Books

Illustration of hobbits in Middle-earth

Analysis

How Tolkien offers consolation in our dark times

A book of translation, a daisy and a key

Women in translation

Top 5 books by women in translation, selected by Daniel Hahn

multiverse

Bridge by Lauren Beukes review: Multiverse thriller by The Shining Girls author delivers

Dawn Butler speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool

politics

Dawn Butler: Growing up with four brothers helped me navigate male-dominated Westminster

An illustration depicting Sola Mahfouz, who defied Afghanistan's education ban

Memoir

How one girl secretly defied Afghanistan's education ban

Dragon illustration

Fiction

Top 5 books featuring magical creatures, selected by Katherine Rundell

Till Lukat's illustration of a farmer driving a tractor made of a giant radio

Environment

How I enlisted The Archers in an environmental battle for the soul of our countryside

Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan

Review

Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan: Poetry alive with compassion and acceptance

Ootlin by Jenni Fagan

Review

Ootlin: A Memoir by Jenni Fagan review: Harrowing truths about the care system

A yellow spade and red bucket on a pebble beach

Illustrated children's books

Top 5 seaside stories for kids, chosen by Anthony Browne

Gothic illustration by Jon Klassen of a little girl holding a skull

Fiction

Top 5 gothic tales for kids, selected by Jon Klassen

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo,

review

Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo review: Family dynamics beg closer inspection

Sea Change by Gina Chung

review

Sea Change by Gina Chung review: Busy plotting undoes wry wit

Illustration by Pierre Buttin capturing the movement of a group of dancers

Expressive writing

Rediscovering my love of dancing changed my life... and inspired my book

A dark forest and a pair of gleaming eyes

Fiction

Top 5 books about monsters and parasites, selected by Ronald Malfi

The cover of Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter features an image of a halved pomegranate

Fiction

Ripe review: A dread-filled indictment of capitalism

The cover of Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej

Fiction

Little Rabbit review: The politics of kink

Illustration two women embracing

Minority writing

How writing reconnected me with my Bedouin past

Steam train going over a viaduct

Fiction

Top 5 literary train journeys, selected by Christine Mangan

horror

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia review: Menacing and magical happenings made believable

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