Galaxy British Book Awards 2007
Described as “the oscars of the book tade”, the 2007 Galaxy British Book Awards took place last night.
Winners included Ian Rankin, Jed Rubenfeld, Richard Dawkins, Ricky Gervais, Conn & Hal Iggulden, Victoria Hislop, Marian Keyes, Steven Gerrard, Lauren Weisberger, Jackie Kay and John Grisham.
In an evening packed with celebrities and the nation’s most popular authors, Cherie Blair, Kyle MacLachlan, Jamelia and model and author Sophie Dahl were amongst the many high profile presenters.
Bestselling crime author, Ian Rankin, won the BCA Crime Thriller of the Year
for his novel The Naming of the Dead . “How amazing to win this in the twentieth year of Inspector Rebus,” said Rankin, on being presented with the ‘Nibbie’ by
Amanda Redman and Dennis Waterman. A fitting epitaph, as it is rumoured that the new Rebus novel to be published in the Autumn will be the final one.
It was a good night, too, for comedians. Peter Kay, whose The Sound of Laughter has sold over one million copies, won the Amazon.co.uk Biography of the Year, while Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals of the Deep was named the WH Smith Children’s Book of the Year.
Comedian Dara O’Briain presented the Nibbie to Conn and Hal Iggulden, winners of Borders Book of the Year for The Dangerous Book for Boys, which has appealed to boys of all ages, selling over 500,000 copies. Conn Iggulden recently made history by topping both the non-fiction and fiction bestseller lists at the same time with this book and his novel Wolf of the Plains. They commented, “We couldn’t ask for anything more, but winning this is the icing on the cake, a first bike and a broken speed-camera rolled into one.”
This year’s Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year winner was Jed Rubenfeld, whose literary thriller The Interpretation of Murder is number one in the paperback fiction charts. The award was presented by actors Amanda Holden, Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn who have all reviewed titles for the Book Club. This Book Will Save Your Life by AM Homes came second and Lori Lansen’s The Girls was third in the public vote.
Richard Dawkins was named Reader’s Digest Author of the Year for his book The God Delusion, and received his award from Sophie Dahl. He commented: “I am much honoured and truly delighted to win this major book prize. It is immensely gratifying to me that The God Delusion seems to have struck a chord with so many people across the country who cast their vote in its favour.”
Scientist Dawkins beat Marina Lewycka, author of the bestselling A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, American novelist Jodi Picoult and Kate Mosse, whose Labyrinth was the winner of last year’s Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year and became the fastest selling paperback ever.
From the world of sport, Steven Gerrard’s bestselling Gerrard: My Autobiography took the Tesco Sports Book of the Year trophy, edging out competition from the great Pelé, and Talksport hosts Alan Brazil and Mike Parry. Gerrard was boosted by votes on the Liverpool FC website from more than 4,000 supporters! Gerrard was in Barcelona last night with the England team, and Sir Bobby Charlton presented the award to Gerrard’s former team mate, Gary McAllister.
Marian Keyes won the Sainsbury’s Popular Fiction category with Anybody Out There? She received her award from Top Gear presenter, Richard Hammond.
Waterstone’s Newcomer of the Year was won by Victoria Hislop for her first novel The Island which has sold nearly 700,000 copies. Hislop received her award from comedian and TV presenter, Justin Lee Collins. Kyle MacLachlan left the Desperate Housewives behind and jetted in to present the Play.com TV and Film Book of the Year to another first novel, Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada. The book was recently made into a major film starring Meryl Streep.
Poet, novelist and short-story writer Jackie Kay picked up decibel Writer of the Year, given to a writer of African, Caribbean or Asian descent. This was presented by Singer/Songwriter, Jamelia.
The Galaxy British Book Awards are the only awards which take votes both from the book-buying public and the Academy of the British Book Industry, made up of publishers, booksellers, past winners and other representatives of the British book industry. The Academy is chaired by Jilly Cooper, herself shortlisted this year for her novel Wicked!
Book of the Month
March 2010 BOTM: Water For Elephants
by Sara Gruen
As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.
It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
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