Damon Galgut and Colm Tóibín join ‘rich and large’ Rathbones Folio prize shortlist
Galgut’s Booker winner and Tóibín’s fictionalised biography of Thomas Mann are two of eight titles selected by the judges
February 2021
Observer book of the week
Albert and the Whale by Philip Hoare review – his greatest work yet
The gifted writer summons the eclectic travels of Albrecht Dürer with passion, poignancy, pure wonder and a personal twist
April 2020
Lockdown culture
All alone online: Iggy Pop and Jeremy Irons lead mass Ancient Mariner reading
Streaming daily, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 2020 incarnation also features Marianne Faithfull and Tilda Swinton as readers, set against sound and fine art
June 2018
Ground Work edited by Tim Dee review – anywhere can be a somewhere
Helen Macdonald, Philip Hoare and others celebrate local distinctiveness in these personal essays on places and people
February 2018
Book of the day
Ground Work: Writings on Places and People by Tim Dee – review
This astute anthology is a reminder to communicate with nature in a way that helps us to inhabit the present
August 2017
RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR by Philip Hoare review – a love of the sea
Royal Society science book prize shortlist tackles 'the big questions'
July 2017
Critical eye
Reviews roundup: The Unwomanly Face of War; RisingTideFallingStar; H(a)ppy
Book of the day
RisingTideFallingStar by Philip Hoare review – a love of the ocean wave
June 2017
Fatal attraction – writers' and artists' obsession with the sea
From Shakespeare to Woolf, Turner to Gormley, Philip Hoare explores the eternal allure of the ocean
July 2016
The best books for summer 2016
From Essex serpents to chimpanzees, political satire to the best new thrillers … leading writers reveal which books they will be taking to the beach
May 2014
Books blog
Which books will survive rising sea levels?
Alison Flood: With a world set to be changed irrevocably by Antarctic ice melt, it's unsettling to wonder about the reading that will remain relevant
June 2013
Holiday reading: The best books to pack this summer
Our favourite fiction, non-fiction and crime books for the ultimate holiday escape
A life in ...
Philip Hoare: a life in writing
The books interview: 'I learned from David Bowie – he commodified dissent for the suburbs'
The Sea Inside by Philip Hoare; Feral by George Monbiot – review
Two fine writers tell us where we've gone wrong on land and at sea. Should we feel guilty, asks Bella Bathurst
May 2013
The Sea Inside by Philip Hoare – review
This collage of personal memoir, cultural history and travelogue is full of the ocean's strangeness and beauty, writes Caspar Henderson
October 2012
Books blog
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: leviathan greatness
This giant masterpiece continues to draw fresh interest – there's more than enough brilliance for everyone to fillet
September 2012
The Guardian Books podcast
Guardian Books podcast: Moby-Dick Big Read and Robert Graves remembered
Rushdie memoir heads Samuel Johnson prize longlist
May 2012
Critical eye
Critical eye: reviews roundup
Sweet Revenge by Tom Bower, Kathleen Jamie's Sightlines and Pure by Timothy Mo
