Books
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The 71-year-old Harley-driving novelist saved a newspaper with a tweet when he heard it was closing its books section – and when he takes on Trump, he doesn’t hold back -
Film director working on vast art installation inspired by cult classic On the Road
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The Nigerian author’s darkly comic debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, has become a literary sensation. She explains her struggle with the moral ambiguity of her writing
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The Capital author’s latest novel imagines a fortress UK walled in concrete and patrolled by young conscripts. All too plausible… -
A Nigerian chicken farmer is the victim of a scam in this mystical tragicomedy by the author of the Booker-shortlisted The Fishermen
Books of 2019
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The Goldfinch takes flight in cinemas, Robert Macfarlane goes underground and Margaret Atwood continues The Handmaid’s Tale … what to look forward to in the world of books
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The latest thinking on how natural light is vital to health, our daily rhythm and getting a good night’s sleep -
This motherhood memoir-cum-nature journal about the connection between women and the sea is bracing and poetic -
From inept waitressing to carnage in the countryside … personal anecdotes from a natural storyteller, which leave the reader squirming
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This heartwarming fable is a reassuring read for anyone, young or old, coming to terms with mortality -
Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox; The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan; The Girl King by Mimi Yu; AfroSFv3 edited by Ivor W Hartmann and All the Lonely People by David Owen -
A compassionate and humorous look at teenage kicks and sectarian strife in early 80s Northern Ireland
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Female friendship is at the centre of this puzzling, mysterious tale, a follow-up to 2016’s The Natashas -
A bleak and poignant quartet of voices explore what it is like to be a child in an unsafe world -
A compelling portrait of a breakup lets the reader reach conclusions ahead of the narrator
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Mealtime wars, a puppy without a bark and crazy science … fun and facts for all ages in this month’s selection -
Ten Little Fingers, Clap Hands, Farmer Duck ... the pioneering illustrator talks to Lisa Allardice about her 50 year career and the real story behind We’re Going on a Bear Hunt -
From celebrity-penned tales to fresh interpretations of the classics, here is our pick of the best for hungry readers from tots to teens
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Luke Turner’s Epping Forest memoir adds to a new wave of highly personal nature writing -
David Kynaston There is an anti-privilege mood. It is hard to see private schools escaping unscathed
The social historian on why he believes Britain may finally tackle the inequality perpetuated by independent education -
From a traumatic childhood in Dallas to Yale, Harvard, Wall Street and beyond, the businessman and author exemplifies the American dream – the very myth his new book sets out to dismantle
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The American debut novelist explains how writing fiction allowed her to explore her troubled rural childhood more candidly -
His last novel Capital skewered the property bubble, now his latest The Wall imagines Britain barricaded after environmental catastrophe. Lanchester talks about refugees, Brexit – and optimism -
On this week’s show, we take a look ahead at the books coming out this year, and speak to Josh Cohen about why we should all slack off a little at work
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Whether you like friendly staff or Bernard Black-types, beautiful shops or tiny treasure troves, here is a selection of your most loved bookshops around the world -
From ghostly tales to pop music, our expert picks the titles that are just as compelling as any computer game -
What to read
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The novelist and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizewinner on her first reading memories and the profound effect of Mihail Sebastian’s diaries -
Ernest Shackleton’s account of his mission and Jenny Diski’s acidic travelogue are among author Jean McNeil’s favourites -
You may have missed
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Cosmologist Jo Dunkley on the most mind-bending recent discoveries, as astronomers use powerful new telescopes to explore nature’s weirdest stars, ‘dark energy’ and the origins of gold -
In this extract from We Are Displaced, a collection of true stories by girls seeking refuge, Yousafzai recalls settling in Birmingham after being shot by the Taliban -
‘Success’ is at the heart of our idea of wellbeing, but evidence tells a different tale, argues Paul Dolan in this extract from his new book -
From a tiny copy of the Divine Comedy and a once-illegal birth control guide to a Bible the size of a stamp, these strange artefacts are masterpieces writ small
Reading group Good Omens isn't funny? That's hilarious