This month’s best paperbacks: Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy and more
Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some fantastic new paperbacks, from an intriguing mystery novel to histories of Britain’s past
December 2022
Are you bored yet?
Are you bored yet? Five great books to snuggle down with over the Christmas break
‘I want to savour every word’: the joy of reading slowly
October 2022
‘The story had been stirring in me for most of my life’: How I wrote a Booker-shortlisted novel
NoViolet Bulawayo, Percival Everett, Alan Garner and others reveal the inspiration for the books up for this year’s award
The Booker prize 2022: watch shortlist readings by Jarvis Cocker, Sharon Horgan and more
Performers read from the novels in contention for this year’s prestigious fiction prize in a series of films made by director Kevin Thomas
Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout review – Lucy Barton: the Covid years
Set against the backdrop of the pandemic, the Booker-shortlisted author’s monumental new novel is her most nuanced and intensely moving to date
September 2022
Book of the day
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout review – lockdown confessions
Elizabeth Strout: ‘There’s a quiet rumbling of violence in America. Is it going to expand and explode?’
Booker prize: Alan Garner becomes oldest author to be shortlisted
‘I’ve no idea how we’ll pick a winner’: the challenge of a spectacular Booker shortlist
July 2022
Booker prize longlist of 13 writers aged 20 to 87 announced
List comprises 13 writers of fiction, from NoViolet Bulawayo to Leila Mottley, described as ‘stimulating, surprising, nourishing’ by judging panel
April 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 difficult marriages in fiction
Whether they induce schadenfreude or pangs of recognition, mismatched couples have inspired brilliant novels by authors from Evelyn Waugh to Jean Rhys
March 2022
‘I felt different as a child. I was nearly mute’: Elena Ferrante in conversation with Elizabeth Strout
The author of the Neapolitan quartet and the Pulitzer prize-winning novelist discuss identity, ambition, truth – and the ‘convulsive’ urge to write
October 2021
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout review – Lucy Barton’s return brings intense pleasures
The Pulitzer prize-winner delves deeper into the rich cast of characters that have made her a bestseller
Book of the day
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout review – the return of Lucy Barton
In the third book in the series, the emotional panorama of a long relationship is beautifully observed as Lucy reconnects with her ex-husband
Elizabeth Strout: ‘I’ve thought about death every day since I was 10’
As her latest book, Oh William!, is published, the novelist discusses childhood, loneliness – and perseverance
January 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about children fending for themselves
Facing up to the world without adult support is present in Greek myths and remains a key theme in authors from Anna Burns to Douglas Stuart and Rachel Kushner
November 2020
In brief: When the Lights Go Out; The Stubborn Light of Things; Olive, Again – review
A marital drama driven by the climate crisis from Carys Bray, Melissa Harrison’s reflections on nature and the return of Elizabeth’s Strout’s irascible antiheroine
August 2020
Books that made me
David Nicholls: 'Gifting books feels like changing the music at someone else’s party'
The author and screenwriter on being inspired by Tess of the D’Urbervilles, feeling gloomy over Moomins and rereading Franny and Zooey
June 2020
It has been easier to cope with my cancer during lockdown - and books have been a lifeline
While being treated for a brain tumour, Susie Steiner has read memoirs and medical histories - but it was a novel that best captured the gruelling reality of illness
