books
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American author of The Prince of Tides who drew on a troubled childhood as material for his novels
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Garth Greenwell reflects on the summer he spent in Madrid revising what has been dubbed the ‘great gay novel of our times’: his debut, What Belongs to You
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Fresh, warm light is cast on a familiar scene, as visits to the salon reveal their eternal aspect
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The theoretical physicist’s mega-selling account of the origins of the universe is a masterpiece of scientific inquiry that has influenced the minds of a generation
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This first-hand account of the harsh realities of the American rental housing market is bleak and salutary
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Essays Pretentiousness: Why It Matters by Dan Fox – what’s wrong with being a great pretender?
Peter ConradThis shrewd book argues that pretentiousness is central to our progress and our individuality
news
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Donald Trump’s dazzlingly vague speeches are a far cry from the carefully engineered soundbites of most political rhetoric. So what exactly is he doing?
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Shun cynicism, give champagne socialists a break, and above all, be nice. The internet ninja shares her hard-won rules
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regulars
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Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 hateful characters you love in literatureReally awful people in Dostoevsky, DeLillo and beyond have some paradoxically endearing qualities. Debut novelist Heinz Helle explains why, and recommends some of the best of the worst
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Reading groupReading groupJG Ballard's High-Rise is the choice for March's Reading groupAfter a close-run vote of 15 Ballard novels, this tale of societal breakdown and psychosis has opened its doors in the lift lobby. Please, step inside
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PodcastPodcastMedical literature with Chris Brookmyre, Gavin Francis and Samer Nashef – books podcastWe travel around the human body with GP Gavin Francis, venture into the operating theatre with surgeon Samer Nashef and join investigative reporter Jack Parlabane on the trail of ‘blade bitch’
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Book of the dayBook of the dayEvicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond – reviewThis first-hand account of the harsh realities of the American rental housing market is bleak and salutary
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Stevenson rises above adversity in this remarkable account of her eldest daughter’s struggles with cystic fibrosis
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A new study of Thomas Mann’s son reviews old assumptions about the troubled writer’s life and death wish
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Book of the day History’s People: Personalities and the Past by Margaret MacMillan
Lucy Hughes-HallettIrreverent and highly enjoyable – history as seen by the people who were there -
Bissell was brought up within the church and leaving it has not stifled his fascination with early Christianity. This book – part history, part travelogue – is an attempt to unravel its mysteries
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What the critics thought of Some Rain Must Fall by Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Life Project by Helen Pearson and Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker
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Book of the day The Boy Who Could Change the World – Aaron Swartz, campaigner for internet freedom
Emily GouldSwartz shaped much of the internet, before turning to political activism and the cause of equal access to information. He was facing prosecution for data theft when he hanged himself aged 26
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Tracy Chevalier returns to America’s pioneers and a family with a secret struggling to make a living from the land
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Javier Marías’s elegant 14th novel yokes Spain’s dark past to a tale of domestic spying – but the result lacks substance
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Chigozie Obioma’s debut novel combines reminiscence, recent history and the supernatural, with dazzling results
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The journey of a transplant organ explores the metaphysical zone between life and death, in an excellent novel from the French author
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A solitary art lover peruses galleries and avoids other people in this meditative debut from a talented young Belgian
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Mark Lawson Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama – the crime thriller that is a publishing phenomenon in Japan
The plot would grip in any language, but, for readers in the west, there is an extra fascination to this prime example of the ‘box set novel’ -
Stevie Davies How to Measure a Cow by Margaret Forster – the final novel from the Georgy Girl author
A compelling portrait of a headstrong, fractured woman, who has taken on a new alias after being released from prison
people
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The author and professor owes her fascination with black style to her sharply dressed father, who arrived from Jamaica in the 50s. Here she talks about her book, The Birth of Cool
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The Canongate Books boss on the success of Letters Live, performances of notable correspondence by leading lights of stage and screen
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Poetry I cried so much that my family thought something was wrong
Sebastian FaulksIs it a poet’s job to make the reader weep? Sebastian Faulks is moved to tears by an anthology of verse chosen by women -
My mother, before I knew her
Jeanette Winterson, Julia Donaldson, Julian Barnes, David Hare and othersInspired by Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Before You Were Mine, writers reflect on photographs of their mothers before they were born
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Shadowhunters author Cassandra Clare tells us about the significance of the runes that run through her Mortal Instuments, Infernal Devices, Bane Chonicles, Shadowhunter Academy and now new Dark Artifices series
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Superfans get to ask Cassie Clare exclusive questions to celebrate the publication of her return to the Los Angeles Shadowhunters world with Lady Midnight, book one in The Dark Artifices series!
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We have three tickets to Cassandra Clare’s special theatre event for superfants to celebrate the launch of her new novel Lady Midnight( plus goody bags and collectors’ copy of Lady Midnight) to give away to one lucky reader! Mega fans enter here but read the Ts and Cs first
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Jill Murphy’s much-loved character Mrs Large searched for an elusive five minutes’ peace from her adorable but demanding little brood. On Mother’s Day, discover the story behind the book
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Meet Supertato! He’s always there for you when the chips are down (groan...). Now you can draw your very own top ‘tater - but keep your eyes peeled for his arch nemesis, The Evil Pea!
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Dark, intense relationships can make for a good YA read, but they can also open up a conversation about the danger of toxic love in the real world
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Submissions are now open for publishers to enter the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2016. The closing date is 22 March 2016 so enter ASAP!
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
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The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféFood in books: Jollof Rice from Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieA second reading of Adichie’s novel has Kate Young exploring new culinary territory and trying out this homely Nigerian dish
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Translation Tuesdays by AsymptoteTranslation Tuesdays by AsymptoteTranslation Tuesday: excerpt from The Lights of Pointe-Noire by Alain MabanckouCelebrate literary translation with this extract from the latest novel by Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou, winner of the French Voices Grand Prize 2016 and 2015 Man Booker International Prize shortlistee
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pictures, video & audio
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We travel around the human body with GP Gavin Francis, venture into the operating theatre with surgeon Samer Nashef and join investigative reporter Jack Parlabane on the trail of ‘blade bitch’
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The perils of a path to personal literary success, inspired by Karl Ove Knausgaard’s reflections on exposing intimate details of his life and his family
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Marking the 200th birthday of Charlotte Brontë in 2016, illustrator Santiago Caruso took on the task of bringing out the haunting elements of Jane Eyre for the Folio Society edition
you may have missed
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‘Gunvor didn’t mind my erectile dysfunction and it was all very nice apart from the times when I was unfaithful to her’
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Science and nature How cars ruined our love of the countryside
Melissa HarrisonFrom Kipling’s first car journey to JG Ballard’s motorway dystopias – our growing disconnection from the outdoors can be traced in literature -
The mega-selling author on faith, animals and his new novel – and his insant rise from struggling writer to literary household name
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Children of all ages pitted their literary wits against a fiendishly difficult World Book Day quiz on books for young readers. Try this selection of questions to find out if you can keep up with the kids
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Books blog JK Rowling checks out Orkney's award-winning library in person