Readings Carlton has been announced as the Independent Bookseller of the Year at the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). Readings represented Victoria in the shortlist that included booksellers from across Australia.

Readings also won the Bookseller Marketing Campaign of the Year for the promotion of Nam Le’s The Boat. Readings chose The Boat as Australian Book of the Month in June 2008 as part of our series highlighting new and emerging Australian writers. The Copyright Agency Limited sponsored this series. We commissioned an interview-based feature article by Cate Kennedy which was published in our newsletter (circulation: 16,000) and on our website. We hosted an event with Nam Le and Cate Kennedy attracting 450 people. The Boat was chosen for our Australian Book Clubs and displayed with point-of-sale in our shops. We sold 571 copies in June 2008 and over 3200 copies to date. Nam says: “I can say without doubt that Readings' support for The Boat has been a cornerstone of its success in Australia.”

Congratulations to all the other ABIA winners too. The full list of results is as follows:

Independent Bookseller of the Year 2009, sponsored by Books In Print (Thorpe-Bowker)

• NSW/ACT - Gleebooks
• Qld - Riverbend Books & Teahouse
• SA/NT - Imprints Booksellers
• Tas - Fullers Bookshop Hobart
• VIC - Readings Books Music Film Carlton
• WA - Bookcaffe

Bookseller Marketing Campaign of the Year 2009

• Avid Reader, for Growing Up Asian in Australia, written by Alice Pung
• Avid Reader, for Wild Tea Cosies, written by Loani Prior
• Pages & Pages Booksellers Mosman, for The Given Day, written by Dennis Lehane
• Readings Books Music Film Carlton, for The Boat, written by Nam Le
• Robinson’s Bookshop, for Brisingr, written by Christopher Paolini

Publisher of the Year 2009

• Allen & Unwin
• Hachette Australia
• Penguin Australia
• Random House Australia
• The Text Publishing Company

Small Publisher of the Year 2009, sponsored by Midland Typesetters

• Black Dog Books
• Black Inc.
• Giramondo Publishing Company
• University of Queensland Press
• Wakefield Press

Book of the Year 2009

• Breath, written by Tim Winton, published by Penguin Australia
• Tales From Outer Suburbia, written by Shaun Tan, published by Allen & Unwin
• The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
• The Slap, written by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin
• The Tall Man, written by Chloe Hooper, published by Penguin Australia

Newcomer of the Year (debut writer) 2009

• A Beautiful Place to Die, written by Malla Nunn, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
• I Dream of Magda, written by Stefan Laszczuk, published by Allen & Unwin
• Never Say Die, written by Chris O’Brien, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
• The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow, written by A.J. Mackinnon, published by Black Inc.

Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2009

• Breath, written by Tim Winton, published by Penguin Australia
• The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
• The Lieutenant, written by Kate Grenville, published by The Text Publishing Company
• The Slap, written by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin
• The Spare Room, written by Helen Garner, published by The Text Publishing Company

General Fiction Book of the Year 2009

• A Beautiful Place to Die, written by Malla Nunn, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
• All Together Now, written by Monica McInerney, published by Penguin Australia
• How To Break Your Own Heart, written by Maggie Alderson, published by Penguin Australia
• The Build Up, written by Phillip Gwynne, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
• The Forgotten Garden, written by Kate Morton, published by Allen & Unwin

Book of the Year for Older Children (age range 8 to14 years) 2009

• A Rose for the ANZAC Boys, written by Jackie French, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Dragon Dawn, written by Carole Wilkinson, published by Black Dog Books
• Finnikin of the Rock, written by Melina Marchetta, published by Penguin Australia
• Home and Away, by John Marsden, illustrated by Matt Ottley, published by Hachette Australia
• Pip: The Story of Olive, written by Kim Kane, published by Allen & Unwin

Book of the Year for Younger Children (age range 0 to 8 years) 2009

• Enigma, written & illustrated by Graeme Base, published by Penguin Australia
• Possum and Wattle: My Big Book of Australian Words, written & illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft, published by Little Hare Books
• Sunday Chutney, written & illustrated by Aaron Blabey, published by Penguin Australia
• Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, written by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, published by Penguin Australia
• The Dog on the Tuckerbox, written by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Peter Couldthorpe, published by Black Dog Books

General Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2009

• 1788, written by David Hill, published by Random House Australia
• Life in His Hands, written by Susan Wyndham, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
• The Tall Man, written by Chloe Hooper, published by Penguin Australia
• The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow, written by A.J. Mackinnon, published by Black Inc.
• What’s Happening to Our Girls, written by Maggie Hamilton, published by Penguin Australia

Biography of the Year 2009

• I am Melba, written by Ann Blainey, published by Black Inc.
• Never Say Die, written by Chris O’Brien, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography, written by Jill Roe, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• The Lucy Family Alphabet, written by Judith Lucy, published by Penguin Australia
• The Man Who Owns the News, written by Michael Wolff, published by Random House Australia

Illustrated Book of the Year 2009

• A Brush with Birds, written by Penny Olsen, published by National Library of Australia
• Tales from Outer Suburbia, written by Shaun Tan, published by Allen & Unwin
• The Artist’s Lunch, written by Alice McCormick & Sarah Rhodes, published by Murdoch Books
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written by Michel Streich, published by Allen & Unwin
• Utopia: the Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, edited by Margo Neale, published by National Museum of Australia

International Success of the Year 2009, sponsored by Activair

• HarperCollins Publishers, for Hammer of God, written by Karen Miller
• Penguin Australia, for various Sonya Hartnett titles
• Random House Australia, for The Floods, by Colin Thompson
• The Text Publishing Company, for The Spare Room, written by Helen Garner
• The Text Publishing Company, for Addition, written by Toni Jordan

Marketing Campaign of the Year 2009, in memory of John Cody, sponsored by Random House Australia

• Allen & Unwin, for Change of Heart, written by Jodi Picoult
• Allen & Unwin, for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer
• Penguin Australia, forBreath, written by Tim Winton
• Penguin Australia, for Popular Penguins, written by various authors
• Random House Australia, for Occy, written by Mark Occhilupo & Tim Baker

Distributor of the Year 2009, sponsored by VISTA Computer Systems

• Alliance Distribution Services
• Harper Entertainment Distribution Services
• Hinkler Books
• Random House Australia
• United Book Distributors

Specialist Bookseller of the Year 2009*

• NSW/ACT - Galaxy Bookshop
• Qld - Folio Books
• SA/NT - ALS Library Services
• Tas - Ellison Hawker Bookshop
• Vic - Books for Cooks
• WA - Boffins Bookshop

Chain Bookseller of the Year 2009*, sponsored by PacStream (Thorpe-Bowker & ECN Group)

• NSW/ACT - Dymocks Sydney
• Qld - Dymocks Indooroopilly
• SA/NT - Dymocks Adelaide
• Tas- Dymocks Hobart
• Vic - Hill of Content
• WA - Dymocks Garden City (Booragoon)

The Lloyd O'Neill Award
David Gaunt, co-owner of Sydney's famous Gleebooks bookshop received the Lloyd O'Neill Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry. David is a past President of the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Booksellers Association and is Chairman of the Indigenous Literacy Project.