A collection of Greta Thunberg speeches will vie against Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments to be crowned book of the year.
The 16-year-old environmental campaigner’s book, No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference, is up for the prize.
Atwood, 79, who was named joint winner of this year’s Booker Prize, is also in the running.
A cookery book, Dishoom, and a picture-book retelling of Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species also feature in the 11-strong shortlist for Waterstones Book Of The Year.
The shortlist is comprised of four novels, three children’s books, two works of non-fiction, an illustrated fable as well as a cookery book.
Waterstones booksellers are asked to nominate “outstanding” books for the shortlist.
Managing director James Daunt said: “That we have a shortlist of 11 gives indication of the nature of the Waterstones Book Of The Year.
“It follows no rule other than that our booksellers must love these books and wish to see them in the hands of more readers.
“Some years, we can settle on fewer to compete but this year the range and balance of argument was too finely poised. It is a fabulous list.”
Last year’s winner was Normal People by Sally Rooney.
The winner will be chosen by a Waterstones panel and announced on November 27.
The Waterstones Book Of The Year shortlist:
The Testaments (Margaret Atwood)
Queenie (Candice Carty-Williams)
The Binding (Bridget Collins)
Underland (Robert Macfarlane)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse (Charlie Mackesy)
Prisoners Of Geography: Our World Explained In 12 Simple Maps (Tim Marshall, illustrated by Grace Easton and Jessica Smith)
The House Without Windows (Barbara Newhall-Follett, illustrated by Jackie Morris)
Lanny (Max Porter)
On The Origin Of Species (Sabina Radeva)
Dishoom (Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar & Naved Nasir)
No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference (Greta Thunberg)
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