors the best debut novel of the year and supports emerging voices in fiction. Each year, the winning author receives a $15,000 prize in recognition of their contribution to contemporary literature and in support of their ongoing creative career. Past winners of the Prize include Marisha Pessl, Junot Díaz, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tommy Orange, Raven Leilani, and De’Shawn Charles Winslow. In the fall, our judging panel of four distinguished authors will select the 2026 First Novel Prize Shortlist and winner.

We invite you to celebrate these exciting new voices in contemporary fiction at two marquee events this winter. The shortlisted authors will read from their work and gather with the public at The Center for Fiction First Novel Fête on Friday, December 4, 2026. The First Novel Prize winner will be announced at The Center’s Annual Awards Benefit on Tuesday, December 8, 2026. Click here for more information.

We are proud to share these extraordinary books with you. Please join us in congratulating The Center for Fiction 2026 First Novel Prize longlisted authors.

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is supported in part by Hawthornden Foundation. For support opportunities, please reach out to Melissa Wyse at development@centerforfiction.org.

This award speaks for itself. You need to go check right now if you own all 19 of these novels. You probably have a lot of these, but make sure. I love how long this long list truly is. They are identifying a huge list of excellent debut novels to make sure all who deserve to be noticed in the crowded publishing landscape get their moment to shine.  

In the Fall there will be a short list narrowed down by a panel of judges, and each of those authors will get $1,000, which is important to note. Only 1 person can win the $15,000 prize, but that $1,000 for the short list authors will go a long way toward keeping them on th path to write a second book.

Also, don't forget, the easily accessed archive of every longlist author and winners for the First Novel Prize is also a treasure trove of information. Obviously, you can find authors who are now bestsellers in that backlist, yes. But what about those authors whose first novel got a ton of critical acclaim but then did not make that jump to being more well known? Not making that jump does not make them less worthy of being read; in fact, that debut novel may be the hidden gem titles your patrons will love and it will lead them to read everything that author wrote after.

And, not for nothing, your part in helping them to find that author they ending up loving but never would have known about with your help, well, that will make your patron a life long library fan and supporter. There is no better feeling in our work than connecting a reader with a book that becomes a favorite for life, especially when we were the ones who matched them with said book or author.

Great debut novels are something many readers seek out already when looking for their next great read, but remember, they don't have to be the debuts of right now. An author's debut is forever their debut whether or not they have written other books.

The backlist is a treasure trove here. Debuts are a popular category, and The Center for Fiction has been prioritizing their wok on debut authors since 2006. Their track record in singling out titles and authors has more than stood the test of time as well. This longlist and their award archive is a no brainer resource, today and always.

And before I go, I need to shout out that they even have a straight up horror novel on the list this year --Carrying by Samantha Joseph! I called this one out in my recent Horror Genre Preview as well (and not even in my debut section because it is that good). 

Spend some time thinking about Debuts. The category itself makes a great late summer display and you have 10 years of The Center for Fiction longlist titles to help you fill those shelves. Let them do the work for you.

Using Awards List As a RA Tool: Shirley Jackson Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

I am on record, multiple times, saying that the Shirley Jackson Award is my favorite award. If I had to pick only 1 award for fiction, this would be it. And that is saying a lot because I love awards, hence this series.

But why this one? A few reasons,

First, the Shirley Jackson Awards are an excellent RA tool not only for the normal reasons I outline with the links to start this post, but also because they are an award that is NOT bound by genre. The entire point of the books that are nominated for and win this award is that they represent the legacy of Jackson, herself. Books that are darkly speculative and/or are intensely psychological; books that defy conventions but are great.  Each and every year titles are honored that are amazing reads but are almost always overlooked by genre awards, not because they aren't great [because they are], but because when push comes to shove, they do not fit as easily into the genre box as the other options.

Second, because books that win the Shirley Jackson Award already live on the fringes, the jurors and the titles they choose are more diverse than your average award.

Third, this award can be used as a "readalike" list on its own. Why? Because the main thing these nominated titles all share is a connection to Jackson and her brand of storytelling; thus, they all have an appeal connection that other awards can not promise in the same way.

Fourth, the entire concept of the books, being "genreless," means you have a very WIDE audience to handsell these titles to. 

And fifth, this is collection development gold. You want to have the best dark speculative titles, authors, collections, and anthologies for your patrons? Here is an easy purchasing list. And not only is the list diverse in terms of the identity of the writers themselves, but also the range of publishers here is wide. You can learn about some excellent small presses, putting out award worthy material. Just receiving a SJA nomination alone, is a reason to check these new to you publishers out. 

Which reminds me, sixth, the Shirley Jackson Awards not only have annual jurors who rotate every year but they also have a board of directors and an advisory board. You can access all of those people and their bios on this one page. Every single one of those authors is also readlaike option.

Speaking of, a few years ago I was asked to be on the SJA Advisory Board which has been amazing. As a member of the Advisory Board, I am able to nominate titles to be read by the Jury (which changes every year), If I nominate a title it will put into the pool that the jury considers. I take this advisory role very seriously, and every year I see titles I passed on make it to the nominee list.

And of course seventh, the super easy backlist access of nominees and winners going back to 2007, all avaiable with 1 easy click. 

You want a display of weird, unsettling, and compelling titles, look no further than these tales, all of which are singled out for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. Those nominated for this year and all past years. There are so many options you will never run out of a suggestion for your patrons searching out this type of read.

Before I get to this year's nominees, which like all past years are amazing and I have read and reviewed many of them, I want to also shout out the physical prize. Not only do the winners get that very cool sundial award above, but every single nominees gets a stone. If you don't know why, first go read "The Lottery," If you either know why, or don't care about knowing on the of best twists in all of literature ever, click here for an article about the tradition from LitHub.

Now here are this year's Shirley Jackson Award Nominees. All of them are worth your time.

Boston, MA (May 2026) — In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing, and with permission of the author’s estate, The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. has been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. 

The Shirley Jackson Awards are voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics. The awards are given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Fiction, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology. 

The nominees for the 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards are: 

NOVEL

• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker (Harlequin Trade Publishing / Hanover Square Press)
• How to Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen (Thomas & Mercer)
• The Lamb by Lucy Rose (HarperCollins Publishers)
• Moonflow by Bitter Karella (Run For It [Orbit, Hachette Book Group])
• Old Soul by Susan Barker (Penguin Random House/G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (Berkley, Penguin Random House)

NOVELLA

• The Cold House by A. G. Slatter (Titan Books)
• The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella (Lethe Press)
• DuMort by Michelle Tang (Ghost Orchid Press)
• The Glass Garden by Jessica Lévai (Lanternfish Press)
• Psychopomp & Circumstance by Eden Royce (Tordotcom Publishing/Tor Publishing Group)

NOVELETTE

• The Confirmed Bachelors by Stephen Volk (Black Shuck Books)
• “Emily” by Vanessa Santos (Make a Home of Me)
• Letter Slot by Owen King (Amazon Original Stories)
• “The Millay Illusion” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine Issue Sixty-Seven)
• “The Severity of Things” by Mo Moshaty (Clairviolence: Tales of Tarot and Torment) 

SHORT FICTION

• “Bitter Skin” by Kaaron Warren (Night & Day)
• “Lapse” by Kirsty Logan (Unquiet Guests)
• “Mother’s Mother’s Daughter” by Audrey Zhou (Silk and Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora)
• “Room 24” by Caroline Kepnes (The End of the World As We Know It)
• “Silver Boots” by Donna Lynch (HOWL: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror)

SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION

• Clairviolence: Tales of Tarot and Torment by Mo Moshaty (Tenebrous Press)
• Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Issues with Authority by Nadia Bulkin (Ghoulish Books)
• Moon Songs: The Selected Stories of Carol Emshwiller by Carol Emshwiller (Third Man Books)
• Portalmania: Stories by Debbie Urbanski (Simon & Schuster)

EDITED ANTHOLOGY

• Night & Day, edited by Ellen Datlow (Saga Press)
• Roots of My Fears, edited by Gemma Amor (Titan Books)
• Silk and Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora, edited by Kristy Park Kulski (Bad Hand Books)
• Unquiet Guests, edited by Dan Coxon (Dead Ink Books)
• Were Wolf Short Stories, edited by Gillian Whitaker, Catherine Taylor & Nick Wells (Flame Tree Publishing)

 

The 2025 Shirley Jackson Awards will be presented in-person on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 8pm at Readercon 35, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Burlington, Massachusetts. Readercon 35 Guests of Honor P. Djèlí Clark and David Gerrold will host the ceremony. 

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.” Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work.