The Costa Book Awards (formerly known as The Whitbread Award) are held annually and recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. The awards nominations for 2008 were announced in November and the category winners were announced in January 2009. The Costa Book Of The Year, Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture, was announced later in the month. Listed below are the nominees in the categories of Costa first novel, Costa novel award and Costa biography award. Use the lists to inspire your reading choices and let us know what you think of the nominees.

Costa First Novel Nominees:	Cover Image
Category Winner: The outcast by Sadie Jones
The behaviour of moths by Poppy Adams
Inside the whale by Jennie Rooney
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Costa Novel Award Nominees:
Category Winner: The secret scripture by Sebastian Barry
The other hand by Chris Cleave
A partisan's daughter by Louis de Bernieres
Trauma by Patrick McGrath

Costa Biography Award
Category Winner: Somewhere towards the end by Diana Athill
Bloomsbury ballerina by Judith Mackrell
If you don't know me by now by Sathnam Sanghera
Chagall by Jackie Wullschlager