The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present is the 2021 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year!

Our Booksellers have voted, and we’re thrilled to announce … drum roll please … the 2021 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year is Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present!  

“The Lyrics is an extraordinary book. It is stunningly beautiful and a masterpiece of book design,” said Barnes & Noble CEO, James Daunt. “Paul McCartney has fashioned, through the explorations of his songs with the poet Paul Muldoon, a fascinating insight into his life and creative genius. No wonder the booksellers of Barnes & Noble have hailed this magnificent and deeply original book.” 

“I’m beyond honored to receive this recognition. My team and I are extremely proud of The Lyrics and it means so much to us that you all like it as much as we do,” said Paul McCartney. “Thank you to all the amazing team at Barnes & Noble in helping to launch the book.” 

Here is what our booksellers had to say about the winner: 

“As a musician, The Lyrics is incredibly special to me. The Beatles have been so influential in my life and to be able to see behind the scenes and into the mind of Paul McCartney is something very cool! This is the type of book that won’t just live on my coffee table as a gorgeous representation of the music I love, but it will live in my mind as I happily hum some of the greatest music ever written long after I’ve finished reading” – Scarlet R, Fairfax, VA 

“Perfection, achieved. This collection is a true benchmark for showcasing the kaleidoscopic history of one of our greatest musical souls.” – Marc C, Cincinnati, OH 

“The Lyrics is like Paul McCartney took all the scraps of paper where he wrote down little ideas and then connected the dots for each of us to see how something so simple as a scrap of paper can become the greatest music of any generation. It is something that I will be pouring over for years to come. It’s a gift to me but it would be a great gift to any Beatles fan.”- Michele L, New York, NY 

“A beautifully made book – perfect for any Beatles lover. It’s filled with photos, handwritten lyric sheets, and personal anecdotes about the songs Paul wrote. Read about the bus tour the Beatles took with Roy Orbison while they were writing “From Me To You” and he was writing “Pretty Woman”. Or read about the first time Paul played “Hey Jude” to John and Yoko. It’s just an amazing collection of memorabilia and memories spanning more than 60 years of songs from the one and only Paul McCartney.” – Joe M, Frederick, MD 

“The Lyrics is a stunning and visually beautiful book, the expression of an extraordinary life, an interplay of memoir, history, poetry, and music-making. Who knew that these lyrics — some in-your-bones familiar and others almost new — would be so fascinating, revealing, and evocative?” – Winifred S, Chicago, IL 

Oh, and there’s more! Barnes & Noble is also announcing a Speculative Fiction Book of the Year, TJ Klune’s Under the Whispering Door! 

“In celebration of the massive bookseller and customer enthusiasm, we are this year also naming a Speculative Fiction Book of the Year,” said Shannon Devito, Director of Books, Barnes & Noble. “Championed passionately by our booksellers since its September publication, Under the Whispering Door is a charming, big-hearted book with a little comfort and a lot of hope making it the must-read book this year. We find ourselves in the wonderful position of honoring them both.” 

Be sure to check out the rest of our Book of the Year Finalists: 

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich 
Pizza Czar: Recipes and Know-How from a World-Traveling Pizza Chef by Anthony Falco 
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator) 
Together by Luke Adam Hawker 
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner