The rest of the world might be preparing for the Oscars, but here at OverDrive we are looking forward to finding out who won a Libby Book Award! We want to thank the librarians who voted on the inaugural Libby Book Awards. Thanks to all of you, the titles on this list represent the best books of the year as selected by librarians. 

Join our very own Professional Book Nerds live on March 12th at 7 PM ET via Zoom or YouTube when they announce the winners! Following the live event, we’ll have a marketing kit available that you can use to promote the winners on social media.

Ideas for promoting the Libby Book Awards at your library 

  • Create a curated collection of the finalists. 
  • Host an event where readers can come and watch the live-stream announcement at your library. 
  • Promote the titles on social media and ask your followers who they think the winner of each category will be. 
  • Use Libby Shelf Talkers to share more about each of the finalists, including quotes, fun facts, and reviews from staff! 
  • Share this post from Libby Life with your community on social media to get them excited about the finalists. 
  • Shop the list in Marketplace here to add all the finalists to your digital library, or buy individual titles using the links below!

Libby Book Awards Finalists 

Finalists for Best Fiction Book of the Year

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (available in ebook)

The Fraud by Zadie Smith (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (available in ebook and audiobook)

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (available in ebook and audiobook)

Tom Lake by Anne Patchett (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year

The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen (available in ebook and audiobook)

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo (available in ebook and audiobook)

Monsters by Claire Dederer (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Wager by David Grann (available in ebook and audiobook)

When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Young Adult Book of the Year

The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis (available in ebook and audiobook)

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (available in ebook and audiobook)

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley (available in ebook and audiobook)

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Audiobook of the Year

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby. Read by Adam Lazarre-White (available in ebook and audiobook)

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai. Read by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson (available in ebook and audiobook)

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig. Read by Dion Graham (available in ebook and audiobook)

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond. Read by Dion Graham (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Secret Hours by Mick Herron. Read by Gerard Doyle (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Book Club Book of the Year

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (available in ebook and audiobook)

Maame by Jessica George (available in ebook and audiobook)

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (available in ebook and audiobook)

Wellness by Nathan Hill (available in ebook and audiobook)

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Comic / Graphic Novel of the Year

Batman — One Bad Day: Riddler by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (available in ebook)

A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll (available in ebook)

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (available in ebook)

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed (available in ebook)

The Talk by Darrin Bell (available in ebook)

Finalists for Best Debut Author of the Year

Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam (available in ebook and audiobook)

Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines (available in ebook and audiobook)

Marisa Crane, author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself (available in ebook and audiobook)

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain Gang All Stars (available in ebook and audiobook)

Selby Wynn Schwartz, author of After Sappho (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Diverse Author of the Year

Annalee Newitz, author of The Terraformers (available in ebook and audiobook)

Chana Porter, author of The Thick and the Lean (available in ebook and audiobook)

Michelle Min Sterling, author of Camp Zero (available in ebook and audiobook)

Stephen Kearse, author of Liquid Snakes (available in ebook)

Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Fantasy Book of the Year

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (available in ebook and audiobook)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (available in ebook and audiobook)

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (available in ebook and audiobook)

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (available in ebook and audiobook)

Witch King by Martha Wells (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year

Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop (available in ebook)

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng (available in ebook and audiobook)

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (available in ebook and audiobook)

Loot by Tania James (available in ebook and audiobook)

North Woods by Daniel Mason (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Mystery Book of the Year

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (available in ebook and audiobook)

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (available in ebook and audiobook)

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb (available in ebook and audiobook)

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Romance Book of the Year 

Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa (available in ebook and audiobook)

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon (available in ebook and audiobook)

Georgie All Along by Kate Clayborn (available in ebook and audiobook)

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles (available in ebook and audiobook)

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Romantasy Book of the Year 

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (available in ebook and audiobook)

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong (available in ebook and audiobook)

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (available in ebook and audiobook)

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Science Fiction Book of the Year 

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei (available in ebook and audiobook)

Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey (available in ebook and audiobook)

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (available in ebook and audiobook)

System Collapse by Martha Wells (available in ebook and audiobook)

Translation State by Ann Leckie (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Thriller Book of the Year

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (available in ebook and audiobook)

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (available in ebook and audiobook)

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi (available in ebook and audiobook)

Pet by Catherine Chidgey (available in ebook)

The Secret Hours by Mick Herron (available in ebook and audiobook)

Finalists for Best Cookbook of the Year 

Let’s Eat by Dan Pelosi (available in ebook)

Portico by Leah Koenig (available in ebook)

Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly (available in ebook)

Still We Rise by Erika Council (available in ebook)

Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon (available in ebook)

Finalists for Best Memoir of the Year

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (available in ebook and audiobook)

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair (available in ebook and audiobook)

My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand (available in ebook and audiobook)

Pageboy by Elliot Page (available in ebook and audiobook)

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (available in ebook and audiobook)

We hope you’re as excited as we are to learn about the winners of the inaugural Libby Book Awards! Be sure to join us live on March 12, 2024 at 7pm ET to find out who won! In the meantime, share these titles with readers and encourage them to check them out on Libby. And don’t forget to check back after the winners have been announced to get a marketing kit that you can use to engage readers even more by promoting the winners. 

About the author: Jill Grunenwald is a Marketing & Communications Specialist on the North America Public Library Marketing Team. A former librarian, she joined OverDrive in 2015. Outside of the office she can be found writing, hanging out with her cats, collecting more Tarot decks than she has room for, and playing competitive pinball. Her favorite genre is something she calls “Murder at an educational institution that involves a close-knit group of suspicious characters.”