Waterstones Names 20 Books on Its 2026 Book of the Year Shortlist

Waterstones announced a 20-book shortlist for its Book of the Year 2026 on October 29, with Booker-nominated novels sitting alongside debuts, a cookbook and a picture book. The list was nominated by the chain's booksellers, and an expert panel will now choose the winner, which Waterstones will announce on Thursday, November 26, according to a PA Media report carried by The Independent.

"We are delighted to announce the shortlist for Waterstones Book of the Year 2026, as voted for by booksellers," said Bea Carvalho, the retailer's head of books. She called the selection "a bumper crop" that includes "zeitgeist capturing triumphs of word of mouth, storytelling excellence, and future classics across fiction, non-fiction and children's books."

The shortlist

• John of John by Douglas Stuart
• London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
• The Things We Never Said by Elizabeth Strout
• May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
• Lazar by Nelio Biedermann
• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne
• Pick Your Bottles by Dan Keeling
• Stations by Louise Kennedy
• The Adventures of Portly the Otter by M. G. Leonard, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
• The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
• The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane
• Redwood by Ben Macintyre
• Solace House by Will Maclean
• Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
• Land by Maggie O'Farrell
• Ottolenghi Simple Too by Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller
• Is This a Plum? by Dan and Finn Ojari
• Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi
• The Neverland Thieves by Katie and Kevin Tsang

Three of the novels, by Stuart, Strout and Perry, were also nominated for this year's Booker Prize. Keefe's London Falling is on the shortlist for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction.

How the prize works

Waterstones has run the award since 2012. Booksellers across the chain nominate the books they most want to champion, and a panel then picks one winner from the shortlist. Earlier winners include Philip Pullman, Maggie O'Farrell, Charlie Mackesy, Paul McCartney and Katherine Rundell. The 2025 prize went to Lucy Steeds for The Artist, according to the PA report published by the Express & Star.

Carvalho said the list puts "prize winners and literary heavyweights" next to "newcomers who seem set for glittering careers," along with "stunningly produced gifts for every home."

Why it matters for writers

The award is chosen by the people who sell the books, and the winner is announced a month before Christmas, the busiest stretch of the bookselling year. This year's list runs from Booker-nominated fiction to a cookbook, children's fiction and a picture book, and it includes several debuts. It shows the chain's booksellers backing titles from outside the usual prize categories when they expect readers and gift buyers to respond.

Sources

• PA Media via The Independent, October 29, 2026: Douglas Stuart's John Of John among contenders for Waterstones Book Of The Year
• PA Media via Express & Star, October 29, 2026: Douglas Stuart's John Of John among contenders for Waterstones Book Of The Year

Photo: The entrance to Waterstones Piccadilly in London. Photo by Matt Brown, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.