Books
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A compelling exploration of the intimate and political sides of an itinerant life from the Mumbai-based author
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As lockdown eases, authors including Anne Enright, Mark Haddon and Sebastian Barry reflect on what they have learned – and what comes next
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White truffles in Italy, fried chicken in Myanmar, cold mint and cucumber soup in Ukraine … food writer Caroline Eden shares some mouthwatering books to transport you
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The writer and musician talks about his prize-winning poetry collection, his Caribbean education and why the death of George Floyd has been felt so strongly in the UK
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From the complexities of romance to debt, the struggles of an aspiring writer are observed with humour and pathos
Lockdown reading
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Hilary Mantel’s trilogy was finished at last, Blake Gopnik exposed Warhol’s private life and Richard E Grant brought new life to Iris Murdoch. Here are our highlights of the year to date
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If you currently feel confined, reading can open up new worlds. Authors and thinkers at this year’s Hay Festival Digital recommend books to take you on a journey
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A superbly written account of coming to terms with childhood bereavement and a father’s addiction to sex and drugs
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From a painful childhood to the LA high life with Jack Nicholson, Audrey Hepburn and Warren Beatty … darkness is never far from the surface of this entertaining memoir
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From peacenik hunter-gatherers to helpful toddlers … a ‘hopeful history’ argues that the underlying nature of human beings is not savage but essentially nice
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Through colliding storylines, this debut collection touchingly evokes the interconnectedness of fractured lives
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From absurdity to horror, interlinked short stories explore life in a police state for the inhabitants of a block of flats in 1980s Ukraine
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A forgotten black modernist poet is the spark for a debut novel that acts as a rallying cry against Eurocentrism
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A quest to master the dark art of levitation: this sly echo of The Secret History is entertaining but underpowered
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A Hiroshima survivor confronts his past in this timely novel about trauma and recovery
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A Swedish cellist’s encounter with a homeless junkie stirs memories of his own troubled youth in this radical short novel
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It’s never too early to learn that racism is wrong and we should be doing something about it. These books will help show our kids how
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An anti-plastic struggle, spooky seances, what happened after Noah’s ark anchored ashore and more
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Fraught teenage love and plenty of violence – everything you’d expect of Suzanne Collins is here in the backstory of the ruthless President Snow
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The World War Z author talks about how science fiction turned him into a disaster expert, Donald Trump, and growing up with parents Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft
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The Shooting Party’s author on the reissue of her Orlando trilogy, her obsession with class and why she loves a ‘nice fat’ history
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The award-winning novelist on his debt to ‘kitchen-sink’ dramas, why the family is everyone’s first taste of politics, and the paranoia of the nuclear age
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Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman spent years touring America in an orchestra of gifted players who mimed to CDs. She relives their bizarre performances – and her eventual collapse
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Her book Braiding Sweetgrass has been a surprise bestseller. The nature writer talks about her fight for plant rights, and why she hopes the pandemic will increase human compassion for the natural world
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The US journalist talks about being hacked by intelligence services, his dealings with whistleblower Edward Snowden, and why he loves detective fiction
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This month’s Reading group choice Our Mutual Friend shows off the novelist’s prodigious gifts for fond characterisation – a lovable miracle in days like these
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One of the Malawian author’s many prison poems, this defiant work builds into a forceful cry of rage
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Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
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Francesca Segal recommends literary explorations of new emotional territory
What to read
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Dazzling debut novels, searing polemics, the history of humanity and trailblazing memoirs ... Read our pick of the best books since 2000
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The author on the book that changed her mind about Philip Roth, and a mind-blowing masterpiece that not enough people have heard of
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White truffles in Italy, fried chicken in Myanmar, cold mint and cucumber soup in Ukraine … food writer Caroline Eden shares some mouthwatering books to transport you
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From quiet stories of domestic life to accounts of horrific crime, these books introduce the reader to a vast, almost unknowable city
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After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has concluded his selection of the 100 greatest nonfiction books of all time. Take a quick look back at five centuries of great writing
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Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list
You may have missed
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After the plague, death became a silent companion for Renaissance artists. Hisham Matar recalls a month in Siena, exploring love, loss, mortality and art
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Moving back in with parents, drinking too much, the loneliness of Zoom calls and feelings of detachment ... two writers in very different stages of life reflect on their circumstances
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Written 100 years ago, Yeats’s poem has been absorbed into the cultural bloodstream from Chinua Achebe to The Sopranos, Joan Didion to Gordon Gecko. Why is it such a touchstone in times of chaos?
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As a young Asian female travel writer, Jini Reddy entered a genre that was mostly white and male. But new and emerging voices give her hope for a different future
Most viewed
Observer book of the week The Price of Peace by Zachary D Carter – how liberals betrayed Keynes