From Muslim Indian women’s lives to a Danish time looper, all six contenders for the £50,000 prize are from independent presses, as translator Sophie Hughes earns an unprecedented third nomination Hiromi Kawakami and Solvej Balle have...
In focusing on the multilateral bonds that were forged to defeat Hitler, this entertaining account offers fresh disclosures about the course of the conflict Can anything new be said about the second world war? Unexpectedly the answer is...
This richly detailed and exhaustive biography of the maverick 60s British music producer reveals a sonic visionary whose brilliance concealed a tragically violent temper Joe Meek first tasted success as a record producer when he created...
A strategically flattering tribute to a pioneering female writer is lifted by authentic warmth and admiration A Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth I that have been a lover, and could show it, Though not in these, in rithmes...
Sketched in cinematic black and white, this illustrated interpretation of the late author’s postmodern detective novel is a ‘stone-cold masterpiece’ It was a wrong number that started it – literally in the case of The New York Trilogy ....
Partner confirms death of prolific author, criminal lawyer and playwright after illness in her home city of Melbourne Australian author Kerry Greenwood, best known for her Phryne Fisher murder mystery novels, has died at the age of 70...
The Submarine author employs that novel’s warmth and wit in his investigation into whether his great-grandfather knowingly helped to make chemical weapons for the Nazis Joe Dunthorne tells us he originally envisaged this book as a story...
Dive into the world of Freida McFadden, where nothing is as it seems and every character hides a secret. Her gripping tales have captivated millions worldwide.
The Scottish actor Morven Christie draws out the forlorn beauty of the prose in this haunting memoir A haunting exploration of a life shaped by literature and anorexia, The Fell author Sarah Moss ’s memoir is told in the second person,...
The Alex Rider author on being put off Dickens for a decade, why he reads poetry in the mornings, and how reading Sherlock Holmes made him want to be a crime writer My earliest reading memory I started with a comic: Valiant. Hardly...
The poet and writer returns to the May Day mountains in a gentle rumination on family and nature Go these days to any independent bookshop or art gallery or zine fair, and you may find yourself asking: where are the humans? Title after...
A runaway orphan from coastal Kent is the protagonist in this tightly plotted reimagining of Herman Melville’s whaling classic “‘And now here I was, an accidental whaler, who knew nothing of whales, except the festive spout in the...
A psychotherapist explores the nature of infidelity through a series of case studies Affairs are hot stuff. The antics of cheating partners have been hooking audiences from the earliest days of storytelling to modern romcoms...
Once your kids are at university, what’s next for you? This compelling depiction of life at a crossroads is a male counterpart to Miranda July’s All Fours Ben Markovits’s quietly excellent new novel begins with the most mundane of...
What happens when fiction mirrors reality too closely? One Stephen King novel is a story that crossed the line, leading to its own withdrawal from shelves.
The artist and musician is a brilliant subject for an epic, in-depth biography, but this is merely hagiography In 1966 a woman sat down at the Destruction in Art Symposium at London’s Africa Centre and invited people to cut off her...
Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some brilliant new paperbacks, from an engrossing study of Chinese women to a fun, loveable novel Continue reading...
A New York librarian is discovered unconscious in a park with no memory, in a mystery that challenges consensual reality We first meet Jane O in the consulting room of Henry Byrd, a New York psychiatrist. Jane, a 38-year-old librarian,...
The author of The Five, about the Ripper murders, turns her attention to another tragically misunderstood victim In the canon of British true crime, the case of Dr Crippen routinely gets billed as the first “modern” murder. It wasn’t...
Authors and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments When HHhH by Laurent Binet came out in 2012, I was scared away by the impenetrable title. I still don’t like the...
A classic Yeti romp with 28 possible endings, a Blade Runner-style thriller and more adventures on the Thames with Jessie Burton Before video games dangled dopamine hits and a sense of agency, there were Choose Your Own Adventure books,...
This account of Dr Crippen’s notorious Edwardian-era killing shifts the focus to the women at the centre of the sordid tale On the evening of 31 January 1910, two couples dined together at a house in Hilldrop Crescent, on the borders of...
‘Follow your instincts’ has become a modern mantra. But what if they lead you astray? ‘What should I do?” Whether openly stated or implicit, this is the question a new client usually raises in their first therapy session. People come to...
Two enjoyable debut novels put fresh meat on Fitzgerald’s deathless classic – one a modern-day retelling in which Gatsby becomes a female influencer, another a pacy murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie It might seem unfathomable...
In the final part of a bravura trilogy detailing the struggle to bring war criminals to account, Sands tracks a former SS commander to Chile, where he found a friend in Augusto Pinochet This is the concluding part of Philippe Sands’s...
Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors of our time, and he's often asked about his favourite books - here's a look at his top 10 novels of all time
A night of violence exposes the dynamics of race, masculinity and privilege at play in America’s schools The Marabar caves in A Passage to India represent the breakdown of order and communication as well as provoking the terrible...
The International Booker-longlisted Italian novelist on why he chose to rewrite Georges Perec, his preference for description over dialogue and being part of an anti-gentrification collective in Milan Vincenzo Latronico, 40, was born in...
Solvej Balle had been planning her time-loop novel for a decade when the Bill Murray comedy beat her to it. Thirty years and five volumes later, it is longlisted for the International Booker If you’ve heard about Solvej Balle’s On the...
The award-winning writer turned the Jack the Ripper case on its head. Now she is giving Dr Crippen the same treatment – and questioning how we tell stories about murderous men It was called “the crime of the century” and “the north...
An honest and intensely moving book about the struggle of parenthood and the power of connection One of my favourite books growing up was my dad’s copy of The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. I spent hours flicking through images of an...
Sololand by Hassan Blasim; On the Clock by Claire Baglin; Nothing Grows By Moonlight by Torborg Nedreaas; Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza Sololand by Hassan Blasim , translated by Jonathan Wright ( Comma Press, £10.99 ) This...
Families are at war in the new India, in a novel raising complex questions about patriotism, nationalism and how the country is changing In Delhi the seasons are “human-fucked”, explains Tara Saxena, the narrator-protagonist of The...
The Jamaican-born author on exploring nature and black identity in his nonfiction debut, his chaotic writing habits, and how the TS Eliot prize changed his life J ason Allen-Paisant , born in Jamaica in 1980, is a poet, writer and...
Sleepy monsters; a wacky broken robot; a search for magical treasures and more Hello Bunny! by Sharon King-Chai , Two Hoots , £8.99 An entrancingly bold, shiny board book, full of bright creatures, joyous greetings, and a baby-pleasing...
The award-winning Nigerian author and Beyoncé-sampled essayist is back with her first novel in a decade, which makes now a great time to get to know her work She’s won multiple awards for her novels, had her Ted talk sampled by Beyoncé,...
The literary giant’s only child reflects on his father’s devotion in their days together in rural Scotland, his early death, his genius as a writer – and his reputation as a womaniser Richard Blair didn’t have the easiest start in life....
The Northern Irish journalist turned author on writing a haunted house novel for the rental age, her trick for capturing dialogue and favourite millennial reads Róisín Lanigan, 33, grew up in Belfast and studied at Queen’s University...
On the 20th anniversary of Never Let Me Go, the Nobel prize-winning novelist talks about the role of the author in a post-truth world – and why he’s ‘not a great writer of prose’ • Anne Enright and others celebrate 20 years of Never Let...
Laughter abounds with tales of mini beasts at bedtime, a box filled with babbling babies and an odd-couple comedy from Julia Donaldson The day is done. It’s time for little ones to go to bed. But first, one poorly demon needs his Calpol,...
While Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett never wrote a sequel, they did sketch out a plot that will now form a second season. If they wanted to continue the story, I want to watch it In 2017, when Neil Gaiman first sat down in St James’s...
The books world was growing worryingly well-mannered, but Ozick’s response – in verse – to a bad review by Shriver has revived the fine art of feuding Whether it is Henry Fielding mocking Samuel Richardson’s painfully virtuous Pamela...
There’s a buzz to sharing your reading life, but for me it turned it into a kind of competition that distracts from what I love about books I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book where my enjoyment wasn’t tied to the...