books
-
Chases in literatureFrom Moby-Dick to Mr Ripley, the best stories of pursuit provide both compulsive plots and insights into a strangely intimate relationship -
Children’s books are still packed with gender stereotypesIllustrated book intended to inspire girls to ‘bigger goals’ tells the stories of 100 great women and scores runaway hit on fundraising site
-
Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman get rebooted … againDC Comics is starting over to simplify storylines across seven decades and 52 worlds. With so many heroes, should DC be more careful with the reset button? -
Tragedy and atonement from one of America’s greatsA pertinent tale of a Native American community’s attempts to come to terms with the accidental shooting of a five-year-old boy
-
A fascinating and elegant look at the inner voiceWe experience some kind of inner speech for at least a quarter of our waking lives. This helps some, while others set out to reduce the chatter. And how does it relate to God?
news
-
Stephen King joins hundreds of authors petitioning against Donald TrumpMore than 450 writers, including Colm Tóibín, Geraldine Brooks and Lydia Davis express ‘unequivocal’ opposition to his presidential candidacy
-
Zero K and making sense of 'late period' Don DeLilloIn White Noise, one character says ‘all plots end in death’. Here, many of the author’s preoccupations recur, but death is just the beginning of the story
-
Six things we learnedHow did Kate Tempest respond to the Q&A furore? What are Crabb and Sales reading? What makes a good moderator? Who is Jonathan Franzen, really?
-
regulars
-
Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 chases in literatureFrom Moby-Dick to Mr Ripley, the best stories of pursuit provide both compulsive plots and insights into a strangely intimate relationship
-
Reading groupReading groupZero K and making sense of 'late period' Don DeLilloIn White Noise, one character says ‘all plots end in death’. Here, many of the author’s preoccupations recur, but death is just the beginning of the story
-
100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 Best Nonfiction Books of All TimeThe 100 best nonfiction books: No 17 – Ariel by Sylvia Plath (1965)The groundbreaking collection of work that established Plath as one of the last century’s most original and gifted poets
-
PodcastPodcastLionel Shriver on writing The Mandibles – books podcastThe Orange Prize-winning novelist talks about her dystopian vision of economic collapse in the US at a Guardian live event recorded in London
-
One of the most dangerous ideas in historyFrom Nazi eugenics to biotech and the desire to make better versions of ourselves … this vivid survey is controversial, but gives the latest on the nature-nurture debate
-
The Wood for the Trees by Richard Fortey – our deep-rooted connection to woodland
Science and nature The Wood for the Trees by Richard Fortey – our deep-rooted connection to woodland
Renowned natural historian Fortey bought four acres of beech and bluebell wood and began a deep investigation into its fauna and flora. His enthusiasm for his new wonderland is infectious
-
Growing up gay with a homophobic fatherNicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: an honest, tender and funny memoir about growing up with a high court judge by a writer at the top of his game
-
We’ll All Be Murdered in Our Beds by Duncan CampbellThe Guardian’s former crime correspondent reveals the often corrupt relationship between journalists and the police in this thoughtful exposé of his trade
-
Rio de Janeiro: Extreme City by Luiz Eduardo SoaresThis political history of Rio reveals a city still in the grip of its violent past
-
Kick by Paula Byrne – too much dazzleThis ‘true story’ of the life of Kathleen Kennedy, JFK’s sister, is dangerously close to hagiography
-
Different Class by Joanne HarrisThe author of Chocolat revisits St Oswald’s for a twisting thriller with an unerring eye for school life
-
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain - tiny flaws lead to tragedyRose Tremain’s masterful novel, set in Switzerland during the second world war, illuminates the tiny flaws of temperament that can lead to tragedy
-
Hystopia by David Means – the virtuoso short story writer’s tricksy first novelIn an alternative version of 1970s America, the Vietnam war grinds on and on; but the urgent, unspoken presences on this novel’s pages are the veterans damaged by the US’s recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq
-
Napoleon’s Last Island by Thomas Keneally – a diary of exileBonaparte’s time on St Helena, as seen through the eyes of the young girl who befriended him
-
Iron Towns by Anthony Cartwright – football comes home to the peopleThis accomplished novel creates a powerful lament for England’s diminished regions
-
From SJ Parris to Peter HaningtonDying Breed by Peter Hanington; Conspiracy by SJ Parris; All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage; Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt; Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
people
-
My fiction is preoccupied with belonging and exileThe author of The House at the Edge of the World explains how her Baileys prize longlisted story grew from teenage years in Devon, resisting cultural isolation
-
Writing a book with your dad is hard. It's harder if your dad is Thomas KeneallyWhen Tom Keneally dared his daughter to finish his half-written manuscript, Meg Keneally was daunted. But it ended up being ‘the most valuable gift’
-
I don’t think I write thrillers – but other people seem toThe author of Apple Tree Yard on the Indonesian roots of her new novel Black Water – and why she’s glad to see the back of ‘chicklit’
-
I was anxious about using the word Negro in a book titleMargo Jefferson discusses Negroland, her acclaimed memoir of growing up in an emerging postwar elite in black American society
-
'Refugee' is children's word of the yearThe migrant crisis sparks children’s imagination at Radio 2’s creative writing competition 500 Words
-
Think history's all boring dates? Try social historyHow did Alison Rattle go from hating history at school (and getting a D in it) to being a successful author of historical fiction? She discovered social history - all about the real lives behind boring dates and wars
-
Your first book to read in... French, German or SpanishEver thought of improving your French, German or Spanish language skills by reading the best children’s fiction in those languages? We help you choose
-
'I love writing in the first person'Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon revels in the exhilaration of seeing the world exclusively from someone else’s point of view
-
The children's books Simon Cowell needs to readSimon Cowell has announced that he’s writing a children’s book - because the ones he’s reading to his son are ‘boring’. We’ve got some better suggestions for him. What do you think?
-
Rick Yancey: 'Without trust and cooperation, we're doomed'As the 5th Wave trilogy reaches its conclusion with The Last Star, site member Pedro got to talk to Rick Yancey about the author’s hopes and fears for the future of humankind and why he dreams of being invited to the White House
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
-
The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféFood in books: the treacle tart in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s StoneKate Young blogs about what inspired her to cook meals from books – and why, since that first tart, she has never looked back. The answer lies in Harry Potter
-
Interview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore: Papercuts JP, the smallest bookstore in BostonWith only three employees, the creators of the tiny Boston icon talk about growing a community, cosmic dreams and what they’d do with more space
-
pictures, video & audio
-
The Safe House: a documentary on the decline of UK librariesThe Safe House: documentary on the decline of UK libraries – trailer video
-
Albion's Glorious Ile, the 400-year-old colouring bookIn the early 17th-century, cartographer William Hole illustrated strange, anthropomorphised maps of England and Wales, left uncoloured for nobles to fill in. Soon to be republished by Unicorn Press in Albion’s Glorious Ile, Hole’s maps are regarded as one of the earliest known examples of a colouring book
-
Lionel Shriver on writing The MandiblesThe Orange Prize-winning novelist talks about her dystopian vision of economic collapse in the US at a Guardian live event recorded in London
you may have missed
-
Making a bid for her sanity, one sentence at a timeThose who knew Maeve Brennan described her as stylish or Irish; she went from celebrated New Yorker writer to obscurity in a nursing home. But her short stories, lovely and unbearable, live on
-
It is fascinating to ponder the subtleties and possibilities of languageThe winning Man Booker International author and translator explain their writing relationship – and the difficulty of working across time zones
-
Does the new film improve Jane Austen’s ending?Whit Stillman’s latest film is based on a little-known novella written early in Austen’s career. Will it work on screen, and is it worth reading today?
-
What makes bad writing bad?The biggest mistake most writers make is thinking they have nothing left to learn
Book of the day Moonstone by Sjón – a glittering fable of sex and cinema