The first great lockdown novel, new tales from David Nicholls, Sarah Perry and Percival Everett, and Rachel Kushner’s contender for the Booker… next year promises to be special

Most stories adhere to linear plots, but a select few – by authors from Martin Amis to Muriel Spark and Toni Morrison – respin the cogs to unforgettable effect

Novelists including Johny Pitts, Monica Ali and Nina Stibbe – plus Observer critics – on their essential holiday books

Memoirs, mysteries and coming-of-age stories are lifted by a powerful voice – that of a great actor, or the writer in full reveal. Here, 15 artists and critics pick their favourite audiobooks

Hilary Mantel’s trilogy was finished at last, Blake Gopnik exposed Warhol’s private life and Richard E Grant brought new life to Iris Murdoch. Here are our highlights of the year to date

From Hilary Mantel to Kazuo Ishiguro and Marlon James to Sebastian Barry, writers share their favourite literary comforts

From Miles Franklin to Bruce Chatwin, these writers show how tightly this spectacular but dangerous territory is bound up with the country’s identity

Sharks cruise menacingly across the pages of this subtle and evocative autobiography

Book reviews roundup: Kafka: The Years of Insight, Kafka: The Decisive Years, Isaiah Berlin: Building, Isaac and Isaiah, The Men Who Lost America and All the Birds, Singing