books
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Hit Makers by Derek Thompson – how things become popularNothing actually ‘goes viral’, and consumers are both conservative and curious, argues this engaging cultural study
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Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak – a rich journey into romance and religionA young Muslim woman’s spiritual quest takes her from Istanbul to Oxford as she learns about love, faith and real life
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Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman – visionary ideas for a dark timeAn optimistic book argues with gusto for universal basic income and other policies but lacks a broad or deep perspective -
The Dedalus Book of Gin by Richard BarnettNicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: an entertaining look at the drink’s history – complete with ‘Hogarth-rating’ tasting notes
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Judge Dredd shuts down 2000AD’s 40th birthday bashThe Image imprint continues to thrive, plus a cherubic demon-hunter protects Prague from ancient threats
news
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Tom Hanks to publish first book, Uncommon Type: Some StoriesThe Forrest Gump star has turned his hand to short fiction with a collection of 17 tales, all themed around his passion for typewriters
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Nights at the Circus is feminist, but its 'psychedelic Dickens' is not a lectureAngela Carter’s heroine’s adventures, bouncing off patriarchal barriers, are full of ideas – but the author’s extravagant invention is never merely didactic
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The publishing craze that just won't go awayThe Books for Grown Ups series is worth nearly £30m – so it’s no wonder that retro books for ‘kids’ have spread to other publishers. Now, serious subjects are getting the toilet-book treatment, too
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books in 2017
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Books to watch in 2017Jane Austen’s bicentenary, Arundhati Roy’s first novel in 20 years, and unpublished F Scott Fitzgerald ...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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PodcastPodcastReclaiming history with Yaa Gyasi and Chibundu Onuzo - books podcastThe authors of two buzzy new novels, Homegoing and Welcome to Lagos, explore ancient and modern stories of west Africa
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Reading groupReading groupNights at the Circus is feminist, but its 'psychedelic Dickens' is not a lectureAngela Carter’s heroine’s adventures, bouncing off patriarchal barriers, are full of ideas – but the author’s extravagant invention is never merely didactic
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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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Book of the dayBook of the dayUtopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman review – visionary ideas for a dark timeAn optimistic book argues with gusto for universal basic income and other policies but lacks a broad or deep perspective
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The Bughouse: The Poetry, Politics and Madness of Ezra PoundDaniel Swift’s account of the disgraced poet’s years in a mental hospital is enthralling but leaves us little wiser as to his state of mind
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The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution by Robert ServiceThe prolific historian’s account of the doomed Romanovs is rich in drama
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Theresa May by Rosa Prince – a sphinx without a riddleA biography of the prime minister reveals a politician of steely self-control with a taste for vengeance
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From mechanical to mentalThis roving study of our fascination with time travel covers well trodden ground but finds the concept constantly evolving
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The World of Mr Casaubon by Colin Kidd – in defence of George Eliot’s pedantCasaubon’s unfinished Key to All Mythologies was not, by the lights of his time, out of touch or deluded
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The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker: The Story of Britain Through Its CensusRoger Hutchinson’s breezily anecdotal book reveals the history and controversy behind the UK census
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Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson – dreams and danger on the streets of New YorkAn allusive, less-is-more approach works beautifully in this coming-of-age novel
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My Sister’s Bones by Nuala Ellwood - dark and punchyA war reporter heads home to Herne Bay, but is haunted by Aleppo and childhood abuse
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The Crime Writer by Jill Dawson – suspense in 60s SuffolkPatricia Highsmith is involved with a married woman in this fascinating fictional biography of the late writer
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A Herring Famine by Adam O’Riordan – poems of craft and guileA promising poet’s second collection delivers work full of subtle music that wears its heart on its sleeve
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The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne – sin and torment in Catholic IrelandA picaresque odyssey tracks changing attitudes towards sexual freedoms over the last 70 years and rages against the church
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This Is Memorial Device by David Keenan – explosive post-punk novelA portrait of a fictional Airdrie rock group morphs into a haunting, hallucinatory vision of the early 80s
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The Everywhere Bear by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb – a tender taleThe bond between schoolchildren and their teachers is lovingly explored in this story of a boy who loses the class bear
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We Come Apart – a bittersweet teenage romance in verseA shoplifter falls for a Romanian immigrant in a beautiful collaboration from Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
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Dick Bruna, 1927-2017Creator of Miffy, the little rabbit who became a star of children’s literature
people
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I would like to give living for ever a tryThe American journalist on ageing, coming to terms with Parkinson’s disease and why baby boomers should be taxed
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The church has become a spent forceThe author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas on the explosion in YA fiction, the abandonment of the Catholic church and why he couldn’t live anywhere other than Dublin
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I fear the sack every day from the best job I’ve ever hadThe author on walking London’s streets, siestas and the daily creative struggle
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I always wanted to be an art monsterThe author recalls her youthful dreams of a Turner prize victory and the run-in with doctors that led to her second novel
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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Michael Chabon on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and ClayThe Pulitzer prize-winning novelist looks back on a modern classic at a Guardian book club event
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Sebastian Barry on his Costa-winning novel Days Without EndIn 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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Illustrating Jane Austen's Mansfield ParkHere are the 23 competition finalists in the running to illustrate The Folio Society’s new edition of the classic story of Fanny Price
you may have missed
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SS-GB and the what-if novels that alter historyAs Nazis occupy our TV screens in the adaptation of Len Deighton’s novel, DJ Taylor explores the alternative world of counter-factual novels
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We must take back our stories and reverse the gazeWriters of African heritage must resist the attempts of others to define us and our history
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Terry Pratchett docudrama is a fittingly imaginative tribute to Discworld's geniusBack in Black’s inventive life story eschews the usual talking heads to focus on the author’s devoted fans – of whom I am one
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For my family, a book was a kind of assaultThe French literary sensation and debut author of The End of Eddy on growing up without books
Type casting: the worst novels by Hollywood actors
Top 10 Hollywood novels