Waterstones Book of the Year 2021

It is our enormous pleasure to reveal Paul McCartney's The Lyrics as our Book of the Year 2021 and Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston as our Children's Gift of the Year 2021.

The Lyrics

Paul McCartney, Paul Muldoon

£75.00

Hardback

In stock

UK delivery within 5 days

See Why We Love The Lyrics...

From the moment booksellers heard about the imminent publication of The Lyrics we all recognised its enormous significance as a key piece of cultural history. When the stunningly designed two-volume slipcase edition arrived in shops, we realised it was even more special than that. Paul McCartney has stated that it is highly unlikely he will ever write a conventional autobiography. This, then, stands as the defining literary statement of Britain’s most influential living songwriter. From Yesterday to Hey Jude to Live and Let Die and beyond, The Lyrics - crafted in collaboration with celebrated poet Paul Muldoon - abounds in evocative, never-before-seen images from McCartney’s personal archive alongside fascinating commentary on 154 career-spanning songs that have soundtracked all of our lives. The Lyrics is undoubtedly, in the words of Waterstones CEO James Daunt, 'a true joy for bibliophiles.'

“What an amazing honour! Thanks Waterstones for this prestigious accolade. I’m really happy at the reaction to The Lyrics and to be chosen by the bookselling experts themselves for this is truly overwhelming. All those involved in putting the book together worked really hard and this is a great way for us all to celebrate. Bookshops rule! Cheers Waterstones!”

PAUL McCARTNEY

"Now I can look back on it in a loving way and think 'that was very special'."

Paul McCartney in conversation with James Daunt

Waterstones Children's Gift of the Year 2021

Julia and the Shark

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Tom de Freston

£12.99

Hardback

Out of stock

See Why We Love Julia and the Shark...

When we saw just how much bookseller love there was out there for the breathtaking children's novel Julia and the Shark, we knew we had to crown it our Children's Gift of the Year. A very special collaboration between the wife and husband team of Kiran Millwood Hargrave (former Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winner for The Girl of Ink and Stars) and enormously talented artist Tom de Freston, this wonderfully realised tale of a summer spent seeking the mysterious great Greenland shark touches on universal themes of family, hope and the escalating climate crisis. With de Freston’s exquisite illustrations perfectly complementing Hargrave’s tender, timeless and compelling prose, Julia and the Shark is an irresistibly beautiful must-read that all junior bookworms - not to mention their parents - will fall head over heels in love with.