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Latest features and reviews

<p>David McKenna as Piggy in Jack Thorne’s ‘Lord of the Flies’</p>

in focus

Lord of the Flies: The perfect book for Jack Thorne to adapt for TV

William Golding’s 1954 novel is required reading in schools across the world, and its title has become shorthand for the breakdown of civilisation, writes Martin Chilton. As a new TV adaptation arrives, it’s a reminder of how the book contains many warnings we must heed today

<p>Axel Scheffler (right) with ‘his monster’, who he says ‘hasn’t changed in all these years</p>

Interview

The Gruffalo: How Axel Scheffler created everyone’s favourite monster

<p>Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star as Cathy and Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’</p>

comment

I’m ready to admit it – Wuthering Heights is an awful, awful book

<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’

<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: 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>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>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

News