2022 Nominees

BIOGRAPHY

Paige Bowers & David Montague, Overnight Code: The Life of Raye Montague, the Woman Who Revolutionized Naval Engineering
Margaret Coker, The Spymaster of Baghdad: A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle Against ISIS
Laura Dabundo, Jane Austen: A Companion
Sandra E. Godwin, A White Liberal College President in the Jim Crow South: Guy Herbert Wells and the YWCA at Georgia State College for Women, 1934-1953
Jerry Grillo, The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography
Kaye Lanning Minchew, Jimmy Carter: Citizen of the South
John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, Illustrated by L. Fury and Nate Powell, Run: Book One
Charles Person, Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider 

CHILDREN’S BOOK

Rosalind Bunn and Maggie Bunn, Illustrated by Keller Pyle, All Aboard, Georgia!
Reem Faruqi, Illustrated by Mikela Prevost, I Can Help
McCall Hoyle, Stella
Julie Lavender, Illustrated by Shahar Kober, Children's Bible Stories for Bedtime: To Grow in Faith & Love
Natalie Nelson, Dog's First Baby
Laurel Snyder, Illustrated by Emily Hughes, Charlie & Mouse Lost and Found
Deborah Wiles, Illustrated by Andrea Stegmaier, We Are All Under One Wide Sky

COOKBOOK

Cheryl Day, Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking
Cynthia Graubart, Strawberry Love: 45 Sweet and Savory Recipes for Shortcakes, Hand Pies, Salads, Salsas, and More
Rebecca Lang, Y'all Come Over: Charming Your Guests with New Recipes, Heirloom Treasures, and True Southern Hospitality
Chef Deborah VanTrece, The Twisted Soul Cookbook: Modern Soul Food with Global Flavors

DETECTIVE/MYSTERY

Stacey Abrams, While Justice Sleeps
Kimberly Belle, My Darling Husband
A. Shane Etter, The Prosaist and The Unholy Ghost
Joshilyn Jackson, Mother May I
Iris Johansen, The Bullet 
Karin Slaughter, False Witness
C. Matthew Smith, Twentymile
Christopher Swann, A Fire in the Night
C. L. Tolbert, The Redemption
Karen White, The Attic on Queen Street
Kate Young, Reading Between the Crimes

ESSAY

Regina N. Bradley, Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South
Miriam C. Brown Spiers, Encountering The Sovereign Other: Indigenous Science Fiction
William S. Duffey, Jr., The Significant Lawyer: The Pursuit of Purpose and Professionalism
Janisse Ray, Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans
Loran Smith, Whaddaya Got, Loran?: Dispatches from Georgia

FIRST NOVEL

Benji Carr, Impacted
Anjali Enjeti, The Parted Earth
Larry A. Freeland, Chariots in the Sky: A Story About U.S. Assault Helicopter Pilots at War in Vietnam
Anju Kanwar, The Dark Side of the Moon
Robyn Lucas, Paper Doll Lina
Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets
Sanjena Sathian, Gold Diggers
Pamela Terry, The Sweet Taste of Muscadines

HISTORY

Carol Anderson, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America
Christopher Blake, Reckless Misfortune: The Century We Inherited from the First World War
E. Culpepper Clark, The Birth of a New South: Sherman, Grady, and the Making of Atlanta
Andrew Feiler, Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools That Changed America
Da’Shaun L. Harrison, Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness
Christopher R. Lawton, Laura E. Nelson, and Randy L. Reid, Seen/Unseen: Hidden Lives in a Community of Enslaved Georgians
William Rawlings, Lighthouses of the Georgia Coast
Jan Slimming, Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park 
Carole Townsend, Peachtree Corners, Georgia: The History of an Innovative and Remarkable City, 1777-2020
Ben Wynne, Something in the Water: A History of Music in Macon, Georgia, 1823-1980
Neely Young, Georgia Made: The Most Important Figures Who Shaped the State in the Twentieth Century

INSPIRATIONAL

Laura Dabundo, When the Parallel Converge
John Lewis, Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation
Andrew M. Manis and Sandy Dwayne Martin (editors), Eavesdropping on the Most Segregated Hour: A City’s Clergy Reflect on Racial Reconciliation
Carl McColman, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life

LITERARY FICTION

Kaia Alderson, Sisters in Arms: A Novel of the Daring Black Women Who Served During World War II
Mary Kay Andrews, The Newcomer
Mary Kay Andrews, The Santa Suit
Janet Hogan Chapman, MotherLove
Laura Morelli, The Stolen Lady: A Novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa
Thomas Mullen, Midnight Atlanta
Ane Mulligan, On Sugar Hill
Vanessa Riley, Island Queen
Zachary Steele, The Weight of Ashes
Mark Warren, Indigo Heaven
Mark Warren, Song of the Horseman
Karen White, The Last Night in London
Tiphanie Yanique, Monster in the Middle

MEMOIR

Richard Allen Anderson, For the Good Times: A Love Story
G. Wayne Clough, The Technological University Reimagined: Georgia Institute of Technology, 1994-2008
Justine Cowan, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames
Paul Hornsby, Fix It in the Mix
Yusef Salaam, Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice
Danté Stewart, Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle

POETRY CHAPBOOK

Katherine Fallon, Demoted Planet
Katie Farris, A Net to Catch My Body in Its Weaving
Andrea Jurjević, Nightcall
Kathryn Pratt Russell, Raven Hotel
A. Prevett, Still, No Grace
Federica Santini, Unearthed

POETRY FULL-LENGTH

Eugene C. Bianchi, Interbeing: New and Selected Poems on Ecological Spirituality
Mike Booth, A Cowboy Remembers: Western, Religious, & Patriotic Poetry
Rosemary Daniell, The Murderous Sky: Poems of Madness & Mercy
Jaydn DeWald, The Rosebud Variations
Gordon Johnston, Scaring the Bears
Aruni Kashyap, There Is No Good Time for Bad News
Aurielle Marie, Gumbo Ya Ya
Sam Rush, Swallow
Anya Krugovoy Silver, Saint Agnostica
Robert Simon, An Ode to Friendship
Jane Simpson, Psalm Sonnets
Carey Scott Wilkerson, Cruel Fever of the Sky
M.L. Williams, Game
William Wright, Grass Chapels: New & Selected Poems

ROMANCE

Marilyn Baron, The Romanov Legacy
Susan Carlisle, From Florida Fling to Forever
Susan Carlisle, Taming the Hot-Shot Doc
Lauren Connolly, Read Me
Jeanine Englert, The Highlander’s Secret Son
Jane Lewis, Home in Wylder
Colleen Oakley, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
Wendy Wax, The Break-Up Book Club

YOUNG ADULT

Roshani Chokshi, The Bronzed Beasts
Caroline George, Dearest Josephine
Deron Hicks, The Crown Heist
Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal, Why We Fly
Shanna Miles, For All Time
Chris Negron, The Last Super Chef
Nic Stone, Fast Pitch
Joey Weiser, Dragon Racer