08/05/2026
📚 The wait is over!
We’re delighted to share the Books Are My Bag 2026 Shortlist — the only awards curated exclusively by independent bookshops.
Celebrating the very best paperback reads for summer, the shortlist includes four categories:
✨ Fiction ✨
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Muckle Flugga by Michael Pedersen
The Names by Florence Knapp
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
✨ Non-Fiction ✨
Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War by Ash Sarkar
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince
The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates
✨ Children’s Fiction ✨
Donut Squad: Make a Mess! by Neill Cameron
Finn’s Epic Fails by Phil Earle, illustrated by AL Murphy
Like a Brother by Nathanael Lessore
Crow: Thief of Magic by Fiona Dixon
Quill and the Last Generation by C. M. Lewis, illustrated by Marina Vidal
Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock and Nich Angell
✨ Picture Book ✨
Fox and the Mystery Letter by Alex G Griffiths
Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert is Scared of Frogs by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
Hank Meets Frank by Maudie Powell-Tuck, illustrated by Duncan Beedie
Mouse by the Sea by Alice Melvin
Seven Babies by Forest Xiao
We Grew a Dragon by Emma Chinnery
Each title highlights the vital role independent booksellers play in championing the stories they love.
🔗 Find out more about the shortlisted titles via the link in our bio.
📍 Available from your local independent bookshop.
🏆 The winners will be announced on Thursday 18 June, during (13–20 June).
Huge congratulations to all the shortlisted authors, illustrators, and publishers!
Photography: Emma Matthews
