Changes

'''Winner''

|author=Kishwar Desai

|title=Witness the Night

|genre=General Fiction

|summary=An interesting insight into women's issues in India clumsily forced into a severely disappointing narrative. The judges thought differently - they said ''We were thrilled and exhilarated by this stunning debut. Just like her feisty main character, Desai has fearlessly blown the lid on the problems that simmer under the surface of modern- day India''

}}

'''Other Books On The Shortlist'''

|author=Nikesh Shukla

|title=Coconut Unlimited

|genre=General Fiction

|summary=Our reviewer has just about lived the story - and he can tell you how good it is.

}}

|author=Aatish Taseer

|title=The Temple-Goers

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=A harsh portrait of a modern India that is short on sentiment and heavy on ambition.

}}

|author=Simon Thirsk

|title=Not Quite White

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=An intelligent, in-depth look at Anglo-Welsh relations in modern fictional times. A young, idealistic Englishman is given the unenviable remit by Westminster to 'sort out' a small community in Wales and drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century - but is he up to this mammoth challenge?

}}

''Winner''

|author=Maggie O'Farrell

|title=The Hand That First Held Mine

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=Two women come to London as adults, some fifty years apart - one from rural Devon, the other from Finland, yet there is a connection between them whih neither could have imagined. An exquisite story of love in all its forms - highly recommended. The judges said: ''A book of grand themes and intimate moments. This gripping novel is the one we'd unreservedly recommend''

}}

'''Other Books On The Shortlist'''

|author=Louise Doughty

|title=Whatever You Love

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary= Laura plans revenge after losing her 9 year old daughter in an accident, in a beautifully written and utterly compelling novel.

}}

|author=Nigel Farndale

|title=The Blasphemer

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=Militant atheism takes on angelic visions in this wide-ranging book with a parallel narrative that takes us from the trenches of WWI to today's War on Terror. Bookbag loved the general idea and the quality of the writing, but failed to engage with any of the characters and found it rather cluttered.

}}

|author=Paul Murray

|title=Skippy Dies

|genre=Literary Fiction

|summary=Life and death in and around an Irish private school, in this all-encompassing brick of a novel, which does resolve into an enjoyable plot.

}}

'''Winner'''

|author=Edmund de Waal

|title=The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

|genre=Biography

|summary= The judges said: A truly special book. De Waal is a first-class potter and has proven himself with this book to be a first-class writer - he's able to handle a very serious subject with a delicacy, charm and touch that is rare

}}

'''Other Books On The Shortlist'''

|author=Sarah Bakewell

|title=How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

|genre=Biography

|summary=Every bit as good as its quirky title suggests, Montaigne's ideas are still relevant half a millennium later. A must-read for those with existential angst or pretensions to erudition.

}}

|author=Michael Frayn

|title=My Father's Fortune: A Life

|genre=Biography

|summary=A wonderful book which will have you laughing and crying.

}}

'''The Winner'''

|author=Jason Wallace

|title=Out of Shadows

|genre=Teens

|summary=Gorgeous coming-of-age novel set in Zimbabwe in a time of political upheaval. Both compelling and thought-provoking, it'll stay with them long after they've finished reading. The judges said: For us, this extraordinary debut novel was a unanimous winner. This compelling portrayal of a nation in crisis gripped us from start to finish and has stayed with us since.

}}

'''Other Books On The Shortlist'''

|author=Lucy Christopher

|title=Flyaway

|genre=Confident Readers

|summary=Isla and her father love to watch the wild swans arrive, but this year things are different. Isla's father is seriously ill, and after a terrible accident one of the youngest swans forgets how to fly. Isla puts her energies into teaching the swan, convinced that somehow this will help her father pull through.

}}

|author=Sharon Dogar

|title=Annexed

|genre=Teens

|summary=How was it for Peter? Sharon Dogar imagines life for Peter van Pels in the Amsterdam annexe with Anne Frank during WWII. There's been some controversy about this book, but Bookbag thought it was an intimate, thoughtful and absorbing novel.

}}

|author=Jonathan Stroud

|title=The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus)

|genre=Teens

|summary=Prequel to Stroud's tremendously popular Bartimaeus trilogy. There's more magic and magicians this time and the setting is ancient and mythologised, far from London. Lots of twists and turns too. Fans are going to love it. Bookbag did.

}}