Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob wins Waterstones children’s book prize
Huw Aaron’s tale of a green blob reading to its child takes overall prize, while Janeen Hayat wins in the young readers category and SF Williamson in the older readers
January 2026
Waterstones boss defends government’s business rates shake-up
James Daunt is relaxed about bills and the higher living wage, and says bookselling is having ‘a nice time’
December 2025
Charlie Mackesy’s Always Remember is Christmas No 1 in the UK’s bestsellers chart
The writer and illustrator’s follow-up to The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse sold roughly one copy every 14 seconds last week
Waterstones and Barnes & Noble owner looks to list booksellers on stock market
US hedge fund Elliott thought to prefer IPO in London over New York, which could be welcome boost to UK stock market
‘Suddenly, it was everywhere’: why some books become blockbusters overnight
Whether it’s through TikTok buzz, celebrity endorsements or good old-fashioned word of mouth, some titles enjoy a second, more powerful, life. But what unites them – and is there a formula for this type of success?
November 2025
Other lives
Barbara Cavanagh obituary
Other lives: Dealer in antiquarian theatrical books and ephemera who had a deep knowledge of the arts
August 2025
Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading
Bookshop chain says people are keen to escape their screens and says rise in sales is partly down to BookTok
June 2025
‘We need to reclaim these words’: Inside England’s first romance-only bookshop catering to record levels of popularity
Saucy Books in London has become the go-to destination for romance readers – but fans say misogyny is stopping the genre getting the recognition it deserves
‘The best way to discover hidden gems’: why you should try out a bookshop crawl
Like bar-hopping, but for browsing books: this trend, popularised on TikTok, makes for a great day out – and can help you discover unique literary spots
New web retailer BookKind pledges 10% of all sales to charity
‘You could probably buy your books from cheaper places,’ says startup that will allow shoppers to choose between eight different charities to receive a tithe
April 2025
‘Book brigade’: US town forms human chain to move 9,100 books one-by-one
A small Michigan community banded together to help a beloved local bookstore move its stock to a new storefront
March 2025
The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods wins Waterstones children’s book prize
Mikey Please’s book inspired by game family played during lockdown, while Carlos Sánchez and Nathanael Lessore win for young readers and teens categories
February 2025
Writer quits Society of Authors over union’s ‘betrayal’ of Jerusalem bookshop raided by Israeli police
Matthew Teller, whose books include Nine Quarters of Jerusalem, said the society’s response to the event which saw two leading booksellers detained was ‘an abject failure’
Hundreds of books seized from stores in Kashmir as Indian police crack down on dissent
Most titles written by Islamic scholar who founded an Islamic organisation banned in the disputed region
‘Let’s start a chapter of our own’: the couples who found love in bookshops
Lovers living out their Notting Hill fantasies, shy readers whose eyes met at a book club … readers give us a tour of the romance section for Valentine’s Day
January 2025
WH Smith sale could turn high street into ‘book desert’, authors say
The retailer is in talks to sell its 500 high street stores, which could be a ‘nail in the coffin for British writers’
Other lives
Dave Crook obituary
Other lives: Bookseller, writer and editor of the cultural magazine Out of the Circle
Thousands of romantasy fans make midnight dates with new Rebecca Yarros novel
Bookshops staged late-night parties – with fancy dress, quizzes and cakes – to launch the third instalment of novelist’s Empyrean series, Onyx Storm
December 2024
Booksellers predict Orbital by Samantha Harvey will be UK No 1 bestselling book
The Booksellers Association spoke to staff who also highlighted James by Percival Everett, and everything from Chris Hoy’s autobiography to a book about fishing by a dog
November 2024
Novels about serial killers and loyal dogs voted Waterstones books of 2024
Booksellers chose true-crime inspired Butter by Asako Yuzuki as book of the year, while Ross Montgomery’s fun adventure I Am Rebel took the children’s prize
