Books
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Even those who haven’t read it regard Dickens’s novel as a literary treasure, but when the screenwriter adapted it for cinema, he was surprised by how modern it felt -
The This is Going to Hurt author and former doctor on Adrian Mole, Stephen Hawking and Spot the Dog -
Silver by Chris Hammer, A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, Beyond Recall by Gerald Seymour, The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly and The Lammisters by Declan Burke
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The last instalment in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series is dense, dizzying and satisfying -
A Newcastle writer is spurred by a birth and a death to consider regionalism and a radical future for England
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Felice Picano’s controversial story of a serial killer in New York was a huge hit in 1979 – but may also have provoked an armed attack on his home. Forty years on, he talks about his novel
Best books of 2019
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Bestselling authors and celebrities share their favourite books of the year, including fiction, poetry, cookbooks and more
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Two excellent, inspiring calls for a new politics as the only solution to our climate catastrophe -
Entertainment and abusive despair ... the comedian and columnist dissects his own work in this merciless look at the past three years -
This remarkable example of ‘slow journalism’ links the pharaohs with Egypt’s Arab spring
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The author’s first novel to be translated into English uses stories from the vast sweep of history to address the silence of massacre and trauma -
Lovers of word games and literary puzzles will relish this indispensable anthology celebrating Perec, Calvino and many others -
Skein Island by Aliya Whiteley; Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky; CTRL+S by Andy Briggs; The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman and Scotland in Space edited by Deborah Scott and Simon Malpas
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This blackly absurd satire of provincial Hungarian life is maddening, compelling – and very funny -
In the only novel by the acclaimed memoirist, first published in 1967, a young woman comes of age in 1950s England -
A short, spiky novella about identity and belonging plays with the boundaries between ‘truth’ and ‘fiction’
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Two new books are causing a stir by translating the contortions over EU membership into graphic tales of endearing animals -
As His Dark Materials comes to TV, the prize-winning children’s author Katherine Rundell looks at how a scrappy girl became one of literature’s best-loved characters
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Malorie Blackman sold her life story to them, other hot authors are lining up. What makes Stormzy’s imprint so different?
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He was acting solicitor general under Barack Obama and drew up regulations used in the Mueller investigation. Now Neal Katyal is arguing for impeachment -
The author of acclaimed YA book Bearmouth on striking gold in a slate mine – and what you can’t learn from other writers
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Ben Lerner and Meena Kandasamy talk about drawing on their most embarrassing and vulnerable moments to write fiction -
The author of the prize-winning Ducks, Newburyport on why she prefers books written before Hiroshima -
The author of The Big Short on Trump’s war on experts and why it would take a pandemic to remind Americans of the importance of good governance
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Valeria Luiselli’s portrait of a family on a road trip from New York to Arizona points up how little separates them from the migrants heading the other way -
From one of the great black American poets, this harvest song combines formal and vernacular language to potent effect -
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
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From medical memoirs to bittersweet romance, short stories to gay histories, our panel offer their recommendations
What to read
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Dazzling debut novels, searing polemics, the history of humanity and trailblazing memoirs ... Read our pick of the best books since 2000 -
The This is Going to Hurt author and former doctor on Adrian Mole, Stephen Hawking and Spot the Dog
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From Trotsky by torchlight to freedom fighters in the Philippines, Romesh Gunesekera chooses books to spark new understanding -
From Graham Greene’s anguished transgressions to Milan Kundera’s happy-go-lucky erotic adventures, fiction has long adored illicit affairs -
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 -
Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list
You may have missed
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When writing your life story you need to be candid, authentic and artful says Blake Morrison - but don’t forget the jokes -
Women buy 80% of all novels. But as a new book argues, their love of emotional truth has been used to trivialise the genre -
As Britain braces itself for the Brexit endgame, leading poets – from Carol Ann Duffy to Andrew McMillan – take the pulse of our fragmenting world -
Ideas of Englishness have long failed to adapt to loss of empire and national decline. Will this crucial UK election bring about a post-imperial day of reckoning?
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From mental health to the climate crisis The best children’s books of 2019