Waterstones announced their choice for the 2021’s Book of the Year. And the winner is…
The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel
How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway?
Discover the glittering Sofonisba Anguissola of the Renaissance, the radical work of Harriet Powers in the nineteenth-century USA, and the artist who really invented the Readymade. Explore the Dutch Golden Age, the astonishing work of post-War artists in Latin America, and the women artists defining art in the 2020s. Have your sense of art history overturned, and your eyes opened to many art forms often overlooked or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan this is the history of art as it’s never been told before. (Credit: Cornerstone)
This is what the Waterstones booksellers had to say about their choice:
“Our booksellers championed The Story of Art Without Men from the start. It is a must-have for any booklover’s shelf: as essential as it is enjoyable. Written with wit and ease, the resulting book, packed full of beautiful illustrations, can be devoured in one-sitting or dipped into at a whim. This is a book which will be prized for years to come; a feast for the senses, as well as the mind.”
KATE SKIPPER, WATERSTONES CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year 2022 is:
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman
Thirteen-year-old Skandar Smith has only ever wanted to be a unicorn rider. To be one of the lucky few selected to hatch a unicorn. To bond with it for life; to train together and race for glory; to be a hero.
But just as Skandar’s dream is about to come true, things start to take a more dangerous turn than he could ever have imagined. A dark and twisted enemy has stolen the Island’s most powerful unicorn – and as the threat grows ever closer, Skandar discovers a secret that could blow apart his world forever…(Credit: Simon & Schuster Ltd)
This is what the Waterstones booksellers had to say about their choice:
The bedrock is, of course, an absolutely genius concept: warrior unicorns hatched in a mysterious island school and bonded to a specific rider. But whilst the premise may have drawn booksellers in, it was A.F. Steadman’s propulsive, page-turning storytelling that led them to passionately recommend Skandar and the Unicorn Thief to children, parents and just about anybody else that set foot on their shopfloor.
And Waterstones Author of the Year 2022 is:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.
But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (‘combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride’) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott. (Credit: Transworld Publishers Ltd)
This is what the Waterstones booksellers had to say about their choice:
Her debut novel Lessons in Chemistry – published when Garmus was 64 – introduced the unparalleled Elizabeth Zott, frustrated scientist in a conservative 1960s America who leads a quiet feminist revolution through her television cookery show. Booksellers immediately fell in love with both this inspirational, empowering main character and Garmus’ stunning ability to marry playful comedy and killer one-liners to moments of empathy and compassion. Waterstones – and the wider world – waits with bated breath for her next move.
