books
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Travel book of the year shortlist covers ground from Alabama to the ArcticSix finalists include Paul Theroux’s Deep South, exploring the southern states of the US, and Geoff Dyer’s wide-ranging essay collection White Sand -
Tropes, trolls and Trump: the fantasy writer who inspired George RR MartinWithout Tad Williams there would be no Game of Thrones. The American novelist on reinventing fantasy – and why no one ever thinks they’re the bad guys
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Two poems by Shubham ShreeIndian poet Shubham Shree – who recently caused controversy with her bold use of slang and English words, considered a desecration of the tradition of Hindi poetry – presents two poems, about femininity and young love -
Dutch literature: lost to English translationHow many authors from the country can you name? I couldn’t think of many, so a new Penguin anthology of strangely familiar short stories is very welcome
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The fuel for my book was a slow-burning angerThe author of Nomad, an espionage thriller for the 21st century, remembers the frustrations that drove him to move on from his career in science fiction
news
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Zadie Smith and Michael Chabon nominated for book critics awardMargaret Atwood also set to receive a lifetime achievement prize at this year’s National Book Critics Circle awards
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How does Penelope Fitzgerald light up The Beginning of Spring?Our second book from this amazing author has a less obscure subject than The Blue Flower, but how its author wove its narrative magic is no easier to say
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The Attraction by John RileyFrom the last years of the 60s, this is a startlingly even-handed depiction of personal and social promise – and its inevitable dangers
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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Books to watch in 2017Jane Austen’s bicentenary, Arundhati Roy’s first novel in 20 years, and unpublished F Scott Fitzgerald ...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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100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 Best Nonfiction Books of All TimeThe 100 best nonfiction books: No 50 – Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (1918)Lytton Strachey’s partisan, often inaccurate but brilliant demolitions of four great 19th-century Britons did much to usher in the modern era
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Book of the dayBook of the dayThe Nix by Nathan Hill review – a novel of extravagant appetiteA literary professor investigates the life of his estranged mother in an entertaining if self-indulgent debut novel
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The first book interviewThe first book interviewRory Gleeson: 'Writing wrecks your head'The author of debut novel Rockadoon Shore talks about wanting to write like Richard Linklater directs, and visions of old English teachers berating him for his efforts
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Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 books about wild womenFrom a 17th-century sci-fi utopia to an autobiographical vampire novel, all these great books were written by women who busted boundaries social, personal and literary
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We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack ObamaThis collection of the outgoing president’s greatest speeches reveals both his vivid turn of phrase and fondness for repetition
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A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics – timely but limitedNeuroscientist Daniel Levitin delves into how the brain processes big fat fibs – but leaves some stones unturned
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Nothing But a Circus: Misadventures Among the Powerful by Daniel LevinThis exposé of global movers and shakers is entertaining – but why is the author so surprised to learn that such people are often corrupt?
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Being Wagner by Simon Callow – all velvet cloak and no trousersCallow’s life of Wagner reveals more about his wardrobe than his genius
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Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum by Kathryn HughesThis lively study explores aspects of the Victorians’ notoriously strange attitude to the body
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Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis – inside the cultEllis is a fervent champion of the overlooked Brontë sister, but proves an unreliable guide to life at Haworth
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The Nix by Nathan Hill – a novel of extravagant appetiteA literary professor investigates the life of his estranged mother in an entertaining if self-indulgent debut novel
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The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters by Nadiya Hussain – what the Bake Off winner did nextThis warm-hearted family saga from the Great British Bake Off star will surely sell like hot cakes – but I wish celebrities wouldn’t dominate the bookshelves
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Dirt by William Letford – seriously funnyWilliam Letford’s second collection of poems is bleak, profound and hilarious, sometimes all at once
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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – the wounds inflicted by slaveryAn unflinching portrayal of the slave trade explores its impact down the generations, from 18th-century west Africa to the modern-day US
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Unreconciled by Michel Houellebecq – perfectly suited to the age of TrumpLaughter is in short supply in this collection from France’s great satirist and contrarian
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Moonglow by Michael Chabon – much more than a memoirIn a bold, rich return to form, the author explores the boundaries of fact and fiction through a ‘real-life story’
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Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans – a properly funny fantasy adventureWit, wisdom and colourful characters abound in a tale of two troubled children who stumble on a surreal land ruled by a toy rabbit
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The Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt – a playful Dutch classicA self-doubting teacher becomes a fantasy hero in a seductively spiralling story from the author of Letter to the King
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The best children’s booksFrom tales of migration and crime to wolves, bugs and the difficulty of sharing – Julia Eccleshare’s picks of the year
people
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William Peter Blatty, 1928-2017Writer best known for his novel The Exorcist, adapted into a hugely successful horror film
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These rock star clerics on Twitter need to reach outWith his book Letters to a Young Muslim, the UAE ambassador to Russia suggests a new way to view Islam
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There was no private or personal space in ChinaThe writer and film-maker on the hardships of growing up in communist China and the shock of discovering artistic freedom
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Many would like to stand up to antisemites. I had the chance to do itThe books interview: The US professor on her five‑year legal battle against David Irving and the new feature film about the trial
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
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The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféFood in books: Pasta con le Sarde from The Terracotta Dog by Andrea CamilleriWho eats as well as Inspector Montalbano? It’s a mystery – but you can, as Kate Young demonstrates how to put together this easy Sicilian classic
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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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Tom Gauld on funny booksTom Gauld looks at reading to lift the spirits, inspired by writers on their favourite funny books
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Alan Bennett discusses Keeping On Keeping OnA national treasure reads from the latest volume of his diaries and discusses finding inspiration in the everyday
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Harry Potter's library gets a new lookTwo books from JK Rowling’s universe – Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard – have been freshly redesigned. Take a first look ahead of publication
you may have missed
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Your vision of the EU is like mine of Rome – a dreamThe TV historian and the Ukip donor were recently at Twitter war about immigration in the Roman empire. So what happened when they actually went for lunch together?
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A bad book review can kill you – look at the case of John HawkesworthThe tale of a hubristic Georgian book editor is an early example of trolling, and a lesson for us all
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Books about wild womenFrom a 17th-century sci-fi utopia to an autobiographical vampire novel, all these great books were written by women who busted boundaries social, personal and literary
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Nine experts on the books that inspired themFrom film to philosophy, from music to history and economics, masters of their crafts pick the five books they could not live without
The Da Vinci Code code: what's the formula for a bestselling book?