In brief: A Ride Across America; This Motherless Land; Be Mine – reviews
A bicycle-led musing on the state of the US; a page-turning, Nigerian-inflected reworking of Mansfield Park; and a wistful final chapter for Richard Ford’s sportswriter Frank Bascombe
April 2024
Autism makes travel a challenge. Here’s how I learned to cope
The Half Bird by Susan Smillie review – a life less ordinary
February 2024
Book of the day
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst review – all at sea
The electrifying story of a couple who set out on an ocean adventure – and got far more than they bargained for
January 2024
In brief: Rabbit Hole; Local; The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – reviews
A gritty, grubby tale of family secrets; an adventurer learns about his own neighbourhood; and historian Bettany Hughes explores the impact of the wonders of the world
November 2023
Flashback
Dom Joly looks back: ‘My wife says I’ve become slightly nicer in my 50s. I’m still very argumentative, but I have relaxed a bit’
The comedian on being terrified of fame, living with self-doubt, and finding a new niche as a travel writer
October 2023
In brief: And Then What?; The Dimensions of a Cave; Turkiye – reviews
Former EU representative Catherine Ashton is a voice of reason in a polarised world; Greg Jackson’s psychological thriller warrants comparisons with Heart of Darkness; and Julian Emre Sayerer travels Turkey on two wheels
September 2023
Edgeland by Sasha Swire review – political landscapes
A Westminster diarist’s decade of walks in the West Country
August 2023
Book of the day
Nothing Ever Just Disappears review – fascinating journeys into LGBTQ+ courage
Book of the day
High Caucasus by Tom Parfitt review – beauty and trauma in the Russian south
July 2023
Book of the day
High Caucasus by Tom Parfitt review – one man and a mountain range
This record of an extraordinary 1,000-mile trek across the mountainous southern Russian republics of the Caucasus uncovers a brutal history that resonates today
June 2023
In brief: 1923: The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession; Four Seasons in Japan; The Draw of the Sea – review
An exhaustive study of footage from an exhausting bike race, an affecting novel within a novel, and a hymn to the beauty of the Cornish coastline
May 2023
In brief: Because I Don’t Know What You Mean…; One Midsummer’s Day; Imagine a City – reviews
Josie Long’s first story collection brims with wry wit, Mark Cocker pays philosophical tribute to the swift, and Mark Vanhoenacker offers a pilot’s-eye view of urban life
April 2023
‘Travel is medicine’: how the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival can inspire our trips
American Ramble review: a riveting tale of the divided United States
February 2023
Book of the day
Sarn Helen by Tom Bullough review – notes from a small country
Book of the day
Elixir by Kapka Kassabova review – vale of enchantment
January 2023
The books of my life
Colin Thubron: ‘Simone de Beauvoir altered my ideas about women’
The travel writer and novelist on reading The Second Sex as an 18-year-old, discovering Proust, and the brilliance of Byron
Jonathan Raban: his travel writing could pierce your heart
Author Philip Marsden on how Raban, who has died aged 80, brought us his darkly comic and sardonic view of the worldJonathan Raban, travel writer and novelist, dies aged 80
Jonathan Raban, travel writer and novelist, dies aged 80
The British author, who lived in the US, blended memoir and travelogue in books that were often inspired by the sea
