3 h. ago 19 best new books to read, from Taylor Jenkins Reid to David Szalay

Discover debut novelists and immersive page-turners from acclaimed authors

Politics

6 h. ago I am spending my retirement at sea: What life is like living permanently on board a cruise ship

Retired high school language teacher Sharon Lane has read no less than 18 books since making an ‘investment in her life’. She tells Amelia Neath about moving aboard Villa Vie’s Odyssey full-time for a life at sea

Politics

11 h. ago I’ve already read 38 books this year, but this is my standout favourite

This could be the best debut of the year

Politics

5 d. ago Natalie Haynes: ‘I’ll never read anything by a Brontë again’

The author and comedian on the immortal lines of Snoopy, discovering the heart of Homer’s Iliad and her culinary comfort readMy earliest reading memory Harvey’s Hideout by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban. Harvey is a muskrat with a grievance against his awful sibling. His sister Mildred feels just the same way. I read this at four or five curled up on a yellow beanbag next to the radiator, in Bournville, where I grew up. I honestly don’t think there is a better reading spot anywhere in the world.My favourite book growing up Peanuts. I loved Snoopy long before I became an author. But he is an inspiration to all writers, sending a novel to his publishers with an immortal covering letter: “Gentlemen, enclosed is the manuscript of my new novel. I know you are going to like it. In the meantime, please send me some money so I can live it up.” Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘They didn’t even read the book’: Palestinian American children’s authors censored in US

Authors tell of book bans, cancellations and harassment – ‘they’re trying to disconnect us from our stories’Jenan Matari had just begun promoting her debut children’s book this summer when the cancellations began. First, Chevalier’s Books in Los Angeles called off her event after what Matari described as pressure from local community members. The employee who had booked the event refused to cancel it, and the bookstore fired her. Two days later, another employee quit in solidarity.Then came New Jersey. Watchung Booksellers, a community bookstore in Montclair, was set to host her next reading but abruptly canceled, explaining in an emailed statement it was “to ensure the safety of our staff and customers”. Continue reading...

Culture

6 d. ago ‘They didn’t even read the book’: children’s authors writing about Palestinian experience censored in US

Authors tell of book bans, cancellations and harassment – ‘they’re trying to disconnect us from our stories’Jenan Matari had just begun promoting her debut children’s book this summer when the cancellations began. First, Chevalier’s Books in Los Angeles called off her event after what Matari described as pressure from local community members. The employee who had booked the event refused to cancel it, and the bookstore fired her. Two days later, another employee quit in solidarity.Then came New Jersey. Watchung Booksellers, a community bookstore in Montclair, was set to host her next reading but abruptly canceled, explaining in an emailed statement it was “to ensure the safety of our staff and customers”. Continue reading...

Culture

6 d. ago ‘They didn’t even read the book’: How children’s authors are being canceled over Palestine

Authors tell of book bans, cancellations and harassment – ‘they’re trying to disconnect us from our stories’Jenan Matari had just begun promoting her debut children’s book this summer when the cancellations began. First, Chevalier’s Books in Los Angeles called off her event after what Matari described as pressure from local community members. The employee who had booked the event refused to cancel it, and the bookstore fired her. Two days later, another employee quit in solidarity.Then came New Jersey. Watchung Booksellers, a community bookstore in Montclair, was set to host her next reading but abruptly canceled, explaining in an emailed statement it was “to ensure the safety of our staff and customers”. Continue reading...

Culture

8 d. ago Dame Jilly Cooper ‘changed the way we read books as women’ – Angela Rippon

The broadcaster was friends with the author.

Culture

8 d. ago ‘It’s more than a pretty backdrop’: crime writer Ann Cleeves on the magic of Orkney in Scotland

With her latest book, the author moves detective Jimmy Perez from Shetland to Orkney, where she was inspired by the deep history, huge skies and warm peopleFifty years ago, I headed north for the first time. I’d dropped out of my university literature course – with the arrogance of youth, I thought I could read books anywhere. After a chance meeting in a Putney pub, I got a job as assistant cook in the Bird Observatory in Fair Isle. At that point, I didn’t even know where Fair Isle was. I came from Devon and hadn’t made it farther north than Durham. Scotland was unknown territory.Of course, Fair Isle is part of the Shetland group and lies halfway between Shetland mainland and Orkney. That summer, I fell in love with the Northern Isles, with the romance of the isolation, the bleak beauty and the stories. Over the summer, I worked in the observatory with Alison, an Orcadian lass, who was there for her college holidays. “When you’ve finished your contract,” she said with the easy hospi...

Events

9 d. ago Stormzy among stars reading from Booker Prize novels shortlisted for 2025

Pop star Dua Lipa and Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker are among previous stars to have read excerpts from Booker Prize-nominated novels.

Events

9 d. ago Elizabeth Harrower wrote some of Australia’s best novels then disappeared for decades. Even she wasn’t sure why

A new biography unravels one of Australia’s great literary mysteries and comeback stories, and teases out details of the troubled early years that informed the author’s devastating studies of domestic despotsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIn 1966 Elizabeth Harrower was on the brink of literary fame. Critics hailed her fourth book, The Watch Tower, as one of the year’s most important Australian novels, alongside The Solid Mandala by her friend Patrick White. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Harry Kippax wrote that “one can be grateful to have had in twelve months two such additions to the small body of distinguished Australian novels”. An ABC reviewer said Harrower’s “brilliant” book was “one of the best Australian novels I have read for a long while”.Seven years later White won the Nobel prize for literature. By then Harrower had written another novel but withdrawn it from her English publisher, disappointed by his reaction. After some false starts she stopped writing and all...

Events

9 d. ago I've read 140 books this year but only 5 have left me guessing until the end

I'm pretty good at predicting how books will end, but these five had me guessing until the very end

Politics

1 week ago I write bestselling cosy fantasy books — these are the 12 cosy books you need to read

With the days becoming chillier, pumpkin spice everywhere and just a matter of weeks before the clocks fall back, we're officially in cosy season

Politics

1 week ago Tim Dowling: II love books – but can’t remember anything about the ones I’ve just read

In bed I lie awake, staring at the books on my nightstand, trying to remember a single salient fact about any of themThe oldest one is recommending the book he’s just finished to me.“You should read this,” he says, handing me a well-thumbed paperback, which I turn over in my hands. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Tim Dowling: I love books – but can’t remember anything about the ones I’ve just read

In bed I lie awake, staring at the books on my nightstand, trying to remember a single salient fact about any of themThe oldest one is recommending the book he’s just finished to me.“You should read this,” he says, handing me a well-thumbed paperback, which I turn over in my hands. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Best Betting Sites UK: New & Top Ranked Bookmakers for October 2025

Compare over 60 licensed and regulated betting sites in the UK and read our reviews of the best online bookmakers for October 2025

Politics

1 week ago Read about the life and legacy of Jane Goodall in these books

The pioneering activist dedicated her life to the study of chimpanzees

Politics

2 w. ago I've read 15 books by the same author this year — they got me back into reading

I've always loved reading, but in recent years, I've found it hard to get into a book and have been in a reading slump. That was until I discovered this author

Culture

3 w. ago This was my favourite read of the summer – now it’s been Booker 2025 shortlisted

Judge Sarah Jessica Parker described whittling down the list as “real agony”

Politics

3 w. ago 'I'm a New York Times best selling author and everyone should read these 5 books'

The author of 'blend Da Vinci Code and Murder She Wrote' The Secrets of Still Waters Chasm has also written a trilogy of mystery novels

Culture