The Gustine Awards were named in honor of the main character in one of our favorite books—The Dress Lodger, by Sheri Holman. Awards have been given out yearly since 2002.
2026 Shortlist
Evil Genius, by Claire Oshetsky
2025 Winners
Fiction: The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai
Nonfiction: The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
Shortlisted Books
The Wide Wide Sea, by Hampton Sides
The Sequel, by Jean Hanff Korelitz
2024 Winners
Fiction: Poor Deer, by Claire Oshetsky
Nonfiction: The Island at the Center of the World, by Russell Shorto
Honorary Award for Outstanding Reissue: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Tove Jansson
Honorary Award for Outstanding Creative Nonfiction: Still Life with Remorse, by Maira Kalman
Shortlisted Books
We would like to address the fact that there are no nominations in Memoir (nor have there been since 2020). After lengthy discussion we have concluded that memoir, as a category, has declined in the richness and depth we admired in the past. Therefore we have made the decision to eliminate the category altogether. Moving forward, exceptional memoirs will be nominated into Nonfiction unless they fall under the umbrella of creative nonfiction, in which case they will be nominated into Fiction.
Mina’s Matchbox, by Yoko Ogawa
Wellness, by Nathan Hill
2023
A Special Announcement
We, at the Gustine Awards, after 21 years of finding and celebrating the best books written, are taking a long and well-deserved sabbatical. We will be spending the next year in Croatia, reading, writing, eating delicious food (such as the cuspajz od karfiola pictured below) and taking hikes into the woods of Plitvice Lakes National Park in hopes of spotting the elusive kuna zlatica (national animal of Croatia). We thank you for your many years of devotion to the Gustines and hope to see you again in the Summer of 2024.
2022 Winners
Fiction: The Latecomer, by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Nonfiction: A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, by Henry Gee
Shortlisted Books
The Family Roe, by Joshua Prager
2021 Winners
Fiction: Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Nonfiction: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, bye George Saunders
Honorary Award for Outstanding Middle Grade Novel: The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine, by Mark Twain, Philip Stead, and Erin Stead
Honorary Award for Outstanding Picture Book: On the Day the Horse Got Out, by Audrey Helen Weber
Shortlisted Books
The Swallowed Man, By Edward Carey
American Baby, by Gabrielle Glaser
Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Stampede, by Brian Castner
Chouette, by Claire Oshetsky
2020 Winners
Fiction: The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel
Nonfiction: Hidden Valley Road, by Robert Kolker
Memoir: Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri
Shortlisted Books
We here at the Gustines recognize that the 2020 shortlist is terribly short, but we are sure you understand that 2020 was a rather tumultuous year, and we spent more of our time reading The New York Times. We hope to see a robust short list in 2021.
Good Talk, Mira Jacob
2019 Winners
Fiction: Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return, by Martin Riker
Nonfiction: The Great Pretender, by Susannah Cahalan
Memoir: Wild Game, by Adrienne Brodeur
Honorary Award for Outstanding Graphic Adaptation of a Fictional Work
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, art and adaption by Renee Nault
Honorary Award for Outstanding Biography in Picture Book Format
The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, by Mac Barnett and Sarah Jacoby
Shortlisted Books
Ponti, by Sharlene Teo
The Overstory, by Richard Powers
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, by Adam Rutherford
How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan
The Need, by Helen Phillips
Know My Name, by Chanel Miller
2018 Winners
Fiction: Circe, by Madeline Miller
Nonfiction: Prairie Fires, by Caroline Frase
Memoir: Educated, by Tara Westover
Honorary Award for Outstanding Biography in Picture Book Format
Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Julia Sarda
Shortlisted Books
Edgar and Lucy, by Victor Lodato
Ranger Games, by Ben Blum
The Widower’s Notebook, by Jonathan Santlofer
2017 Winners
Fiction: A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
Nonfiction: The Indifferent Stars Above, by Daniel Brown
Memoir: Fetch, Nicole Georges
Shortlisted Books
History of Wolves, by Emily Fridlund
Everything is Teeth, by Evie Wyld
Word by Word, by Kory Stamper
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, by Mohsin Hamid
Patient H.M., by Luke Dittrich
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
New Boy, by Tracy Chevalier
How to Behave in a Crowd, by Camille Bordas
Twenty-Six Seconds, by Alexandra Zapruder
The Other Side of the World, by Stephanie Bishop
2016 Winners
Fiction: The Nix, by Nathan Hill
Nonfiction: No Winner
Memoir: On Hitler’s Mountain, by Irmgard Hunt
Shortlisted Books
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
Barkskins, by Annie Proulx
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North
Slaves in the Family, by Edward Ball
Book of Ages, by Jill Lepore
The Attention Merchants, by Tim Wu
Strangers in Their Own Land, by Arlie Russell Hochschild
2015 Winners
Fiction: Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
Nonfiction: Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman
Memoir: Hold Still, by Sally Mann
Shortlisted Books
Maus, Volume I and II, boxed-set, by Art Spiegelman
A Pleasure and a Calling, Phil Hogan
Russian Tattoo, Elena Gorokhova
The Book of Aron, by Jim Shepard
Here, Richard McGuire
Alan’s War, Emmanuel Guibert
Purity, Jonathan Franzen
Dreamland, by Sam Quinones
2014 Winners
Fiction: Stoner, by John Williams
Nonfiction: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
Memoir: Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh
Shortlisted Books
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
A House in the Sky, by Amanda Lindhout
Astoria, by Peter Stark
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
How the World Was, by Emmanuel Guibert
2013 Winners
Fiction: The Night Guest, by Fiona McFarlane
Nonfiction: Pilgrim’s Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia
Memoir: Free Spirit, by Joshua Safran
Shortlisted Books
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
What Remains, by Carole Radziwill
The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker
The Orchard, by Theresa Weir
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchet
A Lucky Child, by Thomas Buergenthal
2012 Winners
Fiction: The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey
Nonfiction: The Murder of the Century, by Paul Collins
Memoir: After the Falls, by Catherine Gildiner
Shortlisted Book
The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson
Once Upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Trespass, by Rose Tremain
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, by Kiran Desai
Too Close to the Falls, by Catherine Gildiner
Mortality, by Christopher Hitchens
2011 Winners
Fiction: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, by Alina Bronsky
Nonfiction: Endgame, by Frank Brady
Memoir: Epileptic, by David B.
Shortlisted Books
Citrus County, by John Brandon
The Invisible Mountain, by Carolina de Robertis
Rin Tin Tin, by Susan Orlean
Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton
2010 Winners
Fiction: Under This Unbroken Sky, by Shandi Mitchell
Nonfiction: (No Winner)
Memoir: A Mountain of Crumbs, by Elena Gorokhova
Shortlisted Books
The God of Animals, by Aryn Kyle
Broken Glass Park, by Alina Bronsky
The Lampshade, by Mark Jacobson
1491, by Charles C. Mann
The Lost City of Z, by David Grann
All Souls, by Michael MacDonald
The House at Sugar Beach, by Helene Cooper
2009 Winners
Fiction: Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Nonfiction: A Land So Strange, Andres Resendez
Memoir: Stitches, by David Small
Shortlisted Books
Pharmakon, by Dirk Wittenborn
Bone China, by Roma Tearne
Fruitless Fall, by Rowan Jacobson
The Tender Bar, by J.R. Moehringer
When Skateboards Will Be Free, by Said Sayrafiezadeh
Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder
2008 Winners
Fiction: (A tie) The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
Nonfiction: Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain, by Martha Sherrill
Memoir: A Wolf at the Table, by Augusten Burroughs
Shortlisted Books
City of Thieves, by David Benioff
What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal, by Zoe Heller
Nine Parts of Desire, by Geraldine Brooks
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan Merle’s Door, by Ted Kerasote
Merle’s Door, by Ted Kerasote
House of Happy Endings, by Leslie Garis House Rules, by Rachel Sontag
House Rules, by Rachel Sontag
2007 Winners
Fiction: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Nonfiction: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
Memoir: Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Shortlisted Books
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo
The People’s Act of Love, by James Meek
Strange Piece of Paradise, by Terri Jentz
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman
Finding Manana, by Mirta Ojito
The Invisible Wall, by Harry Bernstein
2006 Winners
Fiction: Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Nonfiction: The Golden Spruce, by John Vaillant
Memoir: When All the World Was Young, by Barbara Holland
Shortlisted Books
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Darkest Child, by Delores Phillips
Listening to Whales, by Alexandra Morton
This Boy’s Life, by Tobias Wolff
Leaving Mother Lake, by Yang Erche Namu
2005 Winners
Fiction: The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, by Liz Jensen
Nonfiction: The Devil’s Teeth, by Susan Casey
Memoir: Dry, by Augusten Burroughs
Shortlisted Books
The Way the Crow Flies, by Anne-Marie MacDonald
As Hot As It Was You Ought to Thank Me, by Nanci Kincaid
Beauty, by Robin McKinley
The Great Mortality, by John Kelly
Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs
The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
Autobiography of a Face, by Lucy Grealy
2004 Winners
Fiction: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy
Nonfiction: Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer
Memoir: Sickened, by Julie Gregory
Shortlisted Books
The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon
The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin
Turning Stones, Marc Parent
The Only Girl in the Car, by Kathy Dobie
Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher
2002-2003 Winners
Fiction: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Nonfiction: Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand
Memoir: Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller
Shortlisted Books
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters
Lucky, by Alice Sebold
City of Dreams, by Beverly Swerling
Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue
A Dog Year, by Jon Katz
Change Me into Zeus’s Daughter, by Barbara Moss
The Book Shark began as an independent book review website created by Cindy Pinto and Donna Long in 2002.
From the beginning our goal was not only to write great reviews, but also to recognize the most well-written books we read each year with an award...
The Gustine Awards were named in honor of the main character in one of our favorite books—The Dress Lodger, by Sheri Holman. Awards have been given out yearly since 2002 in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and memoir...
A book’s cover is as important as the writing within it. We are aware that this may offend some authors who have toiled for years on their books and believe their words are the only thing that matters...
