<div><p>Irish author Colm Toibin is favourite to win the 30,000-pound Costa Book of the Year award after Monday clinching the best novel category for his work "Brooklyn," observers said.</p><p>The winner of the Costa Award is drawn from the winner of five individual categories -- novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book -- which were announced Monday.</p><p>Toibin beat Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel to take the novel category for "Brooklyn," which centres on a young Irish girl who travels to the United States in the 1950s to find work before tragic news summons her back home.</p><p>Other category winners were Raphael Selbourne, a former scooter salesman, for his first novel "Beauty" about a Bangladeshi woman who flees an abusive arranged marriage.</p><p>Hong Kong-born Christopher Reid picked up the poetry award for "A Scattering", a tribute to his wife following her death in 2005.</p><p>Graham Farmelo took the biography category for his work on quantum mechanics pioneer Paul Dirac in "The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius."</p><p>Patrick Ness won the children's book award for "The Ask and the Answer" the second instalment in the "Chaos Walking" trilogy, which judges hailed as a "dazzlingly-imagined, morally complex, compulsively-plotted tale".</p><p>Bookmaker William Hill said Toibin was 6/4 favourite to win the Costa which will be announced on January 26.</p><p>"The Costa never fails to pick an eclectic bunch of winners, and this year is no exception," said Janine Cook, fiction buyer at retailer Waterstone's.</p><p>"The frontrunner must be Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn' which we sold very well over Christmas. However, smart punters might want to place a bet on 'Beauty' by Raphael Selbourne," she said.</p><p>Sebastian Barry won the 2008 Costa for "The Secret Scripture".</p><p>The Costa Book Award, formerly the Whitbread Book Award, was established in 1971 to celebrate contemporary British and Irish writing. A panel of writers, actors and broadcasters choose the most enjoyable books from the past year.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66275662&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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