Literature
Books, writing, reviews, poetry, and storytelling.
Priyanka Kumar on Incorporating Art Into Her Nature Writing
On a snowy winter afternoon, a coyote was slipping out of the microwild around my home as I tried, without success, to get a good photograph. (I created the concept of the microwild while writing the
What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week
Judi Dench’s Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It?, Ian Rankin’s The Heights, Louise Kennedy’s Stations, and Simon Garfield’s The Pen: A Human History all feature among the best reviewed books of the w
Dams
This is Ada noticing on her tongue the translucence of the word escriure and the word novel·la, to write and novel, respectively. The coffee tinting them, melting them, like ice cubes. Ada who is ex-p
True North by Paul Theroux review – an American’s view of Canada
The veteran travel writer turns his eye for detail on his northern neighbour and its people Paul Theroux’s arrival in Canada doesn’t go well. An immigration officer called Sweeney finds a small pocket
Winner of the Prix Goncourt literary prize admits to using AI
Philippe Jaenada told French radio that he used ChatGPT to ‘play with the reader’, after the prize removed a different book from its longlist over allegations of AI use The winner of France’s most pre
Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter audiobook review – an urgent call for collective action
The writer and activist finds galvanising energy in grassroots initiatives in the face of inequality and the climate crisis ‘Throughout the world confidence in progress has shattered,” notes Natasha W
Where to start with: John Berger
The influential British writer and critic was born 100 years ago today. Here’s a guide to his genre-bending writing on art, love, sex, mortality and more John Berger was born a hundred years ago today
American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee review – a gloriously immersive follow-up to Pachinko
A Korean family is willing to sacrifice everything for their children’s education, in the third book in Lee’s Diaspora Quartet “An excellent hagwon,” according to one of the characters in Min Jin Lee’
Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson review – a dazzling, dizzying adventure
The winner of the 2026 Baillie Gifford prize is a riveting work of ancient history that feels startlingly present • ‘Blockbuster’ history of Alexander the Great wins £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize In 3
A Table for Fortune by William T Vollmann review – a hugely ambitious 3,000-page portrait of America’s decline
This insider’s history of the CIA explores the last 50 years of US foreign policy with granular detail and mordant humour The 250th year of the American experiment seems to invite a reckoning. For a y
A Life in Fragments by Marina Litvinenko review – surviving Putin
Twenty years on from her husband’s murder, an extraordinary woman reflects on love and resilience Among the many images of violence that might be used to define Putin’s chilly reign, one stands out. T
Citizen Kim by Jonathan Van Meter review – Kardashian under the microscope
The author gets a backstage pass to the personal life of the world’s most famous woman – but what do we really learn? The magazine writer Jonathan Van Meter profiles very famous people for extremely g
Lords of Serendipity by Randy Boyagoda review – a campus satire for this moment of crisis
This propulsive, globe-trotting tale brilliantly skewers the corruption and corporatisation of higher education It’s no secret that academia is on the blink; Canadian author Randy Boyagoda’s new novel
The Rhyl Poster by Tom McCarthy review – is this avant-garde spy drama worth the riddles?
The hallucinatory crisis of a war-scarred jurist with a painkiller dependency makes for frustrating reading Of the cohort of experimental novelists whose renown grew in the wake of the 2008 financial
Pay Attention by Laura Kuenssberg review – a BBC reporter’s howl of frustration
After more than two decades of studied neutrality, the journalist delivers some home truths about modern politics Laura Kuenssberg always swore she would never write a book. Amid all the vitriol hurle
Why you should treat charisma as a red flag
Today’s crop of smooth talkers tap directly into a specific evolutionary vulnerability. Here’s how to defend yourself Recently, I was alone in a bar waiting for a friend. To pass the time, I started c
What we’re reading: Ian Rankin, Louise Kennedy and Guardian readers on the books they enjoyed in October
Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments I’m a huge fan of Muriel Spark, but wasn’t sure I needed another biography of
‘Being hated is very bracing’: Helen Garner on surviving three marriages and being called a ‘rotten feminist’
Her unsparing fiction and true crime writing have made her one of Australia’s most controversial and celebrated authors. The author discusses relationships, resilience – and finding global recognition