The Raymond Crossword Book Award, India’s first and most prestigious Book Award, recognizes and rewards the best of Indian writing & Indian authors.
Over the years, the awards have been equated to the Pulitzer and Booker, and are a definitive,veritable platform for Indian authors.
The awardees have always had, or risen to stature in the world of literature.
This year, the Award has gone through a makeover, with ten categories and a lifetime achievement award. A total of 11 awards will be given on November 29, in the following three categories.
1. Popular Awards
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Biography
Business & Management
Health & Fitness
Children
2. Jury Awards:
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Translation
Children
3. Lifetime Achievement Award .
Kinjal Shah, CEO Crossword Bookstores says, “Its that time of the year, when the whole publishing industry in India comes forward as one family to recognise its own stars. Yes, its exciting that we do have a star-studded shortlist this year and we are looking forward to seeing which author wins the most popular votes.”
Also interesting is the Lifetime Achievement Category and readers are guessing who that one will be.
About Crossword Bookstores.
With the tagline ‘educate, entertain, enlighten’, Crossword Bookstores is India’s largest retailer of books. With 91stores across the country. Crossword Bookstores endeavours to spread knowledge & inculcate the habit of reading.
POPULAR AWARD Shortlist
| Title | Author | Publisher Description | shortlist |
| Half girlfriend | BHAGAT CHETAN | Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. | Fiction |
| Scion of ikshvaku | TRIPATHI AMISH | Westland Books Pvt. Ltd. | Fiction |
| Your dreams are mine now | SINGH RAVINDER | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | Fiction |
| World’s best boyfriend | DATTA DURJOY | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | Fiction |
| Mumbai avengers. | ZAIDI HUSSAIN | Harper Collins India (Vendor) | Fiction |
| 13 steps to bloody good luck | SANGHI ASHWIN | Westland (PUB) INR | Non Fictio |
| Mrs funnybones | KHANNA TWINKLE | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | NF |
| Something happened on the way | MURTY SUDHA | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | NF |
| My gita (devdutt pattanaik) | DEVDUTT | Rupa (Pub) | NF |
| Aarushi (avirook sen) | AVIROOK SEN | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | NF |
| Chanakya in you | RADHAKRISHNAN | Jaico Book House Pvt Ltd | B&M |
| Dream with your eyes open | SCREWVALA RONNI | Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. | B&M |
| Arise awake | BANSAL RASHMI | Westland Books Pvt. Ltd. | B&M |
| Pandeymonium: piyush pandey | PANDEY PIYUSH | Portfolio Publishing (INR) | B&M |
| The success sutra : an indian | PATTANAIK DEVD | Aleph Publisher | B&M |
| Playing it my way – my autobi. | TENDULKAR SACHI | Hachette Book Group (INR) | BIO |
| Msd the man the leader | GHOSH BISWADEEP | Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. | BIO |
| Rajesh khanna :the fallen sup | USMAN YASSER | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | BIO |
| Born again on the mountain | SINHA ARUNIMA | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | BIO |
| Being Salman | KHAN JASIM | Viking (INR) | BIO |
| No one has to know anti-ageing | PAI JAMUNA | Harper Collins India (Vendor) | Health & Fit |
| The great indian diet | SHILPA SHETTY & | Ebury Press (INR) | Health & Fit |
| Total fitness the leena mogre | MOGRE LEENA | Ebury Press (INR) | Health & Fit |
| Being mortal medicine and what | ATUL GAWANDE | Hamish Hamilton (inr) | Health & Fit |
| No one has to know anti-ageing | PAI JAMUNA | Harper Collins India (Vendor) | Health & Fit |
| Body Godess | Payal Gidwani | Random House | |
| Reignited | KALAM ABDUL A.P | Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd | KIDS |
| The magic of the lost temple | MURTHY SUDHA | Puffin Books (PUB) INR | KIDS |
| Pashu | PATTANAIK DEVD | Puffin (inr) | KIDS |
| Uncle aunts and elephants | BOND RUSKIN | Puffin (inr) | KIDS |
| Gita: for children | PAI ROOPA | Hachette Book Group (INR) | KIDS |
JURY AWARD SHORTLIST:
| Translations Shortlist |
| The Sun That Rose from the Earth written and translated by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi |
| Island of Lost Shadows by E. Santosh Kumar translated by P.N. Venugopal |
| In a land far from home by Syed Mujtaba Ali translated by Nazes Afroz |
| Fence by Ila Arab Mehta translated by Rita Kothari |
| Hundreds of Streets to the Palace Lights by S Diwakar translated by Susheela Punitha |
| Farewell, Mahatma by Devibharathi translated by N. Kalyan Raman |
| Fiction Shortlist |
| Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh |
| Hadal by CP Surendran |
| Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy |
| The Black Hill by Mamang Dai |
| The Cosmopolitans by Anjum Hasan |
| Non-Fiction Shortlist |
| Ahmedabad: A City in the World by Amrita Shah |
| Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India by Akshaya Mukul |
| No one Else by Siddharth Dube |
| Seasons of Trouble by Rohini Mohan |
| The Ivory Throne by Manu S. Pillai |
| The Spirit of Indian Painting by B.N.Goswami |
| Children’s Books Shortlist |
| Adventure on Wheels by Prashant Pinge |
| Bookasura by Arundhati Venkatesh, Illustrated by Priya Kuriyan |
| Our Incredible Cow by Mahasweta Devi, Illustrated by Ruchi Shah |
| Our Nana was a Nutcase by Ranjit Lal |
| Talking of Muskaan by Himanjali Sankar |
