Independent Booksellers of Bath, Edinburgh, Ely, St Andrews - and soon, York
Our Novel of the Year
James
Percival Everett
'A violent, funny, absurd and affecting story in a traditional framework, and the result is a miracle of a novel. The word that came to mind when reading it is ‘masterpiece'.' - Matthew, Fiction Buyer, Bath
Other favourites:
Ali Smith's Gliff
Colm Tóibín's Long Island
Alan Hollinghurst's Our Evenings
Andrew O'Hagan's Caledonian Road
Our Crime Novel of the Year
The Cracked Mirror
Chris Brookmyre
'No matter how many crime novels you've read, you've never read one quite like this!' - Andrew, Detective Fiction Buyer, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Janice Hallett's The Examiner
Ian Rankin's Midnight and Blue
Stuart Turton's The Last Murder at the End of the World
Our Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel of the Year
Days of Shattered Earth
Adrian Tchaikovsky
'When you're trying to stamp out the supernatural, you need people who aren't afraid to dirty their hands with black magic.' - Patrick, Science Fiction & Fantasy Buyer, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
August Clarke's Metal from Heaven
Grace Curtis' Floating Hotel
Our Graphic Novel of the Year
When I Arrived at the Castle
Emily Carroll
'Tense, haunting and gorgeously illustrated. Another excellent, chilling tale from Emily Carroll.' - Duncan, Senior Bookseller, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Isabel Greenberg's Young Hag
Kit Anderson's Safer Places
Our Poetry Collection of the Year
Wrong Norma
Anne Carson
Other favourites:
Caleb Femi'sThe Wickedest
Rachel Allen's God Complex
Wendy Cope's Collected Poems
Our Humour Book of the Year
The Unfinished Harauld Hughes
Richard Ayoade
Our History Book of the Year
The Golden Road
William Dalrymple
Other favourites:
Dan Jones' Henry V
Tabitha Stanmore's Cunning Folk
David Torrance's Wild Men
Our Biography of the Year
Question 7
Richard Flanagan
'A book that spins and spirals through time: to the early 20th century, when HG Well’s love affair with a young writer Rebecca West and a kiss they shared in front of a bookcase becomes a novel that, in turn, becomes the inspiration for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima that, in turn, frees Flanagan’s father from a Japanese POV war. Such is the order of things, the inverted nature of cause and effect, that Flanagan magics up: revealing a world where fiction comes before reality. This is an extraordinary piece of writing - and I've noticed everyone who has read it seems to share the same mesmerised recognition of its brilliance.' - Saskia, Senior Bookseller, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Jenni Fagan's Ootlin
Salman Rushdie's Knife
Harriet Baker's Rural Hours
Charles Spencer's A Very Private School
Our Art Writing Book of the Year
Poor Artists
Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad
Other favourites:
Sue Prideaux's Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin
Iris Moon's Melancholy Wedgwood
Our Natural History Book of the Year
Living on Earth
Peter Godfrey-Smith
'A triumphant re-examination of our relationship with all living things.' - Tom, Natural History Buyer, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Chloe Dalton's Raising Hare
Robin Wall Kimmerer's The Serviceberry
Our Literary Travel Book of the Year
Cold Kitchen
Caroline Eden
'More so than any travel writer I have ever read, Caroline’s books are windows to far away lands - journeys that you feel in your body, held in the smells she conjures, the conversations she captures, and, crucially, in the food so evocatively described. Cold Kitchen is “a year of culinary journeys,” an incredible montage of her travels from the trans-siberian railway to witnessing a coup in Kyrgyzstan to Lviv just before Russia’s invasion, and more.' - Saskia, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Sophie Elmhirst's Maurice & Maralyn
Kat Hill's Bothy
Alexandra Harris' The Rising Down
Our Science Book of the Year
Nexus
Yuval Noah Harari
Other favourites:
Parmy Olson's Supremacy
Rachel Clarke's The Story of a Heart
Our Psychology Book of the Year
Meditations for Mortals
Oliver Burkeman
Other favourites:
Caroline Crampton's A Body Made of Glass
Vincent Deary's How We Break
Our Children's Book of the Year
Keedie
Elle McNicoll
'Brilliant, funny, angry and touching.' - Tess, Children's Buyer, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Cornelia Funke's The Colour of Revenge
Jeremy Strong's Fox Goes North
Our Young Adult Novel of the Year
The Deep Dark
Molly Knox Ostertag
'A beautifully drawn graphic novel that tackles identity, secrets and how these manifest.' - Fleur, YA Buyer, Edinburgh
Other favourites:
Margaret McDonald's Glasgow Boys
Hari Conner's I Shall Never Fall in Love
Catherine Doyle's The Dagger and the Flame
Coffee with a Bookseller
Coffee with a Bookseller is our in-depth book consultation service which takes place over tea or coffee in the bookshop with one of our expert booksellers.
More detailsSubscriptions
Every month, we find the most exciting new books and arrange for the author to sign copies for our subscribers. Our subscription clubs include literary fiction, literary non-fiction, detective fiction and fantasy fiction.
More detailsRare and Collectible Editions
A few highlights from our collectible editions cabinets. Many of these titles are highly sought after signed first editions or otherwise rare books. Some are no longer in print.
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