UK Bookseller Waterstones Lists Their Books of the Year
Jeff O'Neal is the executive editor of Book Riot and Panels and co-hosts The Book Riot Podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @thejeffoneal.
Welcome to Today in Books, a daily roundup covering literary news at the crossroads of politics, culture, and media. This appears to be the shortlist from Waterstones, with the book of the year to be announced later. The list highlights their top books for the year.
Browsing UK best-of lists often feels surreal: some titles are familiar, like Katabasis and Sunrise at the Reaping, while others seem fictional, such as Donut Squad Take Over the World and Strange Pictures. I recently praised Craftland but hadn't considered its wider appeal across the British Isles.
The Booker Prize, the most prestigious award for English-language books, will be announced Monday. Publishers likely don't know the winners in advance; if they did, they might prepare special editions with stickers or logos for release. A suspicious example of such a copy was shared with us on Instagram.
"Someone on IG (thank you!) sent this to us, and that really looks… suspicious."
I've been expecting news of this kind of leak. AI translation is impressive — not quite at expert human level, but incredibly fast and cost-effective.
Author's summary: This article reviews Waterstones' top book picks of the year, touches on the Booker Prize anticipation, and notes the evolving role of AI in literary translation.