Books of the year
What to read
Stephanie MerrittScience and nature booksThe Shetland Way by Marianne Brown review – a daughter’s journey to the heart of the climate crisisAn environmental writer returns to her father’s home for his funeral in a family memoir that becomes an examination of Shetland’s crucial role in the energy landscape
Tim AdamsHealth, mind and body booksA Second Act by Dr Matt Morgan review – what nearly dying can teach us about livingIn this sequel to his bestseller, Critical, the intensive care doctor draws lessons on the joys of a ‘second life’ from the experiences of patients who have flatlined and been revived
Jonathan FreedlandChildren's booksHow I brought a Jewish wartime refugee’s lost fairytale back to lifeUlrich Boschwitz, who wrote the recently rediscovered thriller The Passenger, left another gift behind him when his life was tragically cut short. I had the honour of reinterpreting it for today’s children
Interview‘I didn’t want to fit in a box of what an Aboriginal person should write’: how Alexis Wright found her voiceAs her ground-breaking biography of Aboriginal activist Tracker Tilmouth is re-issued, the acclaimed Australian author remembers her late friend and talks about her latest novel, Praiseworthy
