Books blog
-
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
-
Superficially traditional, this 1923 sonnet on an artist and his model conceals some of the daring that made the author a groundbreaking modernist
-
Readers responded emotionally to our story trailing some of the revelations in the new BBC docudrama. As it airs, this is an opportunity to discuss further
-
Haley’s influential family saga about 18th century slavery is back on TV, but its literary reputation is still tarnished by questions of authenticity
-
Luton council is to name two streets in tribute to the late Steve Dillon’s creations – joining a long line of literature that’s been put literally on the map
-
The rumbustious story of winged circus performer Sophie Fevvers was extravagantly praised on publication and should give us much to talk about
-
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
-
Even the literature that seems most rooted in one place is animated by writing from elsewhere – and trying to keep that influence out is profoundly dangerous
-
These gritty space operas combine extravagant, high-tech invention with real human drama. Thirty years after they began appearing, here are some of the best
-
A careful engagement with nature ‘in its fault and fold’ is also a watchful flight from human complication
-
The BAME short story prize that reaches out to black, Asian and minority ethnic writers is now open for this year’s entries
-
Northern Ireland borrowed the Guinness World Records, Wales and Scotland thrillers by Lee Child and Paula Hawkins, while Londoners crammed for their driving test
-
The Stanford Dolman travel book of the year shortlistee reflects on the allure of the travel writer’s journey
-
Sebastian Barry's second Costa win crowns a singular career
Justine JordanDays Without End sees the novelist venturing in to the 19th-century American west to find a tender story of ‘two wood-shavings of humanity in a rough world’
-
With an output to match her prodigious imagination, there are a good few fine novels and story collections to choose from. It’s up to you to decide which one
-
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
-
Written by a distinctly slithery character, this playful courtship poem is nonetheless an entertaining – and satisfyingly allusive – pastoral
-
Quick Read author Dreda Say Mitchell on the new Reading Agency initiative that aims to change lives by promoting adult literacy
-
Burns Night celebrates the wrong Scottish poet
Stuart KellyThe bard honoured on 25 January was a fine writer, but he also treated women appallingly. I can think of at least one other Scots author more worthy of a national festival
-
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
-
An Irish poet looks back, past the snobbish abundance of his country’s recently upended boom years, to the appalling suffering of the Great Famine
-
Facing the pressures of high office, Obama turned to Shakespeare and George W Bush read political biographies. What might help the Donald get through his term?
-
From the dystopias of Cormac McCarthy and Margaret Atwood to a ‘biopunk’ thriller and a teen comedy – these are some of the best stories of ecological peril
-
How 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
-
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
-
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
-
From the last years of the 60s, this is a startlingly even-handed depiction of personal and social promise – and its inevitable dangers
-
Abraham Lincoln set the standard, John F Kennedy’s words live on today – so what will Donald Trump add to the history of the inaugural speech?
-
The Body Coach is a million seller and other web stars’ books are selling very well. Publishers in profit is good news for readers – and some of these books are actually worth reading
-
Nora Helmer starts out as a perfectly compliant wife and mother in this 1879 drama, but a life-threatening ordeal drives her to break out of convention
-
Penelope Fitzgerald’s subject is recondite, and her meaning hard to decipher – but she’s such an engaging writer that the reader won’t mind too much
-
His meditation on nature and creativity encourages readers to turn away from purposeful activity and embrace the ‘profound harmlessness’ of natural life
His Dark Materials is two decades old, but its lessons are made for today