books
-
Blood, Salt, Water by Denise Mina – the latest DI Morrow novel simmers with suspenseA murder investigation in small-town Scotland in the run-up to the referendum brilliantly defies the norms of the crime genre -
The best book designs of 2015The 50 Books | 50 Covers competition celebrates the best designed books every year. Design Observer editor Jessica Helfand runs us through some of her favourite designs from this year
-
New American Stories edited by Ben Marcus – a landmark anthologyPre-9/11 US literature reflected a national self-image that was fundamentally benign. That era is over, judging by this collection -
The transgender teddy bear teaching children about friendship and identityPrompted by her father’s own decision to transition, Jessica Walton is crowdfunding her children’s book which tells the story of a teddy bear who identifies as female -
Kamila Shamsie: writing about ancient history licensed my imaginationThe stories about Scylax that survive from the deep past were fragmentary and conflicting enough to allow me a free hand in fiction
-
The mystery of Haruki Murakami's whimsyKafka on the Shore is the work of an acknowledged master. So why does this book seem so full of pointless – and pedantic – fancy?
-
Tips, links and suggestions: what are you reading this week?Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them – plus our favourite literary links
-
-
My Dear BB… The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Kenneth ClarkThe high-octane correspondence between 20th-century art world doyen Bernard Berenson and the young pretender Kenneth Clarke is enthralling
-
Syria Burning: Isis and the Death of the Arab Spring – how a small-scale revolt descended into hellVeteran Middle East reporter Charles Glass charts the failings of the Assad regime and foreign governments in this enlightening study on the rise of Isis
-
The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War – how the conflict brought an end to British ruleYasmin Khan’s important book reveals how India’s wartime role made partition an inevitability
-
American Apocalypse by Matthew Avery Sutton – the rise of Christian evangelicalsWould you take advice on politics from a man who believes the end of the world is nigh? The answer for millions of people in the US is yes
-
The Nearest Thing to Life by James Wood - in praise of fictionPart memoir, part literary criticism, this beautiful, open-ended book celebrates fiction’s ability to allow the reader to escape into other lives
-
A Regicide by Alain Robbe-GrilletNicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: the French avant-garde writer and film-maker’s 1949 book is disorienting, beautiful and weird
-
Hen Harrier Poems by Colin Simms – a remarkable tribute to an endangered birdAhead of the shotguns booming out for the ‘Glorious’ Twelfth, this striking collection underlines the plight of these beautiful hawks and the campaign to save them
-
The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa – a displaced Palestinian family’s bid for survivalMourning, fear and celebrations – the story of the Barakas, those who remain in the refugee camp and those who emigrate
-
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara – unusual, uneven, unrelentingThis ecstatically received novel about four friends in New York, now longlisted for the Man Booker prize, is a gripping chronicle of suffering and survival
-
You Don’t Have to Live Like This by Benjamin Markovits – utopianism meets racial distrust in DetroitA group of idealists experimenting with ‘the Groupon model of gentrification’ come up against the hard realities of a divided America in an impressive novel
-
Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami - his early novels, in English at lastMurakami may not be a fan of his first two books but both hint at the qualities that typify his work
people
-
‘I start each VI Warshawski book convinced I can’t do it’The books interview:The bestselling crime writer on hating femmes fatales, self doubt and creating a female character who refused to be silenced
-
The lives and limericks of Robert ConquestThe poet and historian died on 3 August, having published more than 20 books on Soviet history. But how many people know about his love of a silly rhyme?
-
Ursula Le Guin's advice for aspiring writers: 'There are no recipes'The award-winning science fiction novelist launches an online writing workshop for would-be authors
-
Unreleased F Scott Fitzgerald short story finally publishedTemperature, a cinematic ‘tale of high comedy’ written by the Great Gatsby author in 1939, is reproduced in US magazine the Strand
regulars
-
Top 10s
Top 10sTop 10 literary hoaxesFrom Edgar Allan Poe’s account of a transatlantic balloon-crossing to JG Ballard’s hair-raising ruminations on Ronald Reagan, here are 10 narratives that blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction
-
The 100 best novels
The 100 best novelsThe 100 best novels: No 99 – Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)In his Booker-winning masterpiece, Coetzee’s intensely human vision infuses a fictional world that both invites and confounds political interpretation
-
Reading group
Reading groupThe mystery of Haruki Murakami's whimsyKafka on the Shore is the work of an acknowledged master. So why does this book seem so full of pointless – and pedantic – fancy?
-
Poem of the week
Poem of the weekPoem of the week: Decline and Fall by Nic AuburyA poetic parody of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Major-General’s Song with its own satirical target – the demotion of classics from the literary curriculum
-
Guess How Much I Love You 20 years onAnita Jeram’s loving hares in Guess How Much I love You (written by Sam McBratney) came into our lives 20 years ago. To celebrate, Anita shares some of her favourite animal pictures
-
Ten must-read YA novels you've probably never heard ofJust like adult fiction, popular YA books such as The Hunger Games or Divergent are not representative of the sheer diversity of titles and authors out there. Teen site member jhansenwrites, creator of #VeryRealisticYA, explores some of the totally unique YA books you’ve probably not come across but really ought to look up…
-
The big summer YA fiction quiz
Schools out and the holidays are blossoming, but that doesn't mean it's time to let your mind turn to mush! We think it's time to bring out the big guns with our bumper, book-filled, brain-bursting big summer quiz! Can you tackle all thirty fiendish questions and prove yourself the boss of YA fiction?
-
Six of the best Enid Blyton quotesEnid Blyton was born 118 years ago today. Celebrate her birthday by remembering her most famous lines
-
Family books reviewsSchool’s out and the picture book world has gone a little topsy-turvy this month as a dog says moo, a bath flies off to save the world and fruit gets up for a good boogie! That’s right, it can only be our family reviewers’ top tips on what to read with your child this summerDo you want to become a Guardian children’s books family reviewer? Review the book you’re reading with your child right now!
-
Discover The Lie Tree by Frances HardingeFind out all about The Lie Tree, the fifth book under the spotlight in the Guardian children’s fiction prize series, and watch Frances Hardinge’s video on why you should review it for our young critics prize
pictures, video & audio
-
Kim Stanley Robinson and Sheldon Solomon on exploration and death
Can humanity escape extinction by reaching for the stars? We confront final questions with the science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson and the psychologist Sheldon Solomon
-
Ralph Steadman, Ceri Levy and poems about climate change
We join Ralph Steadman in his studio as he teams up with Ceri Levy to put birds threatened with extinction in the frame, and hear how poets are responding to climate chaos
-
Original short story: Two Families, by Sheila Heti
What happens when you don't find your comedian brother funny? A new work by the Canadian author
you may have missed
-
From AL Kennedy to Alan Warner, writers tell us about their time on the doleWorkshy, scroungers, spongers … the headlines describe claimants as feckless. But unemployment benefits have also given generations of British artists the time and space to learn their trade
-
How to think about Islamic StateIslamic State is often called ‘medieval’ but is in fact very modern – a horrific expression of a widespread frustration with a globalised western model that promises freedom and prosperity to all, but fails to deliver
-
Kafka’s Metamorphosis: 100 thoughts for 100 yearsKafka’s tale of a man who wakes to find he has changed into a giant insect still has the power to shock and delight a century after it was first published. Many regard it as the greatest short story in all literary fiction
-
Best holiday reads 2015Authors, critics and philosophers tell us which books they will be reading on the beach
News JRR Tolkien's first fantasy story to be published this month