Books
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When R numbers have been daily news, and medical officers have shared platforms with politicians, Gaia Vince reflects on a challenging and exhilarating year of being a science writer
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The prize-winning author’s life is now an episode of Steve McQueen’s hit series Small Axe. He talks about working on the project and his latest novel, based on a Jamaican slave uprising
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Themes of love and loneliness, doom and desire are explored in a richly comic collection from an Irish maestro
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Due out next year, the novel will see the Rebus creator fill out notes for another Laidlaw mystery left by the revered Scottish crime writer on his death in 2015
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The US president’s refusal to concede the election looks unnervingly familiar to a classicist – ancient Rome offers valuable lessons about letting go of power
Books of the year
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A teenager’s nature diary, the race for a vaccine and the return of Lyra ... books have been vital in getting us through the year. Guardian critics pick 2020’s best fiction, poetry, politics, science and more
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A stimulating guide, edited by Charlotte Lydia Riley, unpacks the arguments that are raging around free speech
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The round-the-world cycle ride that turned into an internet sensation – with the help of a feline companion
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The American writer suffers mockery and swallows chef ‘philosophy’ as he sets out to master high-craft cooking in Lyon
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A fierce and clear-eyed debut that finds a fresh way to explore humankind’s role in environmental chaos
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This page-turning thriller about class and race in the midst of unfolding catastrophe explores stasis, indecision and the agonies of parenting
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This intensely humane second novel, focused on the city’s ‘invisibles’, amplifies the questions Covid-19 has brought into sharp focus
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America’s ambassador for young people’s literature talks about touring Trump country, facing down racism and why there’s no such thing as a bad kid
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The last white rhino, a stolen inheritance, terrifying sea journeys and some ballet dancing bunnies me....
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Loneliness, isolation and grief were common themes in this year’s Cape/Observer award. But the winner made the judges laugh out loud
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The ghostwriter behind the memoirs of Keith Richards and David Bailey on difficult subjects
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The writer-star has had a baby, lost a close friend and published a memoir in lockdown. She talks about the trouble with male comedy writers – and why she wants to make a sketch show all about the clitoris
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The outspoken artist talks about his new book arriving in an ‘absolutely weird’ year and why Trump remains ‘the worst person in our known history’
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The feminist writer on racism in her London childhood, her new book about female slaves, and the part Ghana played in shaping her identity
Regulars
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The winner of the Baillie Gifford prize on giving up on Balzac, Saki’s black humour, and why parody doesn’t last long
You may have missed
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Lying, paranoia and conspiracy are defining features of a totalitarian society. What hope is there for a brand new era, in the aftermath of an administration that has relied on all three?
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‘The dictator’, ‘this man’, ‘the president’ – over the last four years, authors have gone out of their way to avoid Trump’s name. But why?
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An alertness to racial injustice, a weaponised word in the culture wars, a reflection of our times ... Kenya Hunt explores how the world woke up
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When Fariha Róisín started writing Like a Bird, she thought the traumatic event at its heart was just a dream. She explores the weight of a family secret
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