Books
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The Man Booker shortlisted author is back with The Orchestra of Minorities, a novel that grew from a life-changing event during his student days in Cyprus -
News of a ‘mega-twitch’ near Melbourne may lead you to ask why avian enthusiasts are called ‘twitchers’ – and why do some ‘birders’ look down on them?
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In the last week, separate moves in Canada and the US threatened to restrict young readers’ access to LGBT-themed illustrated stories -
The novelist, biographer and critic on laughing at Muriel Spark and never reading any Harry Potter -
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley; The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platts; Red Snow by Will Dean; Fog Island by Mariette Lindstein; A Long Night in Paris by Dov Alfon
Books of 2019
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The Goldfinch takes flight in cinemas, Robert Macfarlane goes underground and Margaret Atwood continues The Handmaid’s Tale … what to look forward to in the world of books
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After Theresa May’s historic defeat, what next for Brexit? The past, imagined and real, offers fascinating answers -
Are bourgeois progressives to blame for the rise of the gilets jaunes? A controversial report on France
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In this bold novel of enormous emotional intelligence, an American convert reinvents herself as a boy in her quest to become a holy warrior -
Five monologues from an elderly man at a bar looking back on his life are linked by the presence of a stolen coin
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A Nigerian chicken farmer is the victim of a scam in this mystical tragicomedy by the author of the Booker-shortlisted The Fishermen
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The Capital author’s latest novel imagines a fortress UK walled in concrete and patrolled by young conscripts. All too plausible… -
This heartwarming fable is a reassuring read for anyone, young or old, coming to terms with mortality -
Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox; The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan; The Girl King by Mimi Yu; AfroSFv3 edited by Ivor W Hartmann and All the Lonely People by David Owen
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Himalayan adventure, transformation and time travel feature in the standout stories this month -
Mealtime wars, a puppy without a bark and crazy science … fun and facts for all ages in this month’s selection -
Ten Little Fingers, Clap Hands, Farmer Duck ... the pioneering illustrator talks to Lisa Allardice about her 50 year career and the real story behind We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
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On this week’s show, we speak to Sullivan about her winning Three Poems, and US author Kevin Powers about his novel A Shout in the Ruins -
The Nigerian author’s darkly comic debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, has become a literary sensation. She explains her struggle with the moral ambiguity of her writing
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Every January we talk to the writers of exceptional first novels and 2019, with only one man on our list, looks like being the year of women…
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Luke Turner’s Epping Forest memoir adds to a new wave of highly personal nature writing -
David Kynaston There is an anti-privilege mood. It is hard to see private schools escaping unscathed
The social historian on why he believes Britain may finally tackle the inequality perpetuated by independent education -
From a traumatic childhood in Dallas to Yale, Harvard, Wall Street and beyond, the businessman and author exemplifies the American dream – the very myth his new book sets out to dismantle
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The pretentious bibliomane’s highfalutin tweets have won thousands of fans – now her creators share how they ‘channel an extremely rarefied spirit’ -
A report showing that UK publishing has failed to reflect regional and racial diversity is a vital reminder that, despite all the initiatives, our work isn’t done -
What to read
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Books that made me Margaret Drabble: ‘Lee Child does all the things I could never do. I’m awestruck’
The novelist, biographer and critic on laughing at Muriel Spark and never reading any Harry Potter -
Ernest Shackleton’s account of his mission and Jenny Diski’s acidic travelogue are among author Jean McNeil’s favourites -
You may have missed
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In the pre-internet era, Israel made a career from forging letters from stars including Dorothy Parker and Noël Coward. As a new film starring Melissa McCarthy is released, Kathryn Hughes explores why she did it -
Cosmologist Jo Dunkley on the most mind-bending recent discoveries, as astronomers use powerful new telescopes to explore nature’s weirdest stars, ‘dark energy’ and the origins of gold -
His last novel Capital skewered the property bubble, now his latest The Wall imagines Britain barricaded after environmental catastrophe. Lanchester talks about refugees, Brexit – and optimism -
In this extract from We Are Displaced, a collection of true stories by girls seeking refuge, Yousafzai recalls settling in Birmingham after being shot by the Taliban
Book of the day The Redeemed by Tim Pears – finale of a lyrical West Country trilogy