9 h. 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

11 h. ago Jilly Cooper's raunchiest bonkbusters, from Riders to Rivals

The best-selling author has died at 88, leaving behind a legendary legacy of literary filth

Politics

13 h. 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 By then Harrower had written another novel but withdrawn it from her English publisher, disappointed by his reaction.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

15 h. ago 'Queen of the bonkbuster' who brought sex to Middle England's bookshelves: Dame Jilly Cooper

The Rivals author was famed for her raunchy romance novels, selling more than 12million books in her career.

Politics

17 h. ago Dame Jilly Cooper dies aged 88: 'Queen of the bonkbuster' author who wrote Rivals and Riders passes away after a fall as devastated family pay tribute

The Rivals author was famed for her raunchy romance novels, selling more than 12million books in her career.

Events

25 h. 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

49 h. 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

2 d. 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

2 d. 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

3 d. 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

4 d. ago Richard Osman opens up on 'uncomfortable' issue shared with son as he offers 'two choices'

Best-selling author and TV presenter Richard Osman revealed the advice he once gave to his son after admitting that he feels "uncomfortable" about a physical attribute they share

Politics

4 d. 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

9 d. ago Richard Osman's net worth after book became huge Netflix hit

The star has been a familiar face on TV for many years, but in recent times he has also become a best-selling author

Events

1 week 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

1 week 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

1 week 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

1 week ago 'I'm a best selling author and everyone needs to read these 5 books'

Patricia Crisafulli, 65, from Oswego, New York, is a New York Times best selling author and has shared her five favourite books of all time - and her list features all genres

Culture

1 week ago ‘Brilliantly human’: Kiran Desai and David Szalay make Booker prize shortlist

No debut novels are among the six finalists, with established authors including Ben Markovits and previously shortlisted Andrew Miller in the runningChris Power: ‘As a Booker prize judge I helped whittle 153 books down to a shortlist of six. Here’s why you should read them’No debuts appear on this year’s Booker prize shortlist, which is dominated by established authors including previous winner Kiran Desai and previously shortlisted writers David Szalay and Andrew Miller.Ben Markovits, Susan Choi and Katie Kitamura are also on the list, which was announced at an event at the Southbank Centre in central London on Tuesday evening. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago If Anyone Builds it, Everyone Dies review – how AI could kill us all

If machines become superintelligent we’re toast, say Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares. Should we believe them?What if I told you I could stop you worrying about climate change, and all you had to do was read one book? Great, you’d say, until I mentioned that the reason you’d stop worrying was because the book says our species only has a few years before it’s wiped out by superintelligent AI anyway.We don’t know what form this extinction will take exactly – perhaps an energy-hungry AI will let the millions of fusion power stations it has built run hot, boiling the oceans. Maybe it will want to reconfigure the atoms in our bodies into something more useful. There are many possibilities, almost all of them bad, say Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares in If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, and who knows which will come true. But just as you can predict that an ice cube dropped into hot water will melt without knowing where any of its individual molecules will end up, you can be sure an A...

Events

2 w. ago I always thought narcissism was just a buzzword – until I read a book and realised I was a hapless victim

After reading a new book, ‘My Parent the Peacock’, Charlotte Cripps realised that narcissistic parenting may well have been at play in her large family. She explains how she was cast in the role of the ‘golden child’, and the impact of this on her later life

Events