The envelopes have been opened and we are excited to announce the winners of the inaugural Libby Book Awards. The titles on this list represent the best books of 2023, as selected by our expert team of OverDrive librarians and voted on by over 1700 public librarians and library staff. Thank you to everyone who voted! 

Missed last night’s live event with the Professional Book Nerds? Catch the replay on YouTube!

Ideas for promoting the Libby Book Awards at your library

  • Create a curated collection of the winners and finalists.  
  • Use Libby Shelf Talkers to share more about each of the winners, including quotes, fun facts, reviews from staff, and that the title won a Libby Book Award! 
  • Visit the Resource Center here and download a free Libby Book Awards marketing kit with social media graphics, suggested social copy you can use to readers in your community check out all the winners. 
  • 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 Winners 

Best Fiction Book of the Year 

Winner

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Available in ebook

The Fraud by Zadie Smith. Available in ebook and audiobook 

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. Available in ebook and audiobook

Tom Lake by Anne Patchett. (Honorable Mention) Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Nonfiction Book of the Year 

Winner 

The Wager by David Grann. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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

When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey. Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Young Adult Book of the Year 

Winner

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert. Available in ebook and audiobook

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis. Available in ebook and audiobook

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley. Available in ebook and audiobook

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (Honorable Mention) Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Audiobook of the Year 

Winner

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

Finalists 

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby. Read by Adam Lazarre-White. 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

 

Best Book Club Book of the Year 

Winner

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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

 

Best Comic/Graphic Novel of the Year 

Winner

The Talk by Darrin Bell. Available in ebook

Finalists 

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

 

Best Debut Author of the Year 

Winner

Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam. 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

 

Diverse Author of the Year 

This award celebrates the voices in the sci-fi and fantasy space address themes of racial and gender inequality, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, poverty, refugee and immigrant rights and other social issues. 

Winner

Michelle Min Sterling, author of Camp Zero. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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

Stephen Kearse, author of Liquid Snakes. Available in ebook

Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women. Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Fantasy Book of the Year 

Winner 

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. 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 

 

Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year 

Winner 

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop. Available in ebook

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng. Available in ebook and audiobook

Loot by Tania James. Available in ebook and audiobook

North Woods by Daniel Mason. Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Mystery Book of the Year 

Winner

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

Finalists 

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

 

Best Romance Book of the Year 

Winner 

Georgie All Along by Kate Clayborn. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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

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. (Honorable Mention) Available in ebook and audiobook 

 

Best Romantasy Book of the Year 

Winner

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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

 

Best Science Fiction Book of the Year 

Winner 

System Collapse by Martha Wells. Available in ebook and audiobook 

Finalists 

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 

Translation State by Ann Leckie. Available in ebook and audiobook

 

Best Thriller Book of the Year 

Winner 

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. Available in ebook and audiobook 

Finalists 

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby. 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

Best Cookbook of the Year 

Winner 

Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly. Available in ebook

Finalists 

Let’s Eat by Dan Pelosi. (Honorable Mention) Available in ebook

Portico by Leah Koenig. Available in ebook

Still We Rise by Erika Council. Available in ebook

Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon. Available in ebook

 

Best Memoir of the Year 

Winner 

Pageboy by Elliot Page. Available in ebook and audiobook

Finalists 

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 

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith. Available in ebook and audiobook

 

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.”