BOOK OF THE YEAR NON-FICTION: NARRATIVE
OVERVIEW The judges for this category will have a tough time choosing between these books: a natural historian, a former president and a Second World War veteran are just some of the authors on this list. Weaving a string between all of these books is the remarkable stories they tell and the important topics they tackle, from racism to climate change to hopefulness.
A LIFE ON OUR PLANET This urgent statement about the climate emergency is a blend of memoir and polemic, celebrating Sir David Attenborough’s career with black and white photographs throughout. Ebury won the title at auction and launched globally in October, co-ordi- nating with the accompanying WWF and Netflix film, as well as the author’s work with Prince William and the BBC.
DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST Dara McAnulty was 14 when he penned his diary, following a year in his life as a young naturalist as he juggled home, school, nature and activism. Little Toller put everything it had behind the book, and it won the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and the Hay Festival Book of the Year, among a splattering of other award nods.
PUBLISHERS 1 WITNESS BOOKS 2 VIKING 3 LITTLE TOLLER 4 THE BODLEY HEAD 5 QUERCUS 6 MICHAEL JOSEPH
ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY This book began life in 2018 as a 28-day challenge on Layla F Saad’s Instagram, asking people with white privilege to examine how they are complicit in upholding white supremacy. Quercus focused its early efforts on podcasts and digital media, alongside a massive word-of-mouth campaign: Saad now has over 700,000 followers online.
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TOMORROW WILL BE A GOOD DAY Captain Sir Tom Moore was catapulted to national fame in March last year when he walked laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS; the Second World War veteran was 99 years old at the time. Penguin Michael Joseph acquired his autobiography in April and it was impressively published in multiple editions just five months later.
A PROMISED LAND Barack Obama’s third title was slated as “the biggest book of the decade” by Waterstones ahead of its November release. The presidential memoir took a deep dive into Obama’s time at the White House with his family; “701 pages of elegantly written narrative, contempla- tion and introspection” said the Guardian. The author-read audio edition is nominated for Audiobook of the Year, too.
ENTANGLED LIFE Vintage won Merlin Sheldrake’s unique book about fungi as an under-bidder at auction and started its campaign 14 months prior to publication. The team utilised interviews and appearances, as well as partnering with mushroom farm GroCycle to send growing kits to key buyers. The cover design stood out too, featuring a beautiful luminous image of fungi.
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