Nnedi Okorafor’s ‘Death of the Author’ Wins Best Science Fiction Libby Book Award

Nigerian American author, Nnedi Okorafor’s ‘Death of the Author’ has won the ‘Best Science Fiction’ of the 2026 Libby Book Award.

Released in 2025, ‘Death of the Author’ – a fictional autobiography – tells the story of a disabled Nigerian American who pens a wildly successful sci-fi novel. Still, as her fame rises, she loses control of the narrative. The novel is a surprisingly cutting, yet heartfelt contemporary fiction drama about art and love, identity and connection, and ultimately, what makes us human.

Other winners at the Libby Award are: Book of the Year (Adult Fiction), Taylor Jenkins Reid’s ‘Atmosphere’.

Book of the Year (Adult Non-Fiction) Sophie Elmhirst’s ‘A Marriage at Sea’.

Book of the Year (Young Adult Fiction): Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping.

Audiobook of the Year, Fredrik Backman’s ‘My Friends’.

Debut Author of the Year, Sen Lin Yu’s ‘Alchemised’.

Best Book Club Book, Catherine Newman’s ‘Wreck’

Best Comic & Graphic Novel, Alison Bechdel’s ‘Spent’.

Best Cookbook, B Dylan Hollis ‘Baking Across America’.

Best Fantasy, V.E Schwab’s ‘Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil’

Best Historical Fiction, Allegra Goodman’s ‘Isola’.

Best Horror, Stephen Graham Jones’ Buffalo Hunter.

Best Memoir & Autobiography, ‘One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’.

Best Middle Grade Book, N.D. Stevenson’s ‘Scarlett Morning’.

Best Mystery, Sherry Thomas’ The Librarians.

Best Personal Improvement, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle’s ‘We Can Do Hard Things’.

Best Picture Book, Neil Sharpson’s ‘Don’t Trust Fish’.

Best Romance Book, Sarah MacLean’s ‘The Summer Storms’.

Best Romantasy Book, Rebecca Yarros’ ‘Onyx Storm’.

Best Thriller, Liann Zhang’s ‘Julie Chan Is Dead’.

Readers’ Choice Award, Emily Henry’s ‘Great Big Beautiful Life’.

The Libby Book Award recognises the year’s most outstanding eBooks and audiobooks across literary genres. The award kickstarts with nominated titles by a team of staff writers at Libby Life. The titles are then voted on by over 1,600 librarians and library workers across the United States to determine the year’s standout titles in several literary genres.

Also, for the first time, and three years post the award’s debut, readers voted their best book in the ‘Readers’ Choice Award’ winner from the most borrowed book at Libby Library.