The 43rd annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded on April 21st. The best books of 2022 were recognized in 12 categories, along with the winners of the Robert Kirsch and Innovator’s awards.

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2022 Winners

Robert Kirsch Award
James Ellroy

Innovator's Award
The American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation

The Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose
SOLITO by Javier Zamora

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction
THE RETURN OF FARAZ ALI by Aamina Ahmad

Biography
G-MAN: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, by Beverly Gage

Current Interest
LADY JUSTICE: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, by Dahlia Lithwick

Fiction
SOLENOID by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter

Graphic Novel/Comics
WASH DAY DIARIES by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

History
BY HANDS NOW KNOWN: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, by Margaret A. Burnham

Mystery/Thriller
SECRET IDENTITY by Alex Segura

Poetry
NOMENCLATURE: New and Collected Poems, by Dionne Brand

Science & Technology
HOW FAR THE LIGHT REACHES: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction
SPEAR by Nicola Griffith

Young Adult Literature
TORCH by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
 

2022 Finalists

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

• THE RETURN OF FARAZ ALI by Aamina Ahmad
• LOVE by Maayan Eitan
• STORIES FROM THE TENANTS DOWNSTAIRS by Sidik Fofana
• CALLING FOR A BLANKET DANCE by Oscar Hokeah
• MANYWHERE: Stories, by Morgan Thomas

Biography

• CIVIL RIGHTS QUEEN: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, by Tomiko Brown-Nagin
• G-MAN: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, by Beverly Gage
• MR. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century, by Jennifer Homans
• PATH LIT BY LIGHTNING: The Life of Jim Thorpe, by David Maraniss
• HIS NAME IS GEORGE FLOYD: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice, by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

Current Interest

• THE PERSUADERS: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, by Anand Giridharadas
• THEY KNEW: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent, by Sarah Kendzior
• LADY JUSTICE: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, by Dahlia Lithwick
• THE STORM IS HERE: An American Crucible, by Luke Mogelson
• TORN APART: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families — and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World, by Dorothy Roberts

Fiction

• SOLENOID by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter
• EXALTED by Anna Dorn
• DIDN'T NOBODY GIVE A S— WHAT HAPPENED TO CARLOTTA by James Hannaham
• THE HAUNTING OF HAJJI HOTAK AND OTHER STORIES by Jamil Jan Kochai
• PARADAIS by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

Graphic Novel/Comics

• DOG BISCUITS by Alex Graham
• TALK TO MY BACK by Yamada Murasaki, translated by Ryan Holmberg
• MEN I TRUST by Tommi Parrish
• WASH DAY DIARIES by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith
• JOSEPH SMITH AND THE MORMONS by Noah Van Sciver

History

• BY HANDS NOW KNOWN: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, by Margaret A. Burnham
• PICASSO'S WAR: How Modern Art Came to America, by Hugh Eakin
• THE GRIMKES: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family, by Kerri K. Greenidge
• THE CONTAGION OF LIBERTY: The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution, by Andrew M. Wehrman
• TEACHING WHITE SUPREMACY: America’s Democratic Ordeal and the Forging of our National Identity, by Donald Yacovone

Mystery/Thriller

• WE LIE HERE by Rachel Howzell Hall
• BACK TO THE GARDEN by Laurie R. King
• ALL THAT'S LEFT UNSAID by Tracey Lien
• SECRET IDENTITY by Alex Segura
• THE CARTOGRAPHERS by Peng Shepherd

Poetry

• NOMENCLATURE: New and Collected Poems, by Dionne Brand
• MARTIAN: The Saint of Loneliness, by James Cagney
• ANTE BODY by Marwa Helal
• DAUGHTERS OF HARRIET: Poems, by Cynthia Parker-Ohene
• CUSTOMS: Poems, by Solmaz Sharif

Science & Technology

• LIFE ON THE ROCKS: Building a Future for Coral Reefs, by Juli Berwald
• FRESH BANANA LEAVES: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science, by Jessica Hernandez
• HOW FAR THE LIGHT REACHES: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler
• BEYOND MEASURE: The Hidden History of Measurement From Cubits to Quantum Constants, by James Vincent
• AN IMMENSE WORLD: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, by Ed Yong

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction

• THE BOOK OF THE MOST PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE by Sara Gran
• SPEAR by Nicola Griffith
• THE BALLAD OF PERILOUS GRAVES by Alex Jennings
• THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA by Ray Nayler
• LIBERATION DAY: Stories, by George Saunders

Young Adult Literature

• HOLLOW FIRES by Samira Ahmed
• TORCH by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
• ALL MY RAGE by Sabaa Tahir
• HELL FOLLOWED WITH US by Andrew Joseph White
• THE MOST DAZZLING GIRL IN BERLIN by Kip Wilson