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Latest features and reviews

<p>One of America’s leading and most incisive writers, George Saunders returns to the novel form with ‘Vigil’</p>

Interview

George Saunders: ‘The US government are like thieves in the house’

In his latest novel ‘Vigil’, the Booker Prize-winning author imagines an oil baron on his deathbed. Speaking to Nick Duerden, he reflects on his late-blooming success and how he holds on to hope amid the current ‘sickening’ state of his home

<p>Realism is not Freida McFadden’s strong suit, but nor is it her goal</p>

In Focus

How The Housemaid’s Freida McFadden took over the bestseller lists

<p>Helen Fielding, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Malorie Blackman, Jeanette Winterson and more give their advice</p>

National Year of Reading 2026

‘Don’t google the Beckhams’: Britain’s top authors on how to read more

<p>The story of a 17-year-old in love and lust with her teacher, Jennette McCurdy’s debut novel, ‘Half His Age’, is full of pathos and rage</p>

The Saturday Interview

Jennette McCurdy: ‘Do we ever grow out of wanting to feel special?’

<p>Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson star in an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s psychological thriller ‘Verity’</p>

what to read next

Read these books before they take over our screens this year

<p>Literacy rates have stalled or declined across the Western world</p>

In Focus

Doomsayers warn about a post-lit society – here’s why they are wrong

<p>Lena Dunham, Cynthia Erivo and David Hockney all have exciting new projects planned for the next 12 months</p>

2026 culture guide

The biggest books, art, plays, TV and films to look forward to in 2026

<p>It was at Worthy Farm on 25 June 2000 that David Bowie regained his crown as the reigning monarch of contemporary music</p>

Extract

The ‘accidental brilliance’ behind David Bowie’s Glastonbury gig

<p>Get a jumpstart on your new year's resolution to read more with these picks for January</p>

books of the month

What to read this January, including Julian Barnes’s final book

<p>Best of the bunch: The non-fiction and fiction that’ll have everyone talking next year</p>

2026 Culture Guide

16 books to have on your radar in 2026

<p>David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher (Ian West/PA)</p>

Comment

It’s baffling that David Walliams’s publishing deal lasted this long

<p>Richard Osman</p>

McCrum on Books

The sad truth about Richard Osman and the books you should buy instead

<p>Best of the bunch: here are our top picks of this year’s releases</p>

Books of 2025

The best fiction and non-fiction books of 2025

Captivating novels, surprising memoirs and tales of deception are to the fore as the year draws to a close and our chief book critic Martin Chilton picks his best 2025 reads

<p>Bookworm: Robert Pattinson in ‘Remember Me’</p>

In Focus

Men aren’t vanishing from fiction. The truth is much more complicated

Reviews

Mortality looms over Salman Rushdie’s first fiction since the attack

<p>David Szalay’s sixth novel ‘Flesh’ is the second of his books to be shortlisted for the literary award</p>

Comment

David Szalay’s Flesh is the most deserved Booker Prize winner in years

Anthony Hopkins’ memoir falls short of the depth his career deserves

<p>Woody Allen photographed in September 2023</p>

Woody Allen’s debut novel is an incorrigible story of male lechery

Lists

<p>What better way to become the best version of yourself other than with a trusty self-help book? (Alamy/PA)</p>

7 books that are cheaper than therapy

<p>Must-reads: the books you can’t miss in 2025 </p>

The books to read in 2025, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Adam Kay

<p>Clockwise from top-left: Matilda, Artemis Fowl, Peter Rabbit, The Hobbit</p>

The 30 best children’s books of all time

News