Waterstone’s paperbacks of the year
As we enter the season of full-on festive shopping, let’s take a look at Waterstone’s round-up of all the best books of 2024 – you’re bound to find one that is just perfect to pop under the Christmas tree.
Fiction
Yellowface by RF Kuang (£8.49). Wickedly humorous thriller that investigates ambition, greed, and white privilege.
The Figurine by Victoria Hislop (£7.99). A woman discovers a collection of rare antiquities in her late grandparents’ flat in Athens and decides she must return them to their rightful place.
Crime
The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas (£7.99). Two sisters decide to swap lives for a week with harrowing consequences.
Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick (£7.99). Deliciously cosy Christmas crime set on the Yorkshire moors in the 1950s.
Non-Fiction
Unruly by David Mitchell (£9.49). As you might expect from one of the nation's most loved comedians, this is a very funny and seriously clever history of our early kings and queens.
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent by Judi Dench (£8.99). Sprinkled with her twinkling wit, Dame Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has ever played throughout her seven-decade career.
Health and lifestyle
Just One Thing (£8.49) by Dr Michael Mosley. Following on from the Fast 800 and The Eight-Week Sugar Diet, this book based on the late author’s BBC podcast is filled with easy and practical ways to improve your physical and mental health.
Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food And Why Can’t We Stop? by Chris van Tulleken (£9.49). An eye-opening investigation into ultra-processed food and the damage it does to our bodies, our health and the planet.
Humour
Diddly Squat: Home to Roost by Jeremy Clarkson (£11). More hilarious agricultural antics from Jeremy Clarkson as crops fail, animals rebel and his fight against petty bureaucracy continues.
Surely It Can’t Just Be Me – Daily Telegraph Letters by Kate Moore (£8.49). Letter writers to the Daily Telegraph provide their refreshing and witty take on the year’s events.
Children’s Literature
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (£7.49). The reigning Waterstone’s Book of the Year begins a breathtaking fantasy series in which an ordinary boy and a flying girl get caught up in an adventure with a host of magical creatures.
You Choose Christmas by Pippa Goodhart, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (£6.49). You’ll have a different story every time as you work your way through the book choosing different Christmas adventures – from which job would you choose in Santa’s workshop to where you would like to sleep on Christmas Eve.
For more great Christmas book ideas, check out Waterstone’s here.
