The shortlists for the TikTok Book Awards U.K. and Ireland have been revealed, with Douglas Stuart and Bolu Babalola among the authors in contention for the first-ever prizes from the video hosting service.
The awards, first announced in May, are open to authors based in the U.K. and Ireland.
Stuart’s Young Mungo and Babalola’s Honey & Spice were both named finalists for the book of the year prize, alongside Sarah Underwood’s Lies We Sing to the Sea and Jessica George’s Maame.
Babalola is also a contender for author of the year, as are Suzie Edge (Mortal Monarchs), Lex Croucher (Gwen & Art Are Not in Love), and Holly Jackson (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder).
The finalists for the best BookTok revival are One Day by David Nicholls, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
Competing in the “best book I wish I could read again for the first time” category are Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman, Normal People by Sally Rooney, and Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson.
Readers can vote for the awards July 17-28 in the TikTok app. The winners, TikTok says, will be announced “soon.” A full list of finalists is available here.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
