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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The author reflects on the sense of alienation that informed his first novel, and the book’s lasting message of moral responsibility
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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
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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