Magda Szubanski takes out top book prize

Comedian and first-time author Magda Szubanski has beaten literary heavyweights to take out the coveted Book of the Year prize at the Australian Book Industry Awards.

The 55-year-old, who's best known for her role as netball tragic Sharon Strzelecki in hit comedy Kath and Kim, also won the prize for Biography of the Year for Reckoning: A Memoir.

The book centres around Szubanski's relationship with her father, a teenage assassin during World War II, and also delves into her journey into homosexuality.

Acclaimed novelist Tim Winton was also a first-time winner of the Non-Fiction Book of the Year award with his book, Island Home: a landscape memoir.

WA author Rachael Johns took out General Fiction Book of the Year for her romance mystery novel, The Patterson Girls, while Andy Griffiths won the prize for best book for younger children for the second year in a row with his fantasy-adventure The 65-Storey Treehouse.

AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARDS SNAPSHOT

BOOK OF THE YEAR

Reckoning: A Memoir, Magda Szubanski

BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR

Reckoning: A Memoir, Magda Szubanski

GENERAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Patterson Girls, Rachael Johns

GENERAL NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

Island Home, Tim Winton

LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Other Side of the World, Stephanie Bishop

BOOK OF THE YEAR OLDER CHILDREN

Illuminae, Amie Kaufman

BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN

The 65-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffith

ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Happy Cookbook, Lola Berry