books
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As Peter Rabbit and friends return in a brand new tale and on Royal Mail stamps, Nicholas Tucker remembers the writer, illustrator and sheep farmer
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Man Booker prize longlist is a disappointment for diversity
June Eric UdorieThere have been hopeful signs that UK publishing is seeking to embrace BAME writers, but that is not yet reflected in the selections for 2016’s award
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Two-time winner JM Coetzee’s latest book is on list along with little-reviewed crime thriller by Graeme Macrae Burnet
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Review We Are Not Such Things by Justine van der Leun – the shocking murder of Amy Biehl
Elizabeth LowryBiehl, an American ANC supporter, was killed by a group of young men in a South African township in 1993. This first book on the famous case turns it upside down -
When his first two novels were recently rereleased, Haruki Murakami said he viewed them with love and embarrassment. But as Lowry Pei writes, the books set a path for the author away from despair and towards true sincerity
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‘I thought that little girl’s only chances were suicide or murder.’ This is a powerful, devastating account of a childhood without boundaries on New York’s Upper East Side
news
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Campaigners condemn strategy to retain four council-run branches, but pass the other 11 to voluntary operations
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From Miles Franklin to Bruce Chatwin, these writers show how tightly this spectacular but dangerous territory is bound up with the country’s identity
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JD Salinger’s twinned stories make an odd pair, but they acquire deeper resonance when set in the context of his earlier work, and life experience
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summer reading
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From Essex serpents to chimpanzees, political satire to the best new thrillers … leading writers reveal which books they will be taking to the beach
regulars
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Top 10sTop 10sTop 10 books about the Australian bushFrom Miles Franklin to Bruce Chatwin, these writers show how tightly this spectacular but dangerous territory is bound up with the country’s identity
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Reading groupReading groupWhat to read before and after Franny and ZooeyJD Salinger’s twinned stories make an odd pair, but they acquire deeper resonance when set in the context of his earlier work, and life experience
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100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time100 best nonfiction books: No 26 – Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin (1955)Baldwin’s landmark collection of essays explores, in telling language, what it means to be a black man in modern America
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PodcastPodcastCatching the zeitgeist with Eileen Myles, Martin MacInnes and Idra NoveyFragilities of language and identity feature in edgy new works from two debut novelists and ‘the rock star of modern poetry’
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Waugh was a highly autobiographical writer, who turned the ‘chaos’ of his life into such novels as A Handful of Dust. But he never recovered from two humiliations
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Keggie Carew and Iain Maitland explore in memoir and epistolary form the fraught relations between father and offspring
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A memoir about working in an independent record shop in Bristol in the 1990s explores the connection between music and memory
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History Flâneuse by Lauren Elkin – wandering women
Lucy ScholesIn this enjoyable memoir-cum-cultural history, Lauren Elkin calls upon the female spirit of idle strolling -
History Does Terrorism Work? by Richard English
Ian BirrellThere are no easy answers in this study of terror groups from IRA to al-Qaida but the search to find some is valid and interesting -
They were rivals who shaped American architecture, but to call them an ‘odd couple’ overstates their relationship
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A mother on the run with her children takes a road trip through Alaska in a novel driven by wit, empathy and moral indignation
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Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: In Emily Berry, Anne Carson and Sophie Collins, Penguin has showcased three funny, playful and creative writers
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The poet’s seventh collection is a revelation – everything is on her radar
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In this attempt to breathe new life into his old characters, Jay McInerney confirms that his best work is behind him
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A curse sets a boy free in this Swedish folktale by the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature, a welcome addition to Penguin’s Classics series
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A bereaved father and son leave Scotland for Memphis in a richly observed tale of loneliness and loss
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Edited by Sasha Dugdale and David & Helen Constantine, this anthology illustrates that Ted Hughes’s magazine is still invaluable
people
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It is 14 years since Colin Thubron’s last novel but, he explains, there was research to do, which meant a lot of travelling…
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The author on self-doubt, Scandi crime and throwing away three quarters of what he produces
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Growing up, Bowie was as influenced by surrealist art and film as he was by Little Richard and John Coltrane, says Paul Morley
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The prizewinning poet on myths, gardening and why her work is getting darker
children's books
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We announce the eight wonderful authors and books that have been longlisted for our prize, this year judged by David Almond, SF Said and Kate Saunders
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Review one of the Guardian children’s fiction prize 2016 longlisted books as an individual or a school book group and be in with a chance of winning books, national book tokens and an invite to meet authors at our award ceremony – enter here!
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The Guardian is changing how it covers children’s books – here we look back at some of the highlights of the Guardian children’s books site since 2011
A selection of our favourite literary content from around the world
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The Little Library CaféThe Little Library CaféStrawberry and peanut butter ice cream from Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsAs the UK sizzles in a heatwave, Kate Young conjures up a sweet, cold treat enjoyed by Harry Potter himself
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Interview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore by Literary HubInterview with a Bookstore: Prairie Lights, a shop fit for presidentsA bookstore in the US’s only City of Literature, Prairie Lights is beloved by Iowa City’s healthy literary community. Over the years, its booksellers have served icons - David Sedraris, Colm Toibin and even one Barack Obama...
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pictures, video & audio
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Fragilities of language and identity feature in edgy new works from two debut novelists and ‘the rock star of modern poetry’
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American photojournalist Lee Lockwood’s remarkable access to the revolutionary leader in the first years of his rule – including a seven-day marathon interview – provides a unique record of historic times
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Novels from Colombia and Mexico explore how our lives are shaped by history
you may have missed
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We need your help in finding the year’s best fiction. Please declare your favourites below, and sign up to a democracy you can enjoy
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Climate change and mass extinctions suggest that we have been telling the wrong stories. Writers need to reconnect with the natural world
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What Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fox taught me about love, pain and loss
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From theatres of social snobbery to fiery manifestos for rewilding, these volumes show that gardening can be sexy, scary and sometimes scandalous
popular
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- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child He’s still my Harry