Specsavers National Book Awards shortlist announced!

The Specsavers National Book Awards shortlist was announced today, honoring the best of writing and publishing in Britain. The awards cover every genre of publishing and writing and are aimed to celebrate books that are widely known across Britain, from bookselling to libraries. The nominees include Stephen Fry for best audiobook, who also voiced the Harry Potter audiobooks in the UK, and John Cleese‘s (Nearly Headless Nick) autobiography. Finally, The Silkworm, written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, is up for Best Crime/Thriller Book of the Year.

Stephen Fry’s autobiography audiobook More Fool Me got mixed reviews. According to the Guardian, the book first focuses on his first two memoirs and then speaks of his 15-year cocaine habit and his partying habit from the late eighties and early nineties. The book aims to show a new side to the television host that so many residents of Britain know.

John Cleese’s autobiography, So Anyway…, takes the reader on his journey into show business from Cambridge University, to writing for actors on BBC radio straight out of college, to being on the world famous show Monty Python. The book is seen as an amazing memoir of a man’s journey into comedy.

The Silkworm is the sequel to The Cuckoo’s Calling. It follows the story of private detective Cormoran Strike who is brought in to solve the disappearance of novelist Owen Quine. As he tries to figure out where the author has gone, he learns more about the author than he ever wanted to.

Read MuggleNet’s review of The Silkworm here.

The final awards will take place on November 26.