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Rundell’s Impossible Creatures named Waterstones Book of the Year
Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury Children’s) has been named as Waterstones Book of the Year for 2023 while Alice Winn’s In Memoriam (Viking) was crowned Novel of the Year and Murdle (Souvenir Press) by G T Karber was awarded Gift of the Year.
Every year Waterstones booksellers vote for the books they have most enjoyed recommending to their customers.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones head of books, said: “We are proud to present Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures as our 2023 Book of the Year, as chosen by Waterstones booksellers. This is as close to perfect as fiction gets: immaculate world-building, dazzling storytelling and adventure galore. Rundell isn’t afraid to trust young readers with weighty themes, but never loses sight of the need to make reading joyous and fun, celebrating humour with as much care as awe and wonder. It is an immediate classic which children will delight in for years to come, and which will remind adults of the genius to be found within the pages of children’s books. Rundell is a truly exciting talent and we can’t wait to share this wonderful story with readers of all ages as our Book of the Year.”
Rundell is the youngest female scholar to be made a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Impossible Creatures has sold just under 41,000 copies for almost £472,000 since it was published on 14th September via Nielsen BookScan.
Overall, Rundell has sold almost 991,000 units for £7.4m since first being published in 2011, 161,000 and £1.5m of which have come this year.
Winn lives in Brooklyn, where she writes screenplays and won this year’s Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. In Memoriam traces the love story between two First World War soldiers, while meditating on the tragedies of war and the precious sanctuary that can be found in deep human connection.
Carvalho added: “In a remarkable year for fiction, Alice Winn’s debut novel stood out for its assured voice, its heart, and its impeccably researched historical storytelling. A stunning love story set against the backdrop of the First World War, In Memoriam manages to be at once desperately heart-shattering and full of hope, and comfortingly classic yet daringly original. We announced In Memoriam as the second ever winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize this August and are overjoyed that booksellers have also chosen it as our Novel of the Year. We can’t wait to see what Alice does next.”
Karber grew up in Arkansas, the son of a judge and a civil rights attorney. Murdle began as a viral online puzzle game, which Karber, a mathematician, programmed himself.
Carvalho said: “Murdle has been one of the slam-dunk success stories of this year’s publishing: an instant bestselling phenomenon which shows no sign of slowing down. A highly addictive game which has roots in the literary traditions of golden age mysteries and cosy crime, this is the perfect puzzle collection for book lovers which will find a very happy home under any Christmas tree.”
