Tom Gauld on the library of the forbidden tomes – cartoon
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‘It is not only a future certainty – the disaster is already here’: why we need climate fiction
As wildfires rage across Europe and Britain swelters through its hottest summer on record, literary fiction has a vital role to play in capturing the severe consequences of climate crisis Earlier this summer, I travelled through Europe on a book tour. Everywhere I went, the heat broke records. In Italy, Germany and Spain, I sought refuge from the afternoon sun in air-conditioned hotels. In…
Art Spiegelman: ‘The US needs a counter-revolution’
More than four decades after his Holocaust story Maus transformed the graphic novel genre, Art Spiegelman discusses Trump, the shadow of 9/11 and the rise of fascism in America When the cartoonist Art Spiegelman began dating his future wife, Françoise Mouly, in the mid 70s, she would tell him not to worry about walking her home, because even the New York muggers didn’t bother venturing to where…
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian; Claws Out! by Bella Mackie; Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang; Children of Wolves by Lawrence Osborne; Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian (Hutchinson Heinemann, £18.99) American bestseller Bohjalian deserves to be far better known in the UK, although, as the first line of his 26th novel points out, “It is neither virtue nor might that rules the…
Rebecca Perry: ‘Lorca hit me like a bolt of lightning’
The poet and novelist on the power of fairytales, being inspired by Frank O’Hara and the joys of Doris Lessing My earliest reading memory Reading On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan, aged five or so, sitting on the floor of the bedroom I shared with my brother – who, in my memory, was sitting on the carpet next to me. My favourite book growing up I had a collection of fairytales in a big…
The Beverly Hills Housewife by James Cahill review – a trip inside Hockney’s world
Muse Betty Freeman sits at the centre of this sun-drenched book about art, eccentricity, and the spirit of Los Angeles David Hockney was 29 years old when he came to Betty Freeman’s house to photograph her swimming pool. Scouting locations for the pool paintings that would make him a household name, he took preparatory snaps of his partner, Peter Schlesinger, emerging naked from the water. And yet…
Universality by Natasha Brown audiobook review – a sparkling multi-voiced satire
A magazine article about stolen gold sparks a culture war between a cast of politically polarised characters A stinging dissection of wealth, class and the media, Natasha Brown’s satire begins with a man named Jake gazing at a gold bar he has found at a farm in West Yorkshire. Outside, an illegal rave is taking place which will end in three hospitalisations and property damage. Pondering what to…
Can Nothing Save Us? by Irvine Welsh review – US family saga is a late-career triumph
The Scottish author focuses on gun culture and generational conflict in this darkly satirical tale about a great power in decline “Why expect unconditional love from somebody you’ve brought into a fucked, dying planet, who then has to sit around and watch you screw it up even more?” So muses twentysomething college dropout Luke Ayrton on his parental lineage as he works the Las Vegas Strip,…
You Won’t Get Free of It by Rachel Aviv review – a subtle study of the mother-daughter bond
The most complex of female relationships is thrown into sharp relief in this moving series of essays Rachel Aviv has a profound interest in the vagaries of human psychology: Strangers to Ourselves, her last book, profiled five people whose psychiatric states resisted straightforward explanation, testing the limits of the mental health system. A Pulitzer finalist, Aviv has become known for…
Is Beauty Good by Rosalind Belben review – the literary equivalent of free jazz
Combining hilarious detail with harsh observation, this rediscovered novel takes the reader on an exhilaratingly strange journey ‘But after all, writing is nothing more than a guided dream,” wrote Jorge Luis Borges. Dreams and dreaming are fertile concerns for Rosalind Belben, too. Her fourth book, originally published in 1979 and reissued last yea r, was titled Dreaming of Dead People. It was…
John Berger: From Life by Tom Overton review – a vibrant biography of the pioneering critic
This multi-layered portrait is a fitting tribute to the man behind Ways of Seeing The cultural critic John Berger was still alive and kicking when he donated his literary archive – heaped boxes of letters and notepads, sketches and scripts – to the British Library in 2009. From his home in the Alps, he proceeded to liaise with the collection’s curator, Tom Overton, sorting each item and recounting…
We know sleep, exercise and diet are vital for health. But why?
The benefits of all three come down to a crucial piece of cellular kit Sleep. Exercise. Eat well. It’s the oldest recommendation in medicine, repeated so often it’s become a cliche. We know the advice, even if we don’t always follow it. But have you ever stopped to wonder why these three seemingly different habits have such remarkably similar effects on our brains and bodies? For generations we’ve…
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
The Salt King by Natasha Pulley; A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett; Netherwood by Jake Arnott; Fawn by CN Vair The Salt King by by Natasha Pulley (Gollancz, £22) The latest from the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street blends an apocalyptic end-of-the-world tale with folk horror and two slowly developing love stories. Avelyn Brocken is a trainee priest at the Vatican, sent to check…
What Happened to Liberal Democracy? by Daron Acemoglu review – how to fix the system
The Nobel-winning economist takes aim at elites for no longer meeting the needs of the masses In 2009, the tech billionaire Peter Thiel published an essay with the portentous title The Education of a Libertarian, in which he announced: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Since the 1920s, he wrote, “the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the…
Sky City by Jacqueline Crooks review – an ambitious, lyrical portrait of trauma
A young woman is haunted by her childhood in this forcefully imaginative and unapologetically bleak novel from the author of Fire Rush The world of Sky City never quite settles beneath your feet. The action of Jacqueline Crooks’s second novel unfolds in a recognisable 1990s London, yet everything seems subtly untethered from reality: a council estate suspended above the city, voices drifting in…
A Sense of Occasion by Brodie Crellin review – a surprising and darkly funny debut
A dysfunctional family comes together for a funeral in this heartfelt, keenly observed novel Most of us come upon our family’s dysfunctions gradually, like a door that opens a little wider each year. This uncle, you find out, has had an affair; grandma has a hoarding problem. The cremation of the nuclear family illusion is a cornerstone of literature, especially when it’s hastened by one of those…
The Ghost of the Mountains by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi review – the secrets of the snow leopard
An Indian mountaineer follows in the footsteps of explorers and conservationists in search of an enigmatic animal When bored, try the following game – I call it “Purr or Roar?”. Take any feline and guess whether it can purr or roar (it cannot do both because purring and roaring require different anatomical structures). Some candidates are easy: any child knows that lions and tigers roar and that a…
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in July
Max Porter, Daisy Johnson, Avni Doshi and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments I recently read Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot . It’s one of the best novels I’ve ever read about what it means to live with others, or decide not to; what we owe the people we love, the natural world, and ourselves. I also really enjoyed Robert…
‘We’ve always been wary of working together’: Val McDermid and Jo Sharp on writing a novel as a couple
The bestselling crime writer and Scotland’s first female Geographer Royal had long kept their work separate, until a chance discovery about a doomed 17th-century expedition forced them to collaborate The airy, modern house on the outskirts of Edinburgh shared by Val McDermid and Jo Sharp is surrounded by greenery and feels as though it was designed to provide enough space for two minds to think.…
Social Darwinists to tech bros: tracing the long fight against equality in US
Historian Kim Phillips-Fein’s book Country of Lords looks back at the many men who have tried to fight against egalitarianism, from John Adams to Peter Thiel The historian Kim Phillips-Fein’s new book is published amid celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence and its truth “self-evident, that all men are created equal”. Country of Lords, however, is a history of…
Hagitude author Sharon Blackie: ‘At 60 I wasn’t ready to give up, I was just starting’
The writer of cult hit If Women Rose Rooted is on a mission to bring folklore to modern readers. She talks about confronting her fears, communing with nature – and the power that comes with age Like many of the wise women in her books, Sharon Blackie lives miles from anyone. Hers is the only house on the road winding through a valley deep in the Yorkshire Dales. The River Eden runs along the…
The best books to read in July: new paperbacks from Andrew O’Hagan, Miriam Toews and Oyinkan Braithwaite
Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some fantastic new paperbacks, from the gripping story of an international murder case to a state-of-the-nation yarn *** Continue reading...
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
A mouse detective; a fresh take on the Odyssey; a dangerous wish; and the world’s most watched reality TV show My Dad Can by Stephen Lightbown, illustrated by Claire Sahara Lemp, Quarto, £7.99 Iris’s dad can turn into dinosaurs, unicorns, anything she imagines – though some people see Dad’s wheelchair and believe he can’t do anything. This soft-smudged, colourful picture book celebrates the…
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
A bunny who loves to bake, illustrated poems about amazing animals and a YA verse novel of dancefloor salvation Ban Ban’s Bakery by Elena Hiroko Magee, Do Re Mi, £12.99 Ban Ban the bunny loves baking with Grandma – but will she be able to turn Dusty Cottage into a bakery of her very own? A cute, enticing picture book full of mouthwatering, pastel-hued treats. Daddy Is Cleaning by Angel Dike ,…
The 100 best novels of all time
The top 100 novels of all time published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide. How many have you read? Continue reading...
‘She made Mondays something to look forward to’: readers pay tribute to Carol Rumens, Guardian’s Poem of the week columnist
Rumens, whose column ran for nearly 20 years and developed a loyal readership, died this week aged 81 Carol was an excellent commentator on poetry, shrewd and deep-thinking but able to express her thoughts in plain English rather than academic jargon. Her taste in poems was eclectic and very original; one didn’t always share it, but it was never predictable or dull. Sheenagh Pugh, Shetland…
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
An imposter monkey, an underworld princess, art’s female trailblazers, and YA tales of fear, family and friendship Our World: Nigeria by Bunmi Emenanjo and Diana Ejaita, Barefoot Books, £7.99 Part of a delightful educational series from a brilliant inclusive publisher, this colourful, joyous board book whisks babies away to spend a day in Nigeria, learning to say hello in three languages and…
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
A mission to grow plants in the desert; a potato’s adventures; a film-maker’s dreams; wartime bravery; a feminist fantasy and more The Wonder by Tom Percival, Simon & Schuster, £12.99 Daniel’s wet grey day seems like it will never get better – until he hears music and everything changes. A subtly beautiful picture book about finding small moments of joy and wonder. The Big Green by Ken Wilson-Max,…