Davina McCall with co -author Dr Naomi Potter win Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2023 ceremony, at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London. Photo: British Book Awards
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Menopausing by Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter has been named Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2023.
Channel 4 anchor man Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who was on the judging panel, said: “This book helped get a nationwide conversation going about menopause and captured the zeitgeist. It was cleverly marketed and nurtured by the publishing team through considerable obstacles. And the pairing of Davina McCall with Dr Naomi Potter was clever enough to produce an authoritative and useful yet entertaining book about an important and ignored subject.”
The book continues to fly high on bestseller lists months after being published, and it’s claimed that the ‘Davina effect’ has been responsible for an extra 500,000 women being prescribed hormone replacement therapy.
But it was by no means the only great book celebrated at the British Book Awards. One of the categories, Book of the Year – Non-Fiction Narrative – was presented in association with The Big Issue.
Nominees included memoirs by Matthew Perry and the late Alan Rickman but the winner was Super-Infinite, a biography of poet John Donne by Katherine Rundell.
One of the judge’s Charlene White reflected on the book in a recent article.
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She said: “I hand on heart know that I wouldn’t voluntarily read Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell – mostly because the last time I read history books was at university. And I sort of felt like you only read history books about 17th century poets when you had an essay to write, not for fun. I’m pleased to report I was totally wrong about that one. I spent a week listening to it on my walk to work and loved it keeping me company.”
Chair of the British Book Awards judges and The Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones said:“Readers were the real winners this year, with titles ranging from Menopausing to Tyger to I’m a Fan demonstrating the remarkable virtuosity of the book business, especially for its role in amplifying and creating conversations around mental health, misogyny, sexuality and gender, the menopause and more.”
More of British Book Awards 2023 winners
Overall Book of the year
Davina McCall with Dr. Naomi Potter Menopausing
Author of the year
Bonnie Garmus Lessons in Chemistry
Illustrator of the Year
Alice Oseman
Book of the Year – Fiction
supported by Good Housekeeping R.F. Kuang Babel (Harper Voyager, HarperCollins)
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Book of the Year – Début
Louise Kennedy Trespasses (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Rhys Stephenson, Louise Kennedy, Paterson Joseph and Lauren Laverne at The British Book Awards 2023 ceremony. Photo: British Book Awards
Book of the Year – Non-Fiction, Lifestyle & Illustrated
Davina McCall with Dr. Naomi Potter Menopausing (HQ , HarperCollins)
Book of the Year – Non-Fiction Narrative
supported by The Big Issue Katherine Rundell Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (Faber & Faber)
Book of the Year – Children’s Fiction
supported by The Week Junior SF Said, illustrated by Dave McKean Tyger (David Fickling Books)
Book of the Year – Children’s Non-Fiction
supported by The Week Junior Dr Alex George, illustrated by The Boy Fitz Hammond A Better Day (Wren & Rook, Hachette)
Book of the Year – Children’s Illustrated
supported by Love Reading 4 Kids Harry Woodgate Grandad’s Camper (Andersen Press)
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Book of the Year – Discover
supported by Magic Radio Book Club Sheena Patel I’m a Fan (Rough Trade)
Book of the Year – Crime and Thriller
supported by Scala Radio Book Club Janice Hallett The Twyford Code (Viper Books, Profile Books)
Book of the Year – Pageturner
supported by TikTok Colleen Hoover Verity (Sphere Books, Little, Brown)
Audiobook of the Year – Fiction
Douglas Stuart narrated by Chris Reilly Young Mungo (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
Audiobook of the Year – Non-Fiction
supported by Audiobookish Richard E. Grant A Pocketful of Happiness (Gallery UK, Simon & Schuster)
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