books
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Contemporary short storiesAhead of 2017’s National short story prize, Jon McGregor reluctantly chooses ‘swoony’ work from recent years showing some of the ways to write them well -
Your questions answered on Brexit, education and writing for kidsThe prolific children’s author discussed his opinions on Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn and what the education system can do to encourage children’s creativity
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An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn – a father, a son and Homer’s epicWas Odysseus a hero or a self-pitying liar? Mendelsohn’s father embarrassed him by publicly challenging his view of the epic – a rich moment in a brilliant family memoir -
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hero 'was originally black'Roald Dahl’s widow and biographer say first Charlie was black but writer was persuaded to make him white
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The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David LagercrantzCan this latest addition to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series live up to the originals?
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Why the famously awful Harry Potter fanfiction isn't bad at allNow that the much ridiculed reworking of the boy wizard’s world has had its author revealed, isn’t it time to recognise its good points?
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Salman Rushdie's Shame is unembarrassed about its daringFrom the giddying digressions and fabulous detail of its first paragraph, this novel makes no secret of its vaulting ambition
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Not the Booker prize
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The Threat Level Remains Severe by Rowena Macdonald – charmingly oddA funny and refreshingly strange political novel, which also takes an acid look at life in Westminster
regulars
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Book of the dayBook of the dayThe Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness review – trauma and braveryGraham Caveney’s big-hearted, free-associating book is by turns angry and analytical. It skewers sentimental cant
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PodcastPodcastKamila Shamsie and Preti Taneja on reimagining classics - books podcastThe two novelists have used Greek tragedy and Shakespeare respectively to tell tough stories of modern life. They discuss how they went about it
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Novel recipesNovel recipesNovel recipes: ice-cream floats from Agatha Christie's Crooked HouseA brief jaunt for a sweet treat in one of Christie’s beloved detective mysteries sparks inspiration in the mind and kitchen of Kate Young
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Reading groupReading groupSalman Rushdie's Shame is unembarrassed about its daringFrom the giddying digressions and fabulous detail of its first paragraph, this novel makes no secret of its vaulting ambition
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Poppies of Iraq – the ruins of a lost childhoodBrigitte Findakly’s moving memoir, drawn by Lewis Trondheim, captures a more innocent time both for herself and the home country she had to give up
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Till Time’s Last Sand – a bloodless history of the Bank of EnglandDavid Kynaston’s power to entertain eludes him in this exhaustive but dry as dust account of the central bank
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Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages That Shaped EuropeDeborah Cadbury delivers a ripping account of Victoria’s often catastrophic meddling in the lives of her children and grandchildren
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A Sinner in Mecca – Islam, homosexuality and the hope of toleranceIn a book subtitled ‘A Gay Muslim’s Hajj of Defiance’, Parvez Sharma’s pilgrimage leads him to consider Isis, Wahabbism and the true nature of his faith
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Bread for All: The Origins of the Welfare State by Chris Renwick – the labour before Labour’s triumphA new account shows how Attlee’s reforms built on foundations laid down decades earlier – and that was the key to their success
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A Life of My Own by Claire Tomalin – this time, it’s personalOne of the greatest biographers of our age finally shines the spotlight on herself in this moving and beautifully written memoir
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Smile by Roddy Doyle – a bleak picture of institutional abuseA chance encounter in a Dublin pub leads a middle-aged man to relive his past in a devastating novel with a shocking twist
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A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré – a final turn from Smiley’s Circus?Le Carré revisits old ground in a polished thriller with a distinct valedictory air
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The Burning Girl by Claire Messud review – innocence and lossYoung adolescence is vividly captured in this sober novel about relationships and the price of maturity
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Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen – the baggage of the past in contemporary AmericaTwo young Israeli former soldiers find parallels with home when living in the US
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The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk – ancient myths and authorial friskinessEveryday life and inherited stories combine in a parable about present-day Turkey
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The Graybar Hotel by Curtis DawkinsThis debut collection, set in the US prison system, is compelling and real
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On a Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna – alive to the power of natureA ramble in the woods proves transformative in this award-winning celebratory tale
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A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge – spooky English civil war mysteryA girl is possessed by the spirit of a bear in Hardinge’s hypnotic follow-up to her Costa prize-winning The Lie Tree
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The best new picture books and novelsFrom a swamp monster who speaks in verse to a guinea pig in search of world renown, plus a chilling graphic novel and an adventure in the Amazon
from the archive
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A short story by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieTwo women caught up in a violent street riot take shelter in an abandoned shop. A short story by the Orange Prize-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
people
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We should let children dawdle and dreamThe new children’s laureate on why society is too goal-oriented and how she plans to use her role to encourage youngsters to develop their creativity by ‘just having a go’
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The forbidden wonder of birds’ nests and eggsThe author of H Is for Hawk explains how an appreciation of bird habitats enables a unique connection with the natural world
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A new Roald Dahl character to draw, nearly 40 years after my firstThe celebrated illustrator reveals how he came to create Billy, the Minpins and the other characters in a new version of one of Dahl’s last books
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My work is fuelled by music, mitching and mugs of green teaThe bestselling author writes his novel in the morning, a play or column in the afternoon – and likes to sneak off to the cinema when nobody is looking
pictures, video & audio
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Kamila Shamsie and Preti Taneja on reimagining classicsThe two novelists have used Greek tragedy and Shakespeare respectively to tell tough stories of modern life. They discuss how they went about it
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Colm Tóibín in conversationThe acclaimed Irish novelist talks to Charlotte Higgins about House of Names, his reimagining of the Greek tragedy of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
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Edinburgh book festival with Colson Whitehead and othersWe visit the Edinburgh international book festival to speak with Man Booker nominee Whitehead, Norwegian author Lars Mytting and British novelist Rachel Seiffert
you may have missed
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Meet the sleuth tracking down the poetry cheatsIra Lightman is a man on a mission: to root out plagiarism in poetry. And his latest case is the most shameless yet
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Realising that poetry was performance was my eureka momentThe writer and broadcaster on a career ranging from Émile Zola to children’s poetry with wee-wee jokes
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Meet Gabriel Tallent, the author of 2017's most talked-about novelMy Absolute Darling is a page-turning thriller that’s been compared to Catch-22 and To Kill a Mockingbird by Stephen King. Its author reveals how a feminist, bushwhacking childhood in California inspired his dark debut
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A second Brexit referendum might seem like a stab in the back from the eliteLast year the New York Times CEO and ex-BBC boss published a book lamenting the decline in political discourse. With the advent of Brexit and Trump, he’s had to write a new chapter…
Man Booker prize 2017 Shortlist makes room for debuts alongside big names
A former judge's verdict 'This is a daring Man Booker shortlist'
Opinion 'How many Man Bookers must writers of colour win before they’re accepted?'