Waterstones Book of the Year


The Waterstones Book of the Year, established in 2012, 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.

Recipients

YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2012Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook Won
2012HHhH
2012Patrick Leigh Fermor
2012On the Map
2012The Old Ways
2012Bring Up the Bodies
2013StonerWon
2013Life After Life
2013Levels of Life
2013The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil
2013Maps
2013Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life
2014'Won
2014Everyday Sexism
2014'
2014Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East & Beyond
2014Once Upon an Alphabet
2014'
2014H Is for Hawk
2014Capital in the Twenty-First Century
2015'Won
2015Go Set a Watchman
2015My Brilliant Friend
2015'
2015'
2015Reasons to Stay Alive
2015SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
2015'
2016'Won
2016Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
2016'
2016 with Quentin Blake '
2016Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
2016When Breath Becomes Air
2017La Belle Sauvage: Book of Dust Volume OneWon
2017 and Francesca CavalloGood Night Stories for Rebel Girls
2017Lincoln in the Bardo
2017Mr. Lear
2017Talking to My Daughter About the Economy
2017'
2017 and Jackie Morris'
2018Normal PeopleWon
2018Why We Get the Wrong ''Politicians
2018 and Marina Amaral'
2018'
2018Everything I Know About Love
2018'
2018Circe
2018 and Frann Preston-GannonI Am the Seed that Grew the Tree
2019'Won
2019'
2019Queenie
2019'
2019Underland
2019Lanny
2019No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
2020HamnetWon
2020Diary of a Young Naturalist
2020'
2020Ex Libris
2020Island Dreams
2020'
2020One, Two, Three, Four: The Beatles in Time
2020Exciting Times
2020Love in Colour
2020Black and British: A Short, Essential History
2020 with Britta Teckentrup Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!
2020 '
2021 with Paul Muldoon 'Won
2021 with Lucille Clerc Around the World in 80 Plants
2021'
2021 with Tom de Freston Julia and the Shark
2021 with Chris Ofili Greek Myths
2021Klara and the Sun
2021Storyland
2021Open Water
2021 and Carl AnkaYou Are a Champion
2021Ariadne
2021They Both Die at the End
2021Amur River
2021 and Andrew Donkin with Libby VanderPloeg British Museum: History of the World in 25 Cities
2022'Won
2022The Marriage Portrait
2022Heartstopper Volume 1
2022Lessons in Chemistry
2022The Escape Artist
2022Otherlands
2022 with Talya Baldwin In the Golden Mole
2022Cooking
2022Babel
2022Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
2023Impossible CreaturesWon
2023Abroad in Japan
2023Murdle
2023Yellowface
2023Tom Lake
2023The Creative Act: A Way of Being
2023The Fraud
2023Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn't...
2023In Memoriam
2023Fourth Wing
2023 and Matt HuntA Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Every Day of the Year
2023Emperor of Rome
2024 with Polly Barton ButterWon
2024Raising Hare
2024James
2024The Reappearance of Rachel Price
2024Easy Wins
2024The Garden Against Time
2024Glorious Exploits
2024Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives
2024The Siege
2024Blue Sisters
2024I Am Rebel
2024 with William Grill Cloudspotting for Beginners
2024Intermezzo
2024 with Emily Sutton Shakespeare’s First Folio: All the Plays – A Children’s Edition
2024Long Island
2025The ArtistWon
2025 with Colin ButfieldOcean: Earth's last wilderness
2025Universality
2025Donut Squad: Take Over the World!
2025Sunrise on the Reaping
2025Craftland
2025The Raven Scholar
2025Alice with a Why
2025Katabasis
2025So Long, See You Tomorrow
2025The Café at the Edge of the Woods
2025The Let Them Theory
2025Mother Mary Comes to Me
2025Padella
2025UketsuStrange Pictures by ''