Leading authors including Bernardine Evaristo, Armistead Maupin and Alice Roberts recommend books to read this summer

This playful encore to a much-loved series moves from San Francisco to a grand English estate

‘I thought we were going to make history with our same sex kiss. And we did. There were protests all over America – and a bomb threat in Chattanooga’

Uplifting titles from Tara Westover’s memoir Educated to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City offer escape and inspiration

Novelist Kate Davies picks the best books about a task that never happens just once

Armistead Maupin, Jeanette Winterson and a host of other good writers have brought gay literature into the mainstream

From rock’n’roll to Anthony Powell via a crop of memoirs, there’s something for everyone in the year’s life studies

The grizzly American songwriter proved as compelling in conversation as he is on record, while Mrs Madrigal was rooted in the past

Younger and smaller than most great American cities, San Francisco has a rich cultural heritage. Anisse Gross picks out the literary landmarks of this west coastal city, from its first newspaper chroniclers to the Beats and beyond