LONDON, March 30 (UPI) -- J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" won book of the year at the 17th annual British Book Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
"I'm delighted that Harry Potter continues to give so much pleasure to adults and children, and I'm honored to receive this award," Rowling was quoted as saying in Thursday's Guardian. "I am enjoying writing the last book in the series and it's coming along nicely."
The Reader's Digest author of the year prize went to Alan Bennett for "Untold Stories" while Anthony Horowitz took the Red House children's book of the year award for "Ark Angel," the latest in his Alex Rider series.
Sharon Osbourne won the Amazon biography of the year award for "Sharon Osbourne Extreme -- My Autobiography by Sharon Osbourne" and Marina Lewycka took the Waterstone's newcomer of the year award for her debut, "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian."
Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife" won the Sainsbury's popular fiction award and chef Jamie Oliver won an outstanding achievement award for his cookbooks, which have sold more than 6 million copies.
