Books
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Despite shops being closed for much of 2020, figures show Britons bought books in volume – although many authors continued to struggle
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Experimenting with the possibilities of the sonnet form, this playful work deploys the rules of grammar as a wooing technique
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Conversations featuring the likes of Noam Chomsky, Brian Eno and Slavoj Žižek imagine a more communal world after Covid -
Little is left to the imagination in a tender work of autofiction about a writing teacher’s experiences as a new dad -
Judges praise the British-Indian poet’s ‘formidable’ collection, exploring the dynamic between an immigrant and her white, middle-class host
2021 in books
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Kazuo Ishiguro returns with a novel about an artificial friend, Zadie Smith brings the Wife of Bath bang up to date, Bill Gates takes on the climate crisis ... a literary calendar for the year ahead
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Two doctors on the front line against Covid-19 are enraged at politicians but witness kindness and bravery every day -
An astute analysis of burnout blames our inhumane form of capitalism rather than the alleged failings of the young -
When friends mean less than plots ... a flawed portrayal of the noir novelist as a figure bordering on the grotesque
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This prize-winning novel combines history and current crises with a dictionary of the Wiradjuri language -
What if five children killed in the blitz had survived? With bold metaphysical engineering, the Golden Hill author conjures miraculous everyday existence -
Exit by Belinda Bauer; The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean; Girl A by Abigail Dean; The Survivors by Jane Harper; People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd; One Night, New York by Lara Thompson
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This slow-building debut novel from the Irish short-story writer investigates intimacy and estrangement -
Bad taste has a purpose in this outrageous satire on tribalism, family relationships and the weight of history -
Moments of passing beauty and monumental losses are handled with equal skill in a comforting book
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Hate U Give author Angie Thomas triumphantly follows up her acclaimed debut -
The comedian, whose diaries of his years as a junior doctor became a bestseller, talks about the ‘astonishing’ efforts of the NHS in 2020, and his new guide to the body for children -
David Walliams, Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Springsteen … when celebrity authors make big money from children’s books, do young readers and other writers pay the price?
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The novelist and editor of The Good Immigrant on telling his children about racism, his relationship with food and coming to terms with his mother’s death in his new memoir Brown Baby -
The bestselling historical novelist has had a productive lockdown - reading 250 books and writing two, all while caring for her elderly mother-in-law -
The author of acclaimed debut novel A Burning on how being an editor informs her writing, and why children’s books sparked her interest in English
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As the first book in his spy series, Slow Horses, is made into a TV drama, Herron talks about his slow-burn success – and the resemblance of a certain blustering villain to our PM -
Her ‘hot and crazy’ novels about feisty women bedding rakish aristocrats have become a Netflix sensation. The writer talks about literary snobs, colour-conscious casting and the curse of Jane Austen -
From a childhood in care to dazzling readers with her debut The Panopticon, Fagan talks about writing her third novel, channelling rage, and why now is a pivotal moment for us all
What to read
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Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list -
After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has concluded his selection of the 100 greatest nonfiction books of all time. Take a quick look back at five centuries of great writing -
Regulars
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Books that made me Richard Flanagan: 'I still feel it shameful to not finish a book, even a bad one'
The Booker prize winner on his love of Borges, the underrated Bohumil Hrabal, and memories of his mother reading him Wind in the Willows -
Experimenting with the possibilities of the sonnet form, this playful work deploys the rules of grammar as a wooing technique
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In fiction by authors from Stephen King to Hilary Mantel, these ambiguous figures are poised between two worlds, belonging to neither
You may have missed
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Her recital at Joe Biden’s inauguration electrified viewers and sent the hitherto little known poet’s work to the top of the charts
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The author reflects on the uncoolness of loving a famous painter, and the inspirations behind his latest book – a reimagining of Bacon’s final days in Madrid -
His skills as a fixer are finely honed – but they cannot restore a pre-Trump normality. As president, Biden’s private self, shadowed by loss, must come into its own -
Twenty-five years after his Booker prize‑winning novel was published, Swift reflects on how his story of a dark day trip to Margate became a celebration of life
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Girl A Abigail Dean on her shocking debut novel that's taking the book world by storm