6 h. ago Best new books to read, from Taylor Jenkins Reid to Emma Janes Unsworth

Discover debut novelists and immersive page-turners from acclaimed authors

Politics

12 h. ago Endling by Maria Reva review – a Ukrainian caper upended by war

Jaw-dropping formal invention turns this witty heist tale of endangered snails and ‘mail-order’ brides into an urgent dispatch about writing during conflictMaria Reva’s dexterous and formally inventive debut novel is impossible to review without giving away a major surprise. I do this with a heavy heart: one of the pleasures of this book is the jaw‑dropping coup de théâtre that comes halfway through. Until that point, Endling offers its readers the pleasures of a more or less conventional novel.The central character is a misanthropic obsessive called Yeva who drives a converted campervan around the countryside of her native Ukraine, rescuing endangered snails. She’s hoping to get them to breed, but some turn out to be endlings – the last living member of a species. First coined in the 1990s, the word was unknown to me before I read this book, but the tragic biological checkmate it describes is older than history. Aurochs, dodos, quaggas, mammoths and Tasmanian tigers must all have c...

Events

58 h. ago My perfect holiday reading, by Bernardine Evaristo, David Nicholls, Zadie Smith and more

Authors including Michael Rosen, Samantha Harvey and Rutger Bregman reveal their books of the summerSummer reading: the 50 hottest books to read nowThe 10 best audiobooks for summerZadie SmithFor me summer reading is about immersion. Three novels fully absorbed me recently. Flesh by David Szalay is a very smart and stylish novel about the 1%, filtered through the life of a Hungarian bodyguard/driver in their midst. Cécé by Emmelie Prophète (out 23 September) vividly depicts the slums of contemporary Haiti via a very online young sex worker who lives her best life on Facebook. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie features a series of unforgettable women trying to work out what love means. The summer read I’m looking forward to myself is Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, a true original.David NichollsI would recommend two books, 800 pages and a shade under 150, depending on what you can carry. Helen Garner’s collected diaries, How to End a Story, are frank, gripping and rev...

Events

63 h. ago We work in a bookshop — these are our 5 favourite books of all time

Looking for your next read? Five booksellers from across the UK have shared their favourite books of all time - and there's something for everyone.

Economics

3 d. ago ‘No one is immune to grief’: the team turning A Single Man into a sexy, grimy, heartbreaking ballet

Musician John Grant was blown away by Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, finding deep resonances in its tale of gay love and loss. Now, he’s put songs to choreographer Jonathan Watkins’s new dance adaptation“I can’t believe that somehow I was able to make it all the way to the age of 55 without having read that book!” says American singer-songwriter John Grant. “It’s a transformative book. I was just completely blown away by it; I’ve been trying to get everybody that I’ve ever met to read it.”The book Grant is telling me about, enthusing from his sofa at home in Reykjavík, is Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, published in 1964, turned into 2009’s most stylish film by first-time director Tom Ford, starring Colin Firth, and now about to be a ballet, premiering at this year’s Manchester international festival. Grant, the former Czars frontman and now an acclaimed solo artist (with albums including Pale Green Ghosts and his latest, The Art of...

Politics

4 d. ago 'I tried Goodreads "read the rainbow" challenge and one book left me sobbing'

It's Pride Month, so if you're looking for the perfect LGBTQ+ book to get lost in, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, look no further, because Goodreads have just the thing

Politics

8 d. ago Wealthy families desperate to fill shelves so they appear well

Bookshelves are being filled with envy-inspiring collections - which will never be read by their owners. Lauren Giles (right) says a stocked case has become a symbol of a 'luxury lifestyle'.

Politics

1 week ago 'This year I've read 122 books and five things helped me avoid reading slump'

Reading 122 books by June is pretty speedy work, but the only reason Senior Social News Desk reporter Danielle Kate Wroe is able to do this is because she never gets into a reading slump

Politics

1 week ago The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 has gone to a debut author – here’s where to read the winning book

The winning novel is “a classic in the making”

Culture

1 week ago Best new books to read, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Miranda July

Discover debut novelists and immersive page-turners from acclaimed authors

Politics

2 w. ago I suspect there's something poisonous about money. That’s why I’m embracing a gift economy | Kelley Swain

A slow and gentle lifestyle is possible; it’s just not sold to us, so it is harder to listen out forGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI’ve heard from a very wise friend that something she hadn’t previously considered, which she read in my “tiny house” article, was that the housing market requires most people to be in debt. It’s been a strangely positive experience to come to the concept of “economics” through living my life as a poet, novelist and medical journalist, because it allows me to critique things that might otherwise go unnoticed. Another very wise friend told me that her husband went to university to study economics, was told on day one that the entire model is built on a concept of infinite growth, and he quit to become a gardener. No wonder we’re friends.The first book of economics I read was The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The point of this beautifully written, small book (a long essay, really) is that different concepts of “economies” exist – we need...

Economics

2 w. ago 10 best thriller books to read in 2025, from classics to new releases

Tear through gripping tales of ‘Gone Girl’, ‘The Housemaid’ and more

Politics

3 w. ago 10 children's books my kids and I keep going back to after reading 500 together over the years

One dad explains how he's read more than 500 children's books with his son and daughter over the years - and these are the 10 that they've enjoyed the most

Politics

3 w. ago With 'Atmosphere,' Taylor Jenkins Reid leaves the Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid loves to research before writing

Politics

3 w. ago What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in May

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the commentsThis past semester I taught The Voyage Out – Virginia Woolf’s first novel, which is less read and talked about than her other books – to my undergraduates. One of the most interesting things about it is that Richard and Clarissa Dalloway appear as minor characters at the beginning. In each of my rereadings (and for my students who read the novel for the first time), when the Dalloways leave, it feels as though the air pressure of the novel drops for a moment. A reader feels a longing and a wistfulness watching them disappear – a feeling that Woolf must have shared too. The Dalloways must have haunted her and waited for her to become a more mature writer. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘I’ve never sent an email’ – meet the pampered celebs who’ve avoided doing everyday chores

Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper says that the first book he ever read was his own and he's not alone in a list of celebs who have it pretty easy on a daily basis

Politics

3 w. ago Fourth Wing fans must read this magical new fantasy by BookTok star Hazel McBride

A Fate Forged in Fire is perfect for fans of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and House of the Dragon by George R. R. Martin

Politics

4 w. ago Book community slams 'fake' list of summer reads where none of the books are real

Looking to sink your teeth into a great read for the summer? This summer reads list has irked the book community after publishing a list of novels partly generated by AI

Politics