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The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

Books

  • Mina Smallman at her home in Ramsgate.

    Book of the day
    A Better Tomorrow: Life Lessons in Hope and Strength by Mina Smallman review

    Gaby Hinsliff
  • Mick Herron.

    Interview
    Mick Herron: ‘Most people didn’t know I was writing – I was a secretive kind of writer’

    His spy series became the TV hit Slow Horses, and now his earlier novels are being adapted for screen, starring Emma Thompson. Mick Herron talks about finding recognition
  • Ursula Parrott during her 1943 trial for aiding an army deserter.

    Notes on a scandal
    Monica Heisey on why Ursula Parrott’s account of divorce is still alarmingly relatable

    Nearly a century after it was first published, Ursula Parrott’s novel Ex‑Wife offers an alarmingly relatable account of divorce, writes Really Good, Actually author Monica Heisey
  • Han Smith

    Fiction
    Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking by Han Smith review – a secret history

    AK Blakemore
  • TG books 140 diagram EDIT

    Cartoon
    Tom Gauld on holiday reading

  • Spain, Madrid, blurred view of woman behind windowpane with reflection of the city

    Short stories
    Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good by Eley Williams review – a freewheeling collection

    Sarah Crown
  • Claire Kilroy.

    The books of my life
    Claire Kilroy: ‘My moral compass has turned 180 degrees on Lolita’

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What to read

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Non-fiction reviews

  • A crowd cheers Keir Starmer’s arrival at Downing Street as the new prime minister

    Politics books
    The Only Way Is Up by Polly Toynbee and David Walker review – climb every mountain

    Dorian Lynskey
  • Thom Gunn, in his early 40s, with dark hair and beard, wearing a tie-dye vest in what looks like a hotel bar with a chandelier in the background

    Biography books
    Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life by Michael Nott review – the poet laureate of Haight-Ashbury

    Peter Conrad
    The San Francisco poet’s work is richly illuminated by this detailed account of his early traumas, dread of ‘deep emotion’ and addiction to casual sex
  • Zandra Rhodes at her home in Bermondsey Street, London.

    Autobiography and memoir
    Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects by Zandra Rhodes review – wigs, turbans and fly spray

    Kathryn Hughes
    The fashion designer provides an uneven account of her multicoloured career
  • Bespectacled American writer S J Perelman (1904 - 1979) smokes while sitting in front of a cocktail at a bar, 1960s.

    Essays
    Cloudland Revisited by SJ Perelman review – the humorist who broke the mould

    Stephen Smith
  • A nurse standing looking at notes in a maternity ward.

    Society books
    Sick of It: The Global Fight for Women’s Health by Sophie Harman – the war on wellbeing

    Kate Womersley
  • Joni Mitchell in Window<br>Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell looks out of a window at her Laurel Canyon home, 1970. (Photo by Henry Diltz/Corbis via Getty Images). THIS PIC IS £100 PER USAGE - FROM GETTY. James.Arnold@gettyimages.com

    Music books
    Travelling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers review – the myriad faces of a musical maverick

    Sean O’Hagan
  • 003 Gladstone Pottery Museum B 0023 JOD

    Art and design books
    Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England: Staffordshire review – the final word on the nation’s finest buildings

    Rowan Moore
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Fiction & poetry reviews

  • Keanu Reeves and China Miéville

    Science fiction books
    The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville review – pulpy hijinks

    Adam Roberts
  • Cashel, in County Tipperary

    Fiction
    Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan review – bravura small-town chorus

    Erica Wagner
    The inner thoughts of an Irish community speak volumes about the state of the nation in Donal Ryan’s sequel to The Spinning Heart
  • Dominica in the Caribbean

    Fiction
    The Pages of the Sea by Anne Hawk review – Windrush children who were left behind

    Claire Adam
    A young girl is bereft when her mother goes to England, in this vivid debut of family sacrifices and secrets
  • Evie Wyld, author. Photographed at The Observer offices on 24th February 2020

    Fiction
    The Echoes by Evie Wyld review – a jigsaw puzzle portrait of buried family secrets

    Anthony Cummins
  • The author Akwaeke Emezi, wearing a blouse with pink puff sleeves and dramatic make-up.

    Fiction
    Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi review – fast and filthy in New Lagos

    Hephzibah Anderson
  • Lin Yi-Han author photo from alison.cerri@harpercollins.com

    Fiction in translation
    Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise by Lin Yi-Han review – Taiwan’s #MeToo movement

    Holly Williams
  • Halle Butler From Orion Books

    Fiction
    Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler review – witty millennial angst

    Caleb Klaces
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Children's and YA books

  • Reek by Alastair Chisholm<br>

    Children and teenagers
    Children’s and teens roundup – the best new chapter books

    Kitty Empire
  • Grotti by Leonie Lord

    Children's book roundup
    Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

    Imogen Russell Williams
    A tender-hearted knight; a malodorous mutt; a very mean goose; the last dragon on earth; enemies-to-lovers romance and more
  • Hot Dog by Doug Salati

    Children's books
    Picture books for children – reviews

    Imogen Carter
    From the tale of a dog taking a much-needed beach break to a fact-filled dive into the monsters of the deep – and an ode to the skies above
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Interviews

  • OBserver Books<br>Orlaine McDonald, author of debut novel = No Small Thing. Photographed at home in South London.

    Books interview
    Orlaine McDonald: ‘As a writer it’s important that I don’t look away’

    Ursula Kenny
  • China Miéville and Keanu Reeves.

    Interview
    ‘I wanted to do pulpy, hyper-violent action’: Keanu Reeves on his novel with China Miéville and the afterlife of The Matrix

    Sam Leith
    What happens when a Hollywood actor and SF author join forces on a novel? The pair talk about their literary bromance – and their quest to turn Reeves’s comic book series into something deeper
  • C Pam Zhang - OBSERVER BOOKS 14.7.24

    Interview
    C Pam Zhang: ‘I was aware of the drift towards fascism in Europe’

    The Chinese-born, US-based author, whose debut was longlisted for the 2020 Booker, on pursuing pleasure in a volatile world, her taste for chip butties and the joys of being a naive reader
  • Benjamin Labatut (1)

    Interview
    ‘People say my book gave them a panic attack’: When We Cease to Understand the World author Benjamín Labatut

  • Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 09/12/2023<br>Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Adjei Brenyah) 09/12/2023 © Basso Cannarsa/opale.photo / eyevine For further information please contact eyevine tel: +44 (0) 20 8709 8709 e-mail: info@eyevine.com www.eyevine.com

    Books interview
    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: ‘Satire is a way to make myself less depressed’

  • Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

    Interview
    ‘You can write anything about sex, but you cannot talk about money’: Taffy Brodesser-Akner on life after Fleishman

  • Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

    Children’s laureate
    ‘Reading’s in danger’: Frank Cottrell-Boyce on books, kids – and the explosive power of Heidi

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Regulars

  • Claire Kilroy.

    The books of my life
    Claire Kilroy: ‘My moral compass has turned 180 degrees on Lolita’

  • Elia Barbieri - The Guardian Saturday - Big Idea - 29th June 2024 - Why we need to rethink the role of ex-PM (1)

    Big idea
    The big idea: why we need to stop former prime ministers cashing in

    Ex-PMs once ran cricket clubs and bred cattle, but the role is now a trampoline to self-enrichment
  • Milan Kundera.

    Where to start with
    Where to start with: Milan Kundera

    The Czech writer didn’t only leave us The Unbearable Lightness of Being, he wrote a series of playful, philosophical books examining relationships, sex and mortality
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You may have missed

  • Here to help … (from left) How to Write a Book hosts Sharmaine Lovegrove, Elizabeth Day, Nelle Andrew and Sara Collins.

    Creative writing
    Show up, love the process, don’t follow trends: insider tips on how to write a book

  • Toddlers playing on the beach at sunset

    Books
    Sand with everything: writer Catherine Newman on family summers at the beach

  • Sarah Gristwood.

    Feature
    ‘Who am I without him?’: what I learned about grief from reading other women’s diaries

  • Titane, a 2021 body-horror film by Julia Ducournau.

    Horror fiction
    Stalk, slice, bludgeon: how ‘femgore’ is reinventing horror fiction

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