The Waterstones Book of the Year, established in 2012,[1] is an annual award presented to a book published in the previous 12 months. Waterstones' booksellers nominate and vote to determine the winners and finalists for the prize.

Award winners receive "full and committed backing" from Waterstones both in-person and online.[2]

Recipients

Waterstones Book of the Year winners and finalists
Year Author Title Result Ref.
2012 Russell Norman Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (of Sorts) Winner [3][1]
Laurent Binet HHhH Shortlist [4]
Artemis Cooper Patrick Leigh Fermor
Simon Garfield On the Map
Robert Macfarlane The Old Ways
Hilary Mantel Bring Up the Bodies
2013 John Williams Stoner Winner [5][1]
2014 Jessie Burton The Miniaturist Winner [6][7]
Laura Bates Everyday Sexism Shortlist [8]
Richard Flanagan The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Sabrina Ghayour Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East & Beyond
Oliver Jeffers Once Upon an Alphabet
Marina Keegan The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays & Stories
Helen Macdonald H Is for Hawk
Thomas Piketty Capital in the Twenty-First Century
2015 Coralie Bickford-Smith The Fox and the Star Winner [9][10]
Harper Lee Go Set a Watchman Shortlist [11]
Elena Ferrante My Brilliant Friend
Paula Hawkins The Girl on the Train
James Rebanks The Shepherd's Life
Matt Haig Reasons to Stay Alive
Mary Beard SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
Hanya Yanagihara A Little Life
2016 Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent Winner [12]
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Shortlist [13]
Emma Jane Kirby The Optician of Lampedusa
Beatrix Potter with Quentin Blake (illus.) The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots
Christopher de Hamel Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
Paul Kalanithi When Breath Becomes Air
2017 Philip Pullman La Belle Sauvage: Book of Dust Volume One Winner [14][1]
Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls Shortlist [15]
George Saunders Lincoln in the Bardo
Jenny Uglow Mr. Lear
Yanis Varoufakis Talking to My Daughter About the Economy
Frances Hardinge A Skinful of Shadows
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris The Lost Words
2018 Sally Rooney Normal People Winner [16][1][17]
Isabel Hardman Why We Get the Wrong Politicians Shortlist [1][2][16]
Dan Jones and Marina Amaral The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850-1960
The Secret Barrister The Secret Barrister
Dolly Alderton Everything I Know About Love
Henry Eliot The Penguin Classics Book
Madeline Miller Circe
Fiona Waters and Frann Preston-Gannon I Am the Seed that Grew the Tree
2019 Charlie Mackesy The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Winner [18][19]
Margaret Atwood The Testaments Shortlist [20][21]
Candice Carty-Williams Queenie [21]
Bridget Collins The Binding [20][21]
Robert Macfarlane Underland [21]
Max Porter Lanny [20][21]
Greta Thunberg No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference [19][21]
2020 Maggie O'Farrell Hamnet Winner [22][23][24]
Dara McAnulty Diary of a Young Naturalist Shortlist [25]
Brit Bennett The Vanishing Half
Michiko Kakutani Ex Libris
Gavin Francis Island Dreams
Philippe Sands The Ratline
Craig Brown One, Two, Three, Four: The Beatles in Time
Naoise Dolan Exciting Times
Bolu Babalola Love in Colour
David Olusoga Black and British: A Short, Essential History
Fiona Waters with Britta Teckentrup (illus.) Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!
Rundell Katherine (ed) The Book of Hopes
2021 Paul McCartney with Paul Muldoon (ed.) The Lyrics Winner [26][27]
Jonathan Drori with Lucille Clerc (illus.) Around the World in 80 Plants Shortlist [28]
Janice Hallett The Appeal
Kiran Millwood Hargrave with Tom de Freston (illus.) Julia and the Shark
Charlotte Higgins with Chris Ofili (illus.) Greek Myths
Kazuo Ishiguro Klara and the Sun
Amy Jeffs Storyland
Caleb Azumah Nelson Open Water
Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka You Are a Champion
Jennifer Saint Ariadne
Adam Silvera They Both Die at the End
Colin Thubron Amur River
Tracey Turner and Andrew Donkin with Libby VanderPloeg (illus.) British Museum: History of the World in 25 Cities
2022 Katy Hessel The Story of Art without Men Winner [29]
Maggie O'Farrell The Marriage Portrait Shortlist [30]
Alice Oseman Heartstopper Volume 1
Bonnie Garmus Lessons in Chemistry
Jonathan Freedland The Escape Artist
Thomas Halliday Otherlands
Katherine Rundell with Talya Baldwin (illus.) In the Golden Mole
Jeremy Lee Cooking
R. F. Kuang Babel
A. F. Steadman Skandar and the Unicorn Thief

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cain, Sian (29 November 2018). "Sally Rooney's Normal People named Waterstones book of the year". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Awards: Waterstones, Blackwell's Books of the Year Finalists". Shelf Awareness. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  3. ^ Campbell, Lisa (30 November 2012). "Polpo is Waterstones Book of the Year". The Bookseller. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Awards: Waterstones Book of the Year & FutureBook Innovation". Shelf Awareness. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  5. ^ Furness, Hannah (3 December 2013). "Stoner wins Waterstones Book of the Year 2013". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  6. ^ Masters, Tim (1 December 2014). "Miniaturist novel named Waterstones book of 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Awards: Waterstones; Guardian; NYT 100 Notable; Goodreads". Shelf Awareness. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Awards: Scotiabank Giller; FT-McKinsey Biz Book; Waterstones". Shelf Awareness. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  9. ^ Flood, Alison (30 November 2015). "Waterstones book of the year is Coralie Bickford-Smith's debut The Fox and the Star". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Awards: Waterstones Book of the Year". Shelf Awareness. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Awards: Cervantes Winner; Waterstones Finalists". Shelf Awareness. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  12. ^ "The Essex Serpent beats Harry Potter to win Waterstones book of the year". The Guardian. 30 November 2016. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Awards: Waterstones Book of the Year Finalists". Shelf Awareness. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Waterstones Book of the Year 2017 Winner: La Belle Sauvage: Book of Dust Volume One". Waterstones. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Awards: Ernest J. Gaines Winner; Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Love story Normal People is Waterstones' book of the year". BBC News. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Awards: Waterstones Book of the Year". Shelf Awareness. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Waterstones reveals its Books of the Year". Penguin. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Awards: Waterstones Book & Author of the Year; RSL Giles St. Aubyn Winners". Shelf Awareness. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  20. ^ a b c "Waterstones Book of the Year 2019 Shortlist". Locus Online. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Schaub, Michael. "Atwood, Thunberg Make Shortlist for Book of the Year". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  22. ^ Flood, Alison (2 December 2020). "Maggie O'Farrell's 'wonderful' Hamnet declared Waterstones book of the year". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Waterstones Book of the Year: Hamnet". Shelf Awareness. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  24. ^ Schaub, Michael. "Hamnet Is Waterstones Book of the Year". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Awards: Waterstones Book of the Year, Toronto Book Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  26. ^ "McCartney wins Waterstones Book of the Year for 'The Lyrics'". Books+Publishing. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Waterstones Book of the Year: The Lyrics". Shelf Awareness. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Awards: Kirkus Winners; Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  29. ^ Shaffi, Sarah (1 December 2022). "Paint him out: Katy Hessel's retelling of art history is Waterstones book of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Waterstones Book of the Year shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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