Three books shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2023
The shortlist for the Indie Book Awards has been announced, and we are thrilled to see three of our books nominated!
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor has been nominated for Debut Fiction, The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame has been nominated for Non-Fiction, and RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi has been nominated for Illustrated Non-Fiction.
Each year, booksellers across Australia nominate their favourite books. The winners for each category will be announced on Mar 20, best of luck to all those nominated. You can also check out the other books nominated here.
About the books
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing.
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home.
Ronnie’s going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can’t be gone, Ronnie won’t believe it.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels can believe it. She has seen what people are capable of. She knows more than anyone how, in a moment of weakness, a person can be driven to do something they never thought possible.
Lewis can believe it too. But he can’t reveal what he saw that afternoon at the creek without exposing his own secret.
Five days later, Esther’s buried body is discovered.
What do we owe the girl who isn’t there?
Character-rich and propulsive, with a breathtakingly original use of voice and revolving points of view, Dirt Town delves under the surface, where no one can hide. With emotional depth and sensitivity, this stunning debut shows us how much each person matters in a community that is at once falling apart and coming together.
Esther will always be a Dirt Town child, as we are its children, still.
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame
Grace Tame has never walked on middle ground.
From a young age, her life was defined by uncertainty – by trauma and strength, sadness and hope, terrible lows and wondrous highs. As a teenager she found the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse. This fight to find her voice would not be her last.
In 2021 Grace stepped squarely into the public eye as the Australian of the Year, and was the catalyst for a tidal wave of conversation and action. Australians from all walks of life were inspired and moved by her fire and passion. She was using her voice and encouraging others to use theirs too.
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner is Grace’s story, in Grace’s words, on Grace’s terms. Here she returns, again and again, to the things that have driven and saved her: love, connection and radical, unwavering honesty. Like Grace, this book is sharply intelligent, deeply felt, wildly unexpected and often blisteringly funny. And, as with all her work, it offers a constructive and optimistic vision for a better future for all of us.
RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi
150 dinner recipes. Fail-proof. Delicious. Addictive. The food you want to cook, eat and share, night after night.
Through her phenomenally popular online food site, RecipeTin Eats, Nagi Maehashi talks to millions of people a year who tell her about the food they love.
Now, in her first cookbook, Nagi brings us the ultimate curation of new and favourite RecipeTin Eats recipes – from comfort food (yes, cheese galore), to fast and easy food for weeknights, Mexican favourites, hearty dinner salads, Asian soups and noodles, and special treats for festive occasions.
Featuring a photo and how-to video for every recipe (follow the QR code), readily available ingredients, Nagi’s famously helpful notes, and Dozer, Australia’s best-loved food tester, this is a kitchen-shelf must-have for the novice cook, the expert seeking to perfect technique (straight to the Beef Wellington!), and everyone in between.