books
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Haley’s influential family saga about 18th century slavery is back on TV, but its literary reputation is still tarnished by questions of authenticity
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Kate Young seeks some escapist fiction and bakes a breakfast enjoyed by the children in the Austrian boarding school in Brent-Dyer’s novel
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Natalya Sharina, who has been confined to her flat since 2015, faces what her lawyer says are absurd charges of anti-Russian extremism and embezzlement
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Ink’s heroine loses faith in a culture where people’s histories are etched on their skin – reflecting its author’s own disaffection from evangelical Christianity
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Despite having insisted that ‘my lifetime hasn’t ended yet’, The Snowman author declares the BookTrust prize ‘an incredible honour’
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Experts believe Jane Austen’s ideal Darcy would bear little comparison to the one played by Colin Firth in BBC’s 1995 series
news
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Book awards highlight titles providing optimistic perspectives on tough social problems that experts say are hitting youngsters’ mental health
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The rumbustious story of winged circus performer Sophie Fevvers was extravagantly praised on publication and should give us much to talk about
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Luton council is to name two streets in tribute to the late Steve Dillon’s creations – joining a long line of literature that’s been put literally on the map
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books in 2017
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Jane Austen’s bicentenary, Arundhati Roy’s first novel in 20 years, and unpublished F Scott Fitzgerald ... the literary year ahead
regulars
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100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 Best Nonfiction Books of All TimeThe 100 best nonfiction books: No 53 – The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902)
The 100 best nonfiction books: No 53 – The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902)
This revolutionary work written by Henry James’s less famous brother brought a democratising impulse to the realm of religious belief -
Book of the dayBook of the dayThe Econocracy review – how three students caused a global crisis in economicsUnhappy at how economics is out of touch with reality and defined by an elite, Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins sum up their explosive call for change
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The first book interviewThe first book interviewAlice Broadway: 'I guess it's inevitable that I became a bit death-obsessed'Ink’s heroine loses faith in a culture where people’s histories are etched on their skin – reflecting its author’s own disaffection from evangelical Christianity
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Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 books about the apocalypseWeaponised flu, hoax bombs that start exploding, totalitarian America and brain-thirsty zombies – here’s a flood of fictional world endings – and one that’s real
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Autobiography and memoir Once We Were Sisters by Sheila Kohler – a devastating reckoning
Elizabeth LowryA powerful memoir from an acclaimed novelist reveals a past of privilege, violence and possibly murder -
Economics The Econocracy – how three students caused a global crisis in economics
Aditya ChakraborttyUnhappy at how economics is out of touch with reality and defined by an elite, Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins sum up their explosive call for change
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Germaine Greer and Ali Smith are among those writing about the significance of trees, in this abundant collection edited by Adrian Cooper
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This is a marvellous, personal account of the border zone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, from the Ottomans to cold war menace and beyond
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Photography Terra Nostra by Mimi Mollica
Sean O'HaganA Sicilian expat captures the enduring presence of the mafia in this book of unsettling everyday photographs -
Art and design Rogues’ Gallery: A History of Art and Its Dealers by Philip Hook – chancers in sharp threads
Christian HouseA survey of the impresarios of the art world reads like a roll call of rakes and eccentrics
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A Hollywood-set caper nods to Ellroy and Chandler while firing jokes at everything from hipsters to reality TV
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Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: There are shades of David Lynch, Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter in this collection of feminist allegories and surreal skits
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Fiction The Blot: A Novel by Jonathan Lethem
Lionel ShriverJonathan Lethem runs out of moves in this story of a backgammon hustler facing the surgeon’s knife
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Fiction The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis – growing up gay in a bigoted French village
Claire Kohda HazeltonThis autobiographical novel is a candid account of a boy’s painful coming of age in a deprived rural community -
The borders between humankind and nature, the hunter and the hunted, are explored in short pieces from the Hungarian great
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Chabon is uncharacteristically serious as he presents stories about his grandparents
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Fiction The Good People by Hannah Kent – beware the fairies
Graeme Macrae BurnetA 19th-century Irish village is ruled by folklore and superstition in this compelling followup to the bestselling Burial Rites
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Recalling the magic of Dahl and Carroll, this tale of a tyrannical toy rabbit is the first must-read children’s book of the year
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A trip to the Arctic, coping with love, memory loss and OCD and the best PE excuse note ever written
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Children and teenagers The Pomegranate Tree by Vanessa Altin – a child's-eye view of war-torn Syria
Piers TordayThis fictional diary of a young Kurdish teenager is harrowing, but for every barbarity there is a moment of courage or kindness
people
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The author of Everyone Brave Is Forgiven explains how his grandparents’ fortitude inspired a story that reflects uncomfortably on the way we live now
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Translation – and migration – is the lifeblood of culture
George SzirtesEven the literature that seems most rooted in one place is animated by writing from elsewhere – and trying to keep that influence out is profoundly dangerous -
In her new book, the Goncourt Prize-winning historian turns her attention to French 19th-century novelists and how they saw a century of great painting
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Nina Collins was 19 when her mother – a pioneering black film-maker and writer – died of cancer. Now, she is releasing a collection of her stories, and her own bittersweet memoir
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
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The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféFood in books: breakfast rolls from The School at the ChaletKate Young seeks some escapist fiction and bakes a breakfast enjoyed by the children in the Austrian boarding school in Brent-Dyer’s novel
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Interview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore: Blue Willow Bookshop in HoustonCelebrating 20 years since owner Valerie took over, Blue Willow Bookshop is equally split between adults and children’s books, and staffed with knowledgable booksellers who can do anything - including fixing vacuum cleaners
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pictures, video & audio
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In the week Sebastian Barry picked up his second Costa book of the year award, he joins us in the studio to read from and discuss Days Without End
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Here are the 23 competition finalists in the running to illustrate The Folio Society’s new edition of the classic story of Fanny Price
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We chart the business of making books from manuscript to bookshop shelf and beyond
you may have missed
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Weaponised flu, hoax bombs that start exploding, totalitarian America and brain-thirsty zombies – here’s a flood of fictional world endings – and one that’s real
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The books interview: The award-winning author on his new book of Norse mythology, Brexit and being an Englishman in New York
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The chain of booksellers has announced its first profit in years – thanks in part to a bold decision to run each branch like a local bookshop
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Northern Ireland borrowed the Guinness World Records, Wales and Scotland thrillers by Lee Child and Paula Hawkins, while Londoners crammed for their driving test
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Autobiography and memoir I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This by Nadja Spiegelman