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Books

  • Enniscorthy County Wexford Eire Republic of Ireland<br>ABHFW1 Enniscorthy County Wexford Eire Republic of Ireland

    Observer book of the week
    Long Island by Colm Tóibín review – the sequel to Brooklyn is a masterclass in subtlety and intelligence

    John Self
  • CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS<br>This photo taken on January 25, 2020 shows medical staff wearing protective clothing to protect against the deadly COVID-2019 coronavirus as they work at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan. - Doctors on the frontline of China's new coronavirus epidemic are facing a daunting task: treat an ever-growing number of infected patients and risk getting infected themselves due to a drastic shortage of masks and other protective equipment. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP) / TO GO WITH China-health-virus-hospital,FOCUS by Eva Xiao and Ludovic Ehret (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

    Pandemic books
    Wuhan: How the Covid-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control; Wuhan: A Documentary Novel – reviews

    Mark Honigsbaum
    Dali L Yang’s critique of China’s response in the early days of the Covid pandemic is thoroughgoing if academic, while poet Liao Yiwu’s account mixes fact and fiction to extraordinary effect
  • The now closed and derelict Severalls Mental Hospital, Colchester. This infamous lunatic asylum is now awaiting redevelopment.<br>DNBXA7 The now closed and derelict Severalls Mental Hospital, Colchester. This infamous lunatic asylum is now awaiting redevelopment.

    Memoir
    The Bullet by Tom Lee review – a complicated inheritance

    Declan Ryan
  • Taylor Sam headshots 3 2024 9

    Sam Taylor
    Translating is like X-raying a book. You get a deep tissue read

  • books

    Hay festival
    Books for a better world: as chosen by Lenny Henry, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Andrew O’Hagan and others

  • Farmer Giles Establishment, Christmas Day, 1830.<br>ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Seven people are seated round the kitchen table brandishing knives and forks and glasses; a woman at one end is carving meat from a large roast; at the other end a man on his feet is holding up a jug. A small boy, standing on a bellows, stretches up to the table to drink from a plate; two others are eating on the floor using a stool as a table. A dog is sitting looking up at the table. Coloured etching by William Heath, published by T McLean, 1830. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

    Book of the day
    Rumbles by Elsa Richardson review – gut reaction

    Steven Poole
  • TGbooks130dead Tom Gauld 130 dead

    Tom Gauld's cultural cartoons
    Tom Gauld on the ghost who refuses to leave the earthly realm – cartoon

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What to read

  • Composite image of best paperbacks May 2024

    Paperbacks
    This month’s best paperbacks: Richard Osman, Rebecca F Kuang and more

  • Alice Munro

    Five of the best
    Five of the best Alice Munro short stories

    • Read on

      100 best novels of all time
      From The Pilgrim's Progress to True History of the Kelly Gang

    • Books of the century so far

      The 100 best books of the 21st century

    • Composite for the 100 best nonfiction books of all time list

      100 best nonfiction books of all time
      From Naomi Klein to the Bible – the full list

Non-fiction reviews

  • Benji Waterhouse

    Health, mind and body books
    You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here by Benji Waterhouse review – the doctor won’t see you now

    Rachel Clarke
  • Detail from The Bachelor Party by Louis Wain.

    Biography books
    Catland by Kathryn Hughes review – paws for thought

    Sam Leith
    From pests to pampered pets … how Victorian artist Louis Wain ushered in the age of the cat
  • A sevengill shark in the Great African Sea Forest.

    Science and nature books
    Amphibious Soul by Craig Foster – natural narcissist

    Charlie Gilmour
    A memoir from the human star of My Octopus Teacher shows unjustified confidence in interpreting nature’s messages
  • A black and white image of Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May either standing against or sitting on a wooden fence.

    Autobiography and memoir
    My Family and Other Rock Stars by Tiffany Murray review – Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and my mum

    Nick Duerden
  • Shami Chakrabarti.

    Society books
    Human Rights: The Case for the Defence by Shami Chakrabarti review – freedoms fighter treads a fine line

    Gaby Hinsliff
  • Franz Kafka in Prague, circa 1910

    Biography books
    Metamorphoses by Karolina Watroba; A Cage Went in Search of a Bird; Diaries review – Franz Kafka as more than just a prophet of malaise

    Joe Moshenska
  • Raking in money<br>Rake, raking in US $1 bills

    Economics
    The Road to Freedom by Joseph E Stiglitz review – a vision of progressive capitalism seems too little, too late

    Stuart Jeffries
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Fiction & poetry reviews

  • Miranda July.

    Fiction
    All Fours by Miranda July review – larger than life

    Lara Feigel
  • Saoirse Ronan and Domhnall Gleeson in the 2015 film adaptation of Brooklyn.

    Fiction
    Long Island by Colm Tóibín review – happy ever after?

    Clare Clark
    The Irish novelist is at the height of his powers with a sequel to Brooklyn, set twenty years later
  • Internet love in My First Book.

    Fiction
    My First Book by Honor Levy review – extremely online

    Frustration drives in an anxious Zoomer’s tour of the web
  • July Miranda c Elizabeth Weinberg high res

    Fiction
    All Fours by Miranda July review – a miraculous midlife road trip

    John Self
  • Author Mo Hayder On April 27Th, 2000, France.<br>FRANCE - APRIL 27: Author Mo Hayder On April 27Th, 2000, France. (Photo by Frederic REGLAIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

    Thrillers of the month
    Crime and thrillers of the month – review

    Alison Flood
  • Sicily

    Fiction
    The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya review – sharp generational shame game

    Miriam Balanescu
  • Ireland, County Donegal, View of Ballycramey and Inishowen Peninsula with Trawbreaga Bay<br>Ballycramey, Trawbreaga Bay, Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland

    Fiction
    The Coast Road by Alan Murrin review – love and the limitations placed on women

    Lucy Popescu
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Children's and YA books

  • Detail from The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees.

    Children's book reviews round-up
    The best new chapter books

    Kitty Empire
  • The Magic Callaloo by Trish Cooke, illustrated by Sophie Bass.

    Children's book roundup
    The best new picture books and novels

    Imogen Russell Williams
    An ungrammatical egg; a demystifying approach to death; 10 new poets to read aloud; and a stunning gothic mystery
  • Terrible Horses, by Raymond Antrobus and Ken Wilson-Max. PR pics from Walker Books - with words removed

    Children's book reviews round-up
    Picture books for children – reviews

    Imogen Carter
    Bashful cats and lonely ponies stalk the pages of this month’s choices
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Interviews

  • Views her work as defying a state that condones a war against women ... Cristina Rivera Garza.

    ‘The only healing will be through justice’
    Pulitzer winner Cristina Rivera Garza on femicide in Mexico

  • Miranda July.

    ‘I was in a kind of ecstatic freefall’
    Artist Miranda July on writing the book that could change your life

    The artist and filmmaker has always enjoyed challenging convention. Now she has written a novel which takes a breathtaking look at menopause, sex, death and transformation
  • OBserver Books<br>Author pic - Deborah Levy photographed at Gokyuzu restaurant, in Green Lanes, N4.

    Deborah Levy
    Writing and swimming help each other

    The novelist and memoirist on stamina and solitude, the influence of surrealist art on her work, and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s revelatory travel writing
  • Colm Tóibín.

    ‘This is much more intimate’
    Colm Tóibín on writing a sequel to Brooklyn, 15 years on

  • Ponomarenko in Kyiv’s Independence Square

    ‘I have my iPhone, X and a brain in my head’
    Ukrainian journalist and social media star Illia Ponomarenko

  • Kaliane Bradley

    ‘It was just so much fun’
    The Ministry of Time author Kaliane Bradley

  • Margaret Atwood

    ‘I can say things other people are afraid to’
    Margaret Atwood on censorship, literary feuds and Trump

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Regulars

  • Hari Kunzru at home in Brooklyn.

    The books of my life
    Hari Kunzru: ‘I am just as enchanted by The Great Gatsby now as when I first read it as an A-level student’

  • Elia Barbieri - The Guardian Saturday - Big Idea - 11th May - Do we need to reimagine progress -01

    Big idea
    What does progress look like on a planet at its limit?

    Putting endless growth above our wellbeing and the environment is no longer viable
  • Franz Kafka.

    Where to start with
    Where to start with: Franz Kafka

    Inscrutable bureaucracy and monstrous insects may not sound immediately appealing, but once you’re lost in Kafka’s world you won’t want to escape
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You may have missed

  • Alice Munro.

    Alice Munro remembered
    Reading her stories is like watching a virtuoso pianist perform

  • flowers

    Should plants be given rights?
    What new botanical breakthroughs could mean

  • Paul Auster.

    Paul Auster remembered
    A literary voice for the ages

  • Photo of Franz Kafka on his grave at the New Jewish Cemetery, Prague.

    Franz Kafka
    What we learn about Kafka from his uncensored diaries

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