Books
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In 2015, Ali Smith embarked on a project to write four novels in real time, engaging with the political events of the day. She had no idea what was about to unfold. As Spring is published, she explains why they are more than just Brexit books
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From prize-winners Esi Edugyan and Marlon James to debut novelists such as Sara Collins, a new generation of novelists is exploring a painful past
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The broadcaster and writer isn’t afraid of nostalgia in this part memoir, part cultural history. Is he pining for his youth? -
The author recalls living in a sleepy commuter town, unaware that his neighbours were developing missile guidance systems -
Drug-taking and soft porn, literary criticism and intimate reportage in a winning, inventive collection of essays
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Mini skirts, music, the pill … Does a chronicle of women’s lives in the 60s really grasp what the decade meant? -
Immigrant writers escape the narratives imposed on them in Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman’s follow-up to The Good Immigrant -
A poet comes to terms with her father’s death by wild swimming and taking walks around a Devon village
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A searing history of slavery combines with an interrogation of motherhood in this moving American debut -
In this phenomenal debut, a boy’s epic quest across his war-torn country serves as an act of remembrance for a forgotten people -
A novelist looks back at her younger self in 1970s New York in this smart investigation of misogyny, authority and the nature of fiction
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Kill [redacted] by Anthony Good; The Guilty Party by Mel McGrath; The Mobster’s Lament by Ray Celestin; Casanova and the Faceless Woman by Olivier Borde-Cabuçon; Cruel Acts by Jane Casey; and A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle -
The third book in Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet is her best yet, a dazzling hymn to hope, uniting the past and present -
Andrew McMillan’s candid exploration of gay adolescence is sensational
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Past and present are interwoven in this powerful young adult novel by the founder of the Everyday Sexism project -
A rowdy camel, hippo and alligator unite an uptight family, while Darwin’s seminal study is retold in pictures -
A boy who turns into a pigeon, love in a lighthouse and the pain that inspired Mary Shelley
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Moroccan-born author Laila Lalami talks about finding her voice, who gets control of the narrative and how it feels to be a Muslim in America today -
The author and scientist, who has returned to his roots at the Australian Museum, says the world is about to see a major shift towards climate action -
As the poet behind the San Francisco literary institution turns 100, the city is preparing for ‘Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day’
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The British author on community and speaking truth to power -
The author on the builders who inspired his new book, Trump’s appeal and the energising power of young people -
Fired by the president, the former US attorney has written his first book. He talks about if and when Trump will face justice – and why he fears for his own safety
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From Malorie Blackman to Toni Morrison, fiction is a fantastic way to explore race and identity -
Writers get welcome protection through copyright and trademark law, but the system is a mess. Francis Spufford’s fan-fiction Narnia novel brings fresh impetus to reform -
What to read
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The award-winning Australian author of The Book Thief on his conversion to Jane Austen and chewing on Dr Seuss -
Elena Ferrante’s novel about the end of a marriage, Isabelle Allende’s heartbreaking memoir … Diana Evans picks five key works -
Books of 2019
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The Goldfinch takes flight in cinemas, Robert Macfarlane goes underground and Margaret Atwood continues The Handmaid’s Tale … what to look forward to in the world of books
You may have missed
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We are now producing and consuming more food than ever, and yet our modern diet is killing us. How can we solve this bittersweet dilemma? -
The west has assumed that Maoism, like Soviet communism, has been left in the dust: no European rebels these days carry a Little Red Book. But the ideology is resurgent in China and remains hugely influential elsewhere -
At first he was feted. But then his novel about a handsome, Yale-educated serial rapist made him an outcast. Ten years after his death, has the scabrous author’s time finally come? -
When her first book came out, Lulah Ellender became obsessed with an author whose book launched the same week. She reflects on past feuds and how resentment now festers online
Nina Stibbe: ‘I really hate anything horror’