books
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The return of the protest novelFrom Ali Smith’s Brexit book to Howard Jacobson’s Trump satire, writers are responding to the political moment. But can art bring real change? -
As a novelist, I’m in for the long haulFrom Ulysses to Last Orders, many novels have embraced a whole life, while dwelling on the passing of mere hours. Graham Swift on the importance of immediacy
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I’m a fool as a writer – you have to take risksThe books interview: this year’s TS Eliot prize winner on the freedom of his Cumbrian childhood and making a living from poetry -
Enlightened Princesses – royals who shaped modern BritainAn excellent book, edited by Joanna Marschner, considers the progressive initiatives of three 18th-century princesses
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The Accusation by Bandi – forbidden stories from inside North KoreaWritten in secret between 1989 and 1995 and smuggled out of the country in 2013, these short works offer powerful insights into a world behind walls
news
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Novelist Marian Keyes reveals fight against constant 'suicidal impulses'Speaking on Desert Island Discs, the Irish writer describes how she prepared to take her life
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Joanna Trollope webchatThe bestselling author will be answering your questions in a live webchat at 1pm GMT on Monday 13 March – post them in the comments below
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Alt-right comic book villains? Comics have moved on from punching nazisJust as Captain America once found himself recruited to battle nazism, today’s cartoon warriors are squaring up to far-right villainy
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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Books to watch in 2017Jane Austen’s bicentenary, Arundhati Roy’s first novel in 20 years, and unpublished F Scott Fitzgerald ...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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PodcastPodcastWomen challenging the patriarchy – one podcast at a timeTo mark International Women’s Day, the Guardian’s podcasters pick some favourite episodes featuring inspirational women
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Reading groupReading groupReading group: Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess is our book for MarchThis novel of a writer’s life in the 20th century was the runaway favourite to look at this month. It’s a big book, with much to think about and much to enjoy
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The first book interviewThe first book interview2018, a space odyssey: Jaroslav Kalfař's strange debut is out of this worldSpaceman of Bohemia sees a misfit astrophyicist fired into space with only a 34-eyed spider for company. But that doesn’t make it speculative fiction, the author explains
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Book of the dayBook of the dayGrief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving – reviewPsychotherapist Julia Samuel’s case studies provide vital and compelling insights into bereavement
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A great subject, so why write such an annoying book?Pound’s arraignment for treason and spell in a psychiatric hospital is a great subject
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Oliver Cromwell by David Horspool – Britain’s chance to be a republicCromwell has controversially been included in the Penguin Monarchs series. This compelling book charts his rise to power
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On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder – how to defend democracy in the age of TrumpLessons from Nazi Germany and eastern Europe show us how democracy dies, and what we must do to save it
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Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life by Tracy TynanKenneth Tynan’s daughter, now a successful costume designer, paints a vivid portrait of her hellraising parents
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From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds by Daniel C DennettThe philosopher’s latest magnum opus is a thrilling distillation of all he holds to be true
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Everywoman by Jess Phillips – a life less ordinaryThe outspoken Labour MP has empowering stories from her own life – and tells them well
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Rose Tremain, Don DeLillo, Janine di GiovanniTremain’s study of political neutrality makes a striking contrast with Di Giovanni’s reporting of the war in Syria in the best of the month’s reissues
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A big-hearted Nigerian debut on the Baileys longlistA woman’s desperate attempts to get pregnant, and the subsequent agonies of loss, are vividly captured in this Baileys-longlisted novel
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The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy – a simmering gothic joyThis creepingly clever ghost story in which the spirits of the dead can be channelled by mediums encompasses thriller, horror and literary fiction
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A Natural by Ross Raisin – brave portrait of a gay footballerThis subtle story of a bullied sportsman in denial about his sexuality is a winner
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Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan – nights at the circusStrongmen, trapeze artists, changelings … a young boy is transported to a realm without reason in this colourful story about belonging
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Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders – extraordinary story of the afterlifeThe short story master’s first novel is a tale of great formal daring, set in the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln mourns his son
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Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel – heat, dust and dinosaur bonesTwo paleontologists chase the elusive ‘rex’ as their children fall in love in a fast-paced, warts-and-all western
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We Come Apart – star-crossed teen loversSarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan join forces for this bittersweet romance set against the backdrop of Brexit Britain
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Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure by AL KennedyIn her first book for children, AL Kennedy conjures up a vividly imagined world with delightful prose
people
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Trump and Piers Morgan are top of the list to get a copyA collection of essays on women’s lives published by 404Ink steals from the president for its title, and has been endorsed by Margaret Atwood
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People were confused that I didn't support BrexitThe radical Greek economist recalls how his polemic on the forces driving Europe apart turned in to real political life and made him finance minister
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He thought comics were an artform – he was rightIn the week of what would have been the comics pioneer’s 100th birthday, the creator of The Sandman pays tribute to an inspirational storyteller and friend
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What we had felt stronger than most father-son relationshipsSam Miller grew up believing the celebrated editor Karl Miller was his father. At 16, he was told the truth, and 40 years on he’s written his 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: squashed fly biscuits from Murder Most UnladylikeAfter finishing Robin Stevens’s much loved children’s mystery, Kate Young makes some of the biscuits – so named for the raisins in them – eaten in the book
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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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Baileys women's prize for fiction 2017 longlistNaomi Alderman’s fantasy of a world ruled by women and Margaret Atwood’s retelling of The Tempest sit alongside epic histories and tough tales of modern life
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Daniel Dennett on consciousness and 100 years of Anthony BurgessThe influential thinker talks about From Bacteria to Bach and Back, and we discuss the A Clockwork Orange author’s legacy
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Your photos and storiesThe galaxy’s greatest comic celebrated its 40th birthday on earth last Sunday. To celebrate, our readers share their 2000AD memories, photos and memorabilia
you may have missed
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How the 20,699-word iTunes T&Cs became this year's hottest graphic novelSnoopy contemplates pre-orders and the Hulk navigates iTunes Match … here Robert Sikoryak discusses his ingenious take on Apple’s Terms and Conditions
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My night with Naked Boys ReadingThey stroll on stage and read passages from classics naked. Our writer catches a Brontë reading with a difference in Yorkshire
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Can I forgive the man who raped me?Thordis Elva was raped aged 16. Years later, she emailed Tom Stranger, the man who raped her, beginning a raw, painful healing process documented in their book South of Forgiveness. In this extract, they meet to find a way forward
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Can people please stop telling me feminism is hot?The novelist has been accused of making equality mainstream: isn’t that the point? Plus an extract from her new Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions
Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving Fascinating, affecting, but often not easy to read