The Shortlist for the 2013 Australian Independent Bookseller Awards has been announced. Voted on by the independent booksellers of Australia, The Indie Awards have a proud tradition of picking the best of the best of Australian writing. All of the previous winners, (Breath by Tim Winton, Jasper Jones by Craig Sylvie, The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do, All That I Am by Anna Funder) have gone on to win other major literary awards.

The sixteen shortlisted books will be vying for the top spot as the Indie ‘Book of the Year’ for 2013. Panels of expert judges (all indie booksellers and avid readers) choose winners from four book categories – Fiction, Debut Fiction, Non-Fiction and Children’s. Independent booksellers from around the country will then vote to select their favourite book for the year. The category winners and the overall ‘Book of the Year’ winner will be announced on Monday, 25 March 2013.

The shortlisted books for the Indie Awards 2013 are:

FICTION SHORTLIST:
Nine Days by Toni Jordan
Lost Voices by Christopher Koch
Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser
The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska

NON-FICTION SHORTLIST:
Lake Eyre by Paul Lockyer 
QF32 by Richard de Crespigny
Sandakan by Paul Ham 
The Essential Leunig: Cartoons from a Winding Path by Michael Leunig

DEBUT FICTION SHORTLIST:
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 
Eleven Seasons by Paul D. Carter
The Cartographer by Peter Twohig
Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell 

CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST:
The Convent by Maureen McCarthy 
The 26-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton 
Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan 
Unforgotten by Tohby Riddle