Barnes & Noble Announces James by Percival Everett as its 2024 Book of the Year

 Barnes & Noble is pleased to announce James by Percival Everett as the winner of the 2024 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. The bookseller has also chosen to celebrate two additional books, naming Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell as Children’s Book of the Year, and The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan as Gift Book of the Year.

Each year, booksellers at Barnes & Noble vote for the book that they have been most proud to sell. Their first round of voting produced a diverse range of finalists. In the second round, the votes poured in, especially from a number of fervently supportive stores, and James triumphed.

“Of all of the books we booksellers have read this year, this is the one that we have not been able to stop talking about,” said Shannon DeVito, Senior Director of Books, Barnes & Noble. “Booksellers take great joy in setting off the chain reaction of recommendations from reader to reader, boosting phenomenal books onto bestseller lists. Browse in any of our bookstores for more than a few minutes and you’ll overhear someone recommending James — whether bookseller to customer or a suggestion between friends: ‘You have to read this.’ ‘The best book I’ve read all year.’ ‘This, this is the one.’ Thank you to the booksellers who started this ball rolling. I echo their sentiments: If you read one novel this year, let it be this one.”

“As my teenagers would say, ‘Cool.’ This honor is unexpected and quite amazing,” said Percival Everett, author of James. “B&N has already done a remarkable job selling my novel and now this. To have the novel in front of so many readers is what all of us want. Thank you.”

With an exceptional array of books to choose from, several titles were vociferously advocated for by booksellers across the country. After passionate debate, Barnes & Noble has chosen to honor two additional books this year.

The inaugural Barnes & Noble Children’s Book of the Year Award for 2024 is given to Katherine Rundell for Impossible Creatures.

“Booksellers are always on the hunt for the next big series,” said Jackie DeLeo, Chief Merchandising Officer of Barnes & Noble. “As soon as I read the first chapter, I knew this would be a hit, and our booksellers — and customers — agreed whole-heartedly. The enthusiasm we’ve seen from readers of all ages has been astounding, but not surprising. Pick this one up and you’ll understand why.”

“It’s the most colossal joy and honour to be Children’s Book of the Year — a true delight and a thrill,” said Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures. “I love Barnes & Noble booksellers: so to have been chosen by them as the first Children’s Book of the Year really does feel like the most glorious news of my year. I’m so grateful: for the way that B&N champions books, for the communities they serve, and for the magnificent way that they have helped Impossible Creatures take flight.”

The first Barnes & Noble Gift Book of the Year for 2024 has been awarded to Amy Tan for The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

“Amy Tan has been long been celebrated for her excellent novels, and rightly so,” said James Daunt, CEO, Barnes & Noble. “Now, with this lovely book she has proven her prowess once again — a memoir as compelling as her best work of fiction; a celebration of nature by a master storyteller. This book defies categorization — you need not be interested in birds to thoroughly enjoy it, as the author’s own interest is infectious. This truly makes for an excellent gift.”

“I am floating between giddy disbelief and heart-soaring gratitude,” said Amy Tan, author of The Backyard Bird Chronicles. “This book began as a private journal during troubled times and was not meant to be published. And now, it’s as if the birds in my backyard have joyfully flown far and wide into the hearts of many. Huge thanks, Barnes & Noble, for believing that awe and wonder in the natural world are gifts worth sharing.”

The other Book of the Year Finalists were: 

• There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
• Swift River by Essie Chambers
• Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras by Sarah Chapelle
• Why I Cook by Tom Colicchio
• Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs by Luis Elizondo
• James by Percival Everett
• Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Women by Kristin Hannah
• The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers, Sam Winston
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

The first Barnes & Noble Book of the Year was awarded to Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, where bookseller enthusiasm propelled it onto bestseller lists. In 2020, booksellers were in awe of World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments and shone a much-deserved spotlight onto Aimee Nezhukumatathil. The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present  by Paul McCartney went on to be a holiday bestseller after being announced as the 2021 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. The 2022 Book of the Year, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, continues to top sales charts and has since been adapted for television. In 2023, James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store won by a landslide.

The Book of the Year is the pinnacle of the bookseller’s ongoing effort to champion the best of the best, like their The Discover Prize, recently awarded to Essie Chambers for Swift River. The impressive array of programs also includes monthly Book Clubs, Children’s & YA Book Awards and Game of the Year, shining a spotlight on the titles that Barnes & Noble booksellers are most excited about.   

Customers can find James, Impossible Creatures, The Backyard Bird Chronicles and the other Book of the Year Finalists at their local Barnes & Noble and bn.com/bookoftheyear. They can also join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, using the hashtag #BNBoTY. 

###