From Lionel Shriver's Big Brother to Jim Crace's Harvest, and from Ruth Rendell's No Man's Nightingale to Iain Banks' The Quarry, Guardian readers pick their favourite reads of 2013
An absorbing portrait of Patrick Leigh Fermor found the man behind the myth, while Edna O'Brien's perfect memoir cherished her many lives and loves, writes Robert McCrum
Observer New Review: writers' books of 2012
Best science books of 2012
From a new look at our oceans to stunning wildlife photography, Robin McKie rounds up the year's best science books
2012 in review
Christmas gifts 2012: the best history books
David Horspool picks his favourite history books of 2012
