books
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Trump has wielded power in comics for yearsIt’s just 12 months since the Donald took power in the US, but he has long been a figure to reckon with in the cartoon world -
Audible’s romance widget speeds readers to 'the good parts'The audiobooks site’s new feature allows you to jump to the steamy bits of romantic novels. It’s a strangely unromantic gimmick
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Books about royal familiesCombining intense personal drama with the fate of nations, the best of these accounts illuminate history through compellingly intimate experience -
The Letters of Sylvia Plath Volume 1 – why Plath can’t win in a world of male privilegeAt last her letters, including many to Ted Hughes, appear in complete form. But in the years from 1940 to 1956 she had yet to come into her own as a writer
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Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement – how can I be a better person?To write this fine comedy of cultural criticism authors Carl Cederström and André Spicer spent a year ‘optimising’ themselves physically, sexually, morally and mentally
news
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What are you reading this week?Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them
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Hansel in College by Tyler MillsWeaving a different work by Gwendolyn Brooks into her own, Mills makes their parallel stories sing together
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graphic novel special
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All the winners of our graphic short story prize interviewedWe celebrate by talking to previous winners – and to 2017’s star, Tor Freeman
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Why we love graphic novelsFamous fans tell us how they got hooked and name their all-time favourites
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Fun Home creator on turning a tragic childhood into a hit musicalThe acclaimed graphic novelist on exposing her family, appearing in The Simpsons and why comics are her Trump therapy
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‘I don't present villains or heroes’The author of Freedom Hospital on dealing with the trauma of war in exile, the late friend his book is dedicated to, and why he still has hope
regulars
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Book of the dayBook of the dayThe Letters of Sylvia Plath Volume 1 review – why Plath can’t win in a world of male privilegeAt last her letters, including many to Ted Hughes, appear in complete form. But in the years from 1940 to 1956 she had yet to come into her own as a writer
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PodcastPodcastRichard Flanagan and Jesmyn Ward – books podcastOn this week’s show, we hear from Man Booker prize-winning Flanagan about his latest book, First Person, and speak to Ward about her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing
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Novel recipesNovel recipesNovel recipes: robber steak from DraculaThe spooky season inspires Kate to create a dish from Bram Stoker’s novel – just remember to keep that meat slightly bloody
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Reading groupReading groupWorth the 'trubba': making sense of Riddley Walker's languageRussell Hoban worked and reworked his story to create his narrator’s strange, post-apocalyptic vernacular. It makes for difficult but rewarding reading
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Swearing Is Good for You by Emma Byrne; How to Swear by Stephen WildishTwo books on swearing explore the cathartic pleasures of the four-letter riposte
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Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza – a people’s man at work, rest and playA record of Barack Obama’s eight years in office by the official White House photographer reminds us of what we are missing in the age of Trump
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Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary BeardIn tracing the roots of misogyny to Athens and Rome, Mary Beard has produced a modern feminist classic
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Brolliology by Marion Rankine – thinking about umbrellasMary Poppins used one to fly but for most people they are merely ‘portable roofs’. Have brollies lost their magic?
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The Dawn Watch by Maya Jasanoff – Joseph Conrad in world historyThis brilliant study blends biography, lit crit and commentary on our times. Conrad’s life gave him a unique insight into ‘progress’, empire and global capitalism
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Mischka’s War by Sheila Fitzpatrick – my husband in Nazi GermanyThe renowned historian of the Soviet Union recounts the early life of her late husband, including his unforgettable story of the bombing of Dresden
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Winter by Ali Smith – luminously beautifulA fraught family Christmas in Cornwall is the setting for the second part of Smith’s seasonal quartet, a tender tale inspired by Dickens and Shakespeare
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First Person by Richard Flanagan – memoirs of a shady pastIn the Man Booker winner’s first novel since The Narrow Road to the Deep North, an invitation to ghostwrite a criminal’s autobiography leads a man into a moral crisis
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Kumukanda by Kayo Chingonyi – unflinching reflectionsFor all its lyrical elegance, there is no hiding the anger and defiance in this debut collection
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All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler – a provocative portrayal of teen sexualityThe author formerly known as Lemony Snicket explores gender politics and the fluidity of sexual identity through his perpetually horny antihero
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The White Book by Han Kang – the brilliance and transience of lifeThe author of The Vegetarian has written a powerful autobiographical meditation on the life and death of a newborn sister
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The best recent thrillersSnare by Lilja Sigurðardóttir; All the World’s a Stage by Boris Akunin; Pale Horse Riding by Chris Petit; Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre; The Brother by Joakim Zander; Kill Me Twice by Simon Booker
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Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers – a heartfelt hug of a storyJeffers’s first nonfiction book is a witty, tender introduction to the world for his newborn son
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We See Everything by William Sutcliffe – surveillance and survival in dystopian LondonResistance fighters are tracked by drones in this young adult tale of violence, love and bereavement
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Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend – a magical debutThis enchanting adventure of a ‘strange little girl with black eyes’ more than holds its own against a certain H Potter. Roll on the franchise
people
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Fiction is not a lie, but a truth, a necessary truthThe Booker prize winner on his new novel and why it’s not always possible to separate fact from fiction
pictures, video & audio
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Richard Flanagan and Jesmyn WardOn this week’s show, we hear from Man Booker prize-winning Flanagan about his latest book, First Person, and speak to Ward about her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing
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Ernst Haeckel: the art of evolutionThe influential evolutionary scientist, who coined such terms as ‘stem cell’ and ‘ecology’, was also a virtuoso illustrator. The editor of a new book celebrating this work introduces some highlights
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Salman Rushdie on The Golden House, Trump and moreSpeaking with Mark Lawson, Rushdie looks back on his career and discusses his latest book, set in a US where a crass presidential candidate rises up in the dying days of Obama’s governnment
you may have missed
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The best books about the JFK assassination, from Norman Mailer to Don DeLilloWill the release of the latest cache of classified papers unleash a slew of books about the death of the charismatic Kennedy?
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My daemon is a raven, a bird that steals thingsPhilip Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy is celebrated the world over, has finally produced a new instalment in Lyra’s story. As La Belle Sauvage hits the shops, he answers questions from famous fans and Observer readers
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A fantastical tale from the Man Booker winnerThis week the master of the short story won the Booker for Lincoln in the Bardo. ‘Fox 8’ is a heartfelt letter to Yumans
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John Banville on writing a sequel to The Portrait of a Lady‘It did seem that I might be a character in one of the Master’s tales of the uncanny’ … the author recounts how his follow-up to Henry James’s classic came into being
Tom Stoppard Playright is 'bashful' winner of lifetime achievement award