Prize Winning Books of 2017 - not to be missed

Man Booker International
David Grossman, A Horse Walks Into a Bar

An audience that has come expecting an evening of amusement instead sees a comedian falling apart on stage; an act of disintegration, a man crumbling, as a matter of choice, before their eyes. They could get up and leave, or boo and whistle and drive him from the stage, if they were not so drawn to glimpse his personal hell.

British Book Awards
Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent

London 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Retreating to the countryside with her son, she encounters rumours of the 'Essex Serpent', a creature of folklore said to have returned to roam the marshes. Cora is enthralled, believing it may be an undiscovered species. Setting out on its trail, she collides with local minister William Ransome, who thinks the cure for hysteria lies in faith, while Cora is convinced that science offers the answers. Despite disagreeing on everything, he and Cora find themselves drawn together, changing each other's lives in unexpected ways.

Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction
Naomi Alderman, The Power

What if the power to hurt were in women's hands? Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - teenage girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonising pain and even death. With this single twist, the four lives at the heart of Naomi Alderman's extraordinary, visceral novel are utterly transformed.

Arthur C Clark Award
Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than most; she is an outcast even among her fellow Africans and she is approaching womanhood, where it is clear even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they take the perilous decision to escape to the North. 

Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize
John Lewis-Stempel, Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, the Great War

At the most basic level, animals and birds provided interest to fill the blank hours in the trenches and billets. Bird-watching, for instance, was probably the single most popular hobby among officers. But perhaps more importantly, the ability of nature to endure, despite the bullets and blood, gave men a psychological, spiritual, even religious, uplift.

YA Book Prize
Patrice Lawrence, Orangeboy

Not cool enough, not clever enough, not street enough for anyone to notice me. I was the kid people looked straight through. Not anymore. Not since Mr Orange. Sixteen-year-old Marlon has made his mum a promise - he'll never follow his big brother, Andre, down the wrong path. So far, it's been easy, but when a date ends in tragedy, Marlon finds himself hunted. They're after the mysterious Mr Orange, and they're going to use Marlon to get to him. Marlon's out of choices - can he become the person he never wanted to be, to protect everyone he loves?

Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Girl of Ink and Stars

When Isabella's friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search party. As a mapmaker's daughter, she's equipped with elaborate ink maps and knowledge of the stars, eager to navigate the island's forgotten heart. But beneath the mountains a legendary fire demon awakens, and her journey is fraught with danger.

Llyfrau a enillodd Wobrau yn 2017 - peidiwch â’u colli

Gwobr Ryngwladol Man Booker

David Grossman, A Horse Walks Into a Bar

Mae cynulleidfa sydd wedi dod am noson o ddifyrrwch yn gweld comedïwr yn syrthio’n ddarnau ar y llwyfan yn lle; chwalfa, dyn yn dadfeilio, o’i wirfodd, o flaen eu llygaid. Fe allen nhw godi a gadael, neu fwio a chwibanu a’i yrru o’r llwyfan, pe na baen nhw wedi eu denu gymaint i gael cipolwg ar ei uffern bersonol.

Gwobrau Llyfrau Prydeinig

Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent

Llundain 1893. Pan fo gŵr Cora Seaborne yn marw, mae’n camu i fywyd newydd fel gwraig weddw gyda rhyddhad yn gymaint â thristwch.  Wrth gilio i gefn gwlad gyda’i mab, daw i glywed sïon am ‘Sarff Essex', creadur chwedlonol sydd, yn ôl y sôn wedi dychwelyd i’r corsydd.  Mae Cora’n cael ei chyfareddu, gan gredu mai rhywogaeth na chafodd ei darganfod eto ydyw. Wrth iddi fynd ar ôl y sarff, mae’n cyfarfod â gweinidog lleol William Ransome, sy’n credu mai ffydd sy’n gwella hysteria, tra bod Cora’n credu mai mewn gwyddoniaeth mae’r ateb. Er eu bod yn anghytuno ar bopeth, mae Cora ag ef yn nesáu at ei gilydd, gan newid eu bywydau mewn ffyrdd annisgwyl.

Gwobr Bailey’s i Fenywod am Ffuglen

Naomi Alderman, The Power

Beth pe bai’r grym i frifo yn nwylo menywod.  Yn sydyn – heddiw neu’r diwrnod wedyn – mae merched yn eu harddegau’n canfod bod modd iddyn nhw, wrth glicio’u bysedd, achosi poen arteithiol neu hyd yn oed marwolaeth.  Mewn dim o dro mae’r pedwar bywyd wrth galon nofel anhygoel ac angerddol Naomi Alderman yn cael eu trawsnewid yn llwyr.

Gwobr Arthur C Clark

Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad

Caethferch yw Cora ar blanhigfa gotwm yn Georgia. Bywyd ofnadwy sydd gan y caethweision i gyd, ond mae Cora’n ei chael hi’n waeth; mae hi’n alltud hyd yn oed gan ei chyd-Affricanwyr ac mae’n nesáu at fod yn fenyw, sy’n golygu mwy byth o boen. Pa fo Caesar, caethwas sydd newydd gyrraedd o Virginia, yn dweud wrthi am y Rheilffordd Danddaearol, maen nhw’n penderfynu dianc i’r Gogledd.

Gwobr Lyfrau Wainwright Golden Beer

John Lewis-Stempel, Where Poppies Blow: The British Soldier, Nature, the Great War

Ar lefel sylfaenol roedd anifeiliaid ac adar yn cynnig rhywbeth i lanw’r oriau maith yn y  ffosydd a’r biledau. Gwylio adar, er enghraifft oedd y difyrrwch mwyaf poblogaidd gan swyddogion.  Ond, efallai’n fwy pwysig, roedd gallu natur i oroesi, er gwaethaf y bwledi a’r gwaed, yn codi dynion yn seicolegol, yn ysbrydol a hyd yn oed yn grefyddol.

Gwobr Lyfrau YA

Patrice Lawrence, Orangeboy

Ddim yn ddigon cŵl, ddim yn ddigon clyfar, ddim yn ddigon ‘stryd’ i unrhyw un gymryd sylw ohono’ i. Fi oedd yr un yr oedd pawb yn edrych heibio iddo.  Dim mwy. Dim ers Mr Orange. Mae Marlon, 16 oed wedi addo’i fam na fydd e byth yn dilyn ôl troed ei frawd mawr, Andre, ar hyd y llwybr anghywir.  Hyd yn hyn mae wedi bod yn hawdd, ond pan fo dêt yn gorffen yn drasig, mae Marlon fel petai’n cael ei hela.  Maen nhw ar ôl Mr Orange, ac maen nhw’n mynd i ddefnyddio Marlon i’w ddal.  Does gan Marlon ddim dewis - gall e droi i fod y person nad oedd e am fod, er mwyn gwarchod pawb y mae’n eu caru?

Gwobr Llyfrau Plant Waterstone’s

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Girl of Ink and Stars

Pan fo ffrind Isabella’n diflannu, mae’n gwirfoddoli i arwain y criw chwilio.  Fel merch i wneuthurwr mapiau, mae ganddi fapiau inc cymhleth a gwybodaeth o’r sêr, ac mae’n awyddus i lywio trwy galon goll yr ynys. Ond o dan y mynyddoedd, mae ysbryd tân chwedlonol yn deffro, ac mae ei thaith yn llawn perygl.