Choice of Bloggers and Readers: "Knyzhkova Kraina" Announced a Shortlist of Its Own Award

The Book Bloggers Award, founded by the "Knyzhkova Kraina" festival, has announced a short list of contenders for the win. The shortlist of the most interesting, discussed and noteworthy novelties included 5 books that were published in Ukraine in 2023 — the first half of 2024:

• "There is land behind the trench" by Anastasia Levkova, "Laboratoriya" publishing house;
• "Zhovtolyka" by Rebecca Kwan, "George" publishing house;
• "As if we were thieves" by M. L. Rio, "Artbuks" publishing house;
• "The Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yaros, KSD publishing house; iris
• "A Little Drama" Valerian Pidmogilny, Vivat publishing house.

"Within the framework of the award, we consciously did not set many restrictions for bloggers and readers regarding the choice of books. That is why, in particular, you can see a popular fantasy in the short list alongside the Ukrainian classic Valerian Pidmohylyny — this is a feature that only adds to the interest premium. Our goal is to highlight the most discussed books and in this way attract even more people to reading," says the head of the festival Lyudmila Fit.

The formation of the short list took place in several stages. At the first, the organizers of the award chose ten popular book bloggers-judges who, according to readers, have the greatest expertise in this field. This panel includes book influencers on Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and Telegram: PROLYT, A Book About, Svitlo Bibliotek, Read, krw, books, violetta.boooks, Neposbuvnyy knogotyun, Valeriegillan, in book we trust, Persika's book world, susik. book.

Bloggers created a long list of books, which included 38 titles, and invited their audience to choose their own favorites from the list provided on the festival's website. In total, almost 6,000 people took part in the survey.

"The long list, and the award in general, covers completely different genres and authors, and in my opinion, that's cool. Without restrictions - to see what others are reading, to think about what touched me. A long list is a ready-made top for readers, and a short one is ideal material for Book Clubs. I see it as logical that fantasy stands out - people want to distract themselves from the tumult by plunging into other worlds. And the presence of 10 Ukrainian authors in the long list is evidence that we want to know more about our history and culture," emphasizes one of the judges of the award Valentina Komar, a book blogger and author of the Telegram channel in book we trust.

The next stage of the selection of the winner begins on August 9. Over the course of a month, blogger-judges will share their impressions of each shortlisted book with their own audience. In parallel, readers can also publish posts to support their favorite book from the list.

The ceremony of announcing the winner will take place live on the first day of the Book Country festival, which will be held at VDNG on September 26-29. The best book of the year will be chosen by anonymous voting of blogger-judges. They will be present at the ceremony and will be able to support their favorites and explain their choice.

Follow the updates of the "Knyzhkova Kraina" program on the festival's official Facebook and Instagram pages.