The Decibel Penguin prize, an Arts Council initiative awarded to writers of "Asian, African and Caribbean background," has been forced to change its entry criteria after an intervention by the Commission for Racial Equality.

"Fear factor" is holding back the book trade from pursuing black and ethnic minority groups as a growing market and potential source of writing talent, a new survey by the Bookseller and the Arts Council has found.

From timeless classics to the latest releases, your favourite books of 2005.

From poetry to prose, fact to fiction, our critics and guest writers name their favourite books of the year.

Before they were born, Georgia and Bessi experienced a moment of indecision. They had been travelling through the undergrowth on a crescent moon night with no fixed destination and no notion of where they were, whether it was a field in Buckinghamshire, the Yorkshire Dales or somewhere along the M1 from Staples Corner to Watford. Night birds were singing. The earth smelt of old rain. Through scratchy bramble they scurried, through holes that became warm tunnels and softly lit underground caves. Their paws pressed sweet berries in the long grass and they sniffed each other's scent to stay together.