Costa Book Awards – Have You Read Them?

I drink a lot of Costa. In fact, so much Costa that often when I wander in of a morning the barista raises a quizzical eyebrow at me that, roughly translated, means “I see you’re here again, will you be having a small skinny hot chocolate, with no frills, extra hot as bleedin’ usual?” and I reply with a nod that he correctly interprets as “that’s affirmative, I shall take my beverage in your finest paper cup” and by the time I am at the front of the queue there is a drink ready and waiting for payment.

I believe, and you may correct me if I am wrong, that this means that I am well qualified to comment on the Costa Book Awards. In fact, I was a little hurt when I wasn’t asked to be one of the judges. If you peruse the judging panel, it is made up of highly esteemed types from the literary world like Eithne Farry (Books Ed. at Marie Claire), Rose Tremain (best selling author) and Matthew Cain (writer, broadcaster and, until recently, Culture Editor for Channel 4). Not one of their profiles shows them with a Costa cup or professes a commitment to Costa like the one my points card could demonstrate.

I digress.

The winners of the 2013 Costa Book Awards were announced this week. There are five awards and the winner of each will now be considered for the Costa Book of the Year Award, which will be announced at the end of the month.

The award for best novel went to Kate Atkinson for Life After Life. Kate previously won a Costa Book of the Year Award for her first novel, Behind the Scenes of the Museum and has gone on to write further critically-acclaimed novels such as Human Croquet and Emotionally Weird and international best-sellers such as the Jackson Brodie novels (now dramatised for television) Case Histories, Started Early, Took My Dog, and When Will There Be Good News. Life After Life is based on the premise that we have endless chances of living our lives. The heroine, Ursula Todd, is born on 11 February 1910 and dies before she can take her first breath. In another chance at life, she is born and lives to tell the tale. The reader is taken through a number of iterations of her life – in one a pivotal moment will trigger a chain of events for her, but in a re-telling that pivotal moment is fundamentally different and her life takes an altogether different course.

The award for best first novel went to Nathan Filer for The Shock of the Fall. Nathan is a qualified mental health nurse and has spent many years working within the mental health service where he still does the occasional shift. His debut novel is written from the perspective of Matthew, a nineteen year old mental health patient, who is setting down the story of his descent into mental illness starting with the tragic death of his brother Simon. He is a wonderful character who is frequently distracted from his tale by the need to tell you about what is happening around him as he writes, his day to day life and his family, such as his Nanny Noo who is “one of those people who tries to feed you the moment you walk through the door, and doesn’t stop trying to feed you until the moment you leave. She might even make you a quick ham sandwich for your journey.” I read about a third of this book in one sitting and once I’ve done writing this I will have my nose back in it. Well, it is Friday evening so I’ll have a curry first…

The award for best children’s book went to Chris Riddell for Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, which is a beautifully illustrated tale about Ada Goth who lives in her father’s mansion with only ghosts for company and who makes friends with Ishmael, the ghost of a mouse. There are various quirks such as regular footnotes that are written by an actual foot and, in the back cover, a tiny additional book of Ishmael’s memoirs.

The award for best biography went to Lucy Hughes-Hallett for The Pike: Gabriele D’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer & Preacher of War. Lucy is a former feature writer for Vogue and has written on books or theatre for most of the leading British broadsheets. She is the bookies favourite to win the Book of the Year Award for her biography of the early 20th century poet with a weakness for lavish interior décor and sexual promiscuity who, in September 1919, led an army of mutineers into Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) and set himself up as a dictator for 15 months until the Italian navy bombed him out.

The award for poetry went to Michael Symmons Roberts for his sixth collection, Drysalter. His collection of 150 poems on contemporary life are each 15 lines long and are described as having “a musicality sustained across a memorable body of work.”

So, have you read any of these winners? If so, what did you think of them and which do you fancy for the Book of the Year? If not, will you be picking any of them up soon?