books
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From Turgenev to Tobias Wolff and John Cheever to Alice Munro, many of the best short stories hinge around borders being transgressed
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Kate Young finds Philip Pullman’s mystery series stands the test of time, as does it joyous fruitcake
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Silvertail Books told that if it releases Ruthless by Ron Miscavige it will face legal action
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From The Hunger Games to Zadie Smith: a visit to HMP Thameside’s weekly event reveals just how powerfully books can bring people together
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Reference and languages The Language Animal by Charles Taylor – how words change our world
Jonathan RéeFor the whole of his distinguished career in philosophy Taylor has argued in favour of the idea that language doesn’t simply map our world but creates it. This is the definitive statement of the case -
A superbly researched book details the incompetents and priapic murderers whom Stalin selected to carry out his atrocities
news
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Peter Rabbit drawing for story of Kitty-in-Boots will be on display to celebrate 150th anniversary of birth of children’s author Beatrix Potter
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As the shortlists for the 2016 prizes are announced, writers consider how the genre’s leading prizes can survive the bitter Sad and Rabid Puppies debacle
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The author of The Eyre Affair is coming in to chat about everything from Charlotte Brontë to comedy writing and will answer your questions in a live webchat from 1pm BST on Tuesday 3 May
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With Rudyard Kipling’s children’s classic The Jungle Book back in everyone’s minds, we approached 10 artists and illustrators to recreate their favourite scene or character from the book
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Write us a short story reimagining your favourite Jungle Book character to go in the draw to win tickets and merchandise for the new Disney film adaptation
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Each day, artists illustrate a scene from Rudyard Kipling’s classic The Jungle Book. Here Marta Altés draws Mowgli telling Bagheera about his language lessons with Baloo
regulars
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Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 stories of crossing boundariesFrom Turgenev to Tobias Wolff and John Cheever to Alice Munro, many of the best short stories hinge around borders being transgressed
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Reading groupReading groupJasper Fforde webchat – post your questions nowThe author of The Eyre Affair is coming in to chat about everything from Charlotte Brontë to comedy writing and will answer your questions in a live webchat from 1pm BST on Tuesday 3 May
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100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 Best Nonfiction Books of All TimeThe 100 best nonfiction books: No 13 – The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer (1970)The Australian feminist’s famous polemic, if a little outdated, remains a masterpiece of passionate free expression
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PodcastPodcastHearing voices with Charles Fernyhough and Francesca Kay – books podcastWe tune in to the voices inside our heads with the psychologist Charles Fernyhough and the novelist Francesca Kay
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Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich A documentary approach makes for a vivid experience, unbearably so
Nicholas LezardNicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: a revised edition of the harrowing monologues from survivors of the disaster brought together by the Nobel prize-winner -
Both Mendelssohns were composers, yet it is Felix not Fanny who is remembered. Why have so many female artists remained unheard?
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Though heavy with egotistical bluster, the former Greek finance minister has valid points to make in this critique of the EU and global meltdown
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Sport and leisure Following On: A Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket by Emma John
Alexander LarmanEmma John’s years of infatuation with England’s hopeless 1990s team come good with this engaging and witty memoir -
Hearing voices can be as much a sign of creativity as madness, according to an intriguing new psychological study
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Review Kathmandu by Thomas Bell – recording the aftershocks
Carole CadwalladrNepal’s earthquake, a year ago this week, is just one chapter in the country’s tragic history
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Fiction What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi – short stories from a rare talent
Kate ClanchyOyeyemi struggles against the confines of the short story in pieces that range from beautiful, simple fables to tricksy fantasies -
Review The Cauliflower by Nicola Barker – bold flavours
Stephanie CrossBarker’s fictionalised biography of Indian mystic Sri Ramakrishna is typically audacious but a little hit and miss -
Short stories Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories After Cervantes and Shakespeare – a triumph of collaboration
Miranda FranceInspired by Shakespeare and Cervantes, 12 novelists and translators have produced some fine and unusual short stories
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YA fiction Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman – love, loss and green-eyed monsters in space
Tony BradmanThis spectacular space mission, inspired by Othello and Star Trek, goes boldly where few YA titles have gone before -
A hopeful end-of-the-world novel contrasts with a poetry collection suffused with ennui
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The award-winning playwright’s impressive novel sees five lives unravel after a car crash
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‘It was badly done’ – to quote Mr Knightley – an ill-judged rendering of Jane Austen’s most famous work
people
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Her gleefully controversial debut novel concerns a 21-stone woman who joins a violent fightback against anti-fat attitudes. Sarai Walker talks about taking on the liberal werewolves – and why it’s time we stripped fat of its negative connotations
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The philosopher is back with a new novel, The Course of Love, and answered your questions in a live webchat – addressing everything from the refugee crisis to rejection in love
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The author explains why creating a fictional diary for this 17th-century man of letters made more sense than writing a conventional biography
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Dorothy Wordsworth’s notebooks reveal a formidable Romantic writer unfairly eclipsed by her brother. A new illustrated edition of The Grasmere Journal takes a fresh look
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Where’s Wally is more than just a puzzle, says Lorenzo Etherington. We can find all of humanity in Wally’s world
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Watch the intriguing trailer for Ned’s Circus of Marvels by Justin Fisher
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The debut author of surf story Kook speaks to teen site member lucyal99 about his love of the sea, his work for animal conservation charities – and how to go about writing a rave
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Looking for Alaska has been named the most complained about book of 2015 in America for it’s ‘offensive language’ and ‘sexually explicit descriptions’ – we report on John Green’s response to the news
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After 16 years as successful children’s TV script writers, Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler decided to write a book together... here’s what they learned
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Ex-model turned successful teen author Holly Smale on why her Geek Girl series is a story about being yourself, no matter what
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The world of graphic novels can seem like a minefield, especially if you’re not a superhero fan. Here are seven of the best introductions to the genre for teens
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
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The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféFood in books: fruitcake from The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip PullmanKate Young finds Philip Pullman’s mystery series stands the test of time, as does it joyous fruitcake
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Interview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore: Housing Works Bookstore in New YorkThey sell books, but they also provide care for thousands of homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. Welcome to the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the US – and a fantastic bookstore
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pictures, video & audio
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Following the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth, her character Jane Eyre continues to inspire
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We tune in to the voices inside our heads with the psychologist Charles Fernyhough and the novelist Francesca Kay
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How would you react if you saw someone reading Getting Away With Murder for Dummies on public transport? Comic Scott Rogowsky took some pretend, provocative book covers on an underground operation
you may have missed
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He’s obsessed with ‘spectacular rear ends’ and describes his fans as scum. Yet comic artist Robert Crumb is somehow in danger of becoming respectable
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The author of the bestselling Percy Jackson series talks to Tim Adams about getting kids to read, including his own
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As her latest Roman opus hits our screens, the classics scholar is as unapologetically thoughtful as ever – and much more likely to swear about British attitudes to Pompeii than she is about Twitter trolls
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The books interview: The acclaimed Israeli novelist on the political role of the writer and why it is time to rethink the two-state solution
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Warsan Shire The Somali-British poet quoted by Beyoncé in Lemonade