These electrifying novels that dig into the peculiar, dark depths of the human psyche will have you questioning who to trust
February 2024
Five of the best
Five of the best campus novels
Donna Tartt’s cult tale of toxic friendship, John Williams’s anti-campus must-read and Zadie Smith’s superb third novel – here are the books that ace academia
August 2023
‘I can’t stress how much BookTok sells’: teen literary influencers swaying publishers
TikTok recommendations are driving sales and launching authors’ careers as the social media app continues to reshape the industry
June 2023
Art imitates life in a real explosion that almost destroyed The Goldfinch
Laura Cumming’s new book tells how the work by Carel Fabritius, the Dutch artist who died in the blast in Delft, reveals eerie parallels with Donna Tartt’s novel
January 2023
What we're reading
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in December
Critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
April 2022
Cultural prescription
Licence to ill: music and culture for a sick day
Whether it’s cake pretending to be other things or Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, our critics recommend some feeling-peaky blinders
March 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 novels about toxic friendships
Complex attachments mixing intimacy and deception can decide whole lives, and have inspired novelists from William Thackeray to Elena Ferrante
September 2021
Cultural prescription
Cultural prescription: plays, films, books and more to help you start university
From Educating Rita to The Secret History, Guardian critics suggest some comfort viewing and listening to take on campus
May 2021
Books that made me
Patrick Ness: ‘Terry Pratchett makes you feel seen and forgiven’
The author celebrates the most perfect sentence by Toni Morrison and his struggles with Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch
April 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about museums
Whether it is Orhan Pamuk’s love-struck Museum of Innocence, Donna Tartt’s bombing in a New York gallery, or the case of a curator who turned to crime, museums are home to fascinating stories
July 2020
From Donna Tartt to Irvine Welsh: 10 great novels about friendship
Urban junkies, competitive mothers, adolescent girls caught in the world of Charles Manson ... Lara Feigel picks her 10 favourites
June 2020
Finn Wolfhard: ‘I have so much crazy energy’
The teen star of Stranger Things can’t wait for lockdown to end so he can get his teeth back into acting, directing and being in his rock band. But first there’s the little matter of a Ghostbusters sequel to finish...
March 2020
Book clinic
Book clinic: Which thrillers and crime fiction will keep my teenager hooked?
From Agatha Christie to Anthony Horowitz, writer Peter Swanson recommends the best of classic and modern
Making a killing: what can novels teach us about getting away with murder?
From Agatha Christie to Gillian Flynn, readers love an untraceable method or a villain who wins. Author Peter Swanson says there are eight examples of the perfect murder
Brief letters
A Tartt snack better than jam and cream
Brief letters: Cream cheese and marmalade | Miriam Margolyes | Proportional representation | Poetry HQ | World Book Day
November 2019
Book clinic
Book clinic: can you recommend middle-class American authors?
Yes, but go further… there are richly rewarding literary tales from Africa and South America too
September 2019
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
The Goldfinch review – Donna Tartt's art-theft epic has its wings clipped
The secret herstory: what happened to Donna Tartt's women?
First look review
The Goldfinch review – Donna Tartt adaptation settles for silver
The Goldfinch: can a film solve Donna Tartt's most divisive book?
