A library building, first handed to the local community by Mark Twain more than one hundred years ago, will be put on the market after the council stripped the shelves of books in a dawn raid today.

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Rubinstein: he couldn't see why people made such a fuss about money

Hilary Rubinstein: Celebrated literary agent and publisher

Hilary Rubinstein lived during a golden age of publishing, when publishers and literary agents (and he'd been both) were gentlemen, kept their words and always answered your letters. His long and mostly happy life was marked by his enthusiasms: for his family, for good books of every sort, for small, owner-run hotels and for chocolate. He was the youngest of three sons of a very old Anglo-Jewish family. One ancestor, a quill-maker, averted an attempt on the life of George III, and was rewarded with the royal warrant for quills.

Win a set of all the brilliant winners of the 2012 Fiction Uncovered prize

The Fiction Uncovered prize is an unusual one, in that it selects eight titles instead of one winner each year. Its remit is quite simple: to “uncover and celebrate our best British writers”.

'Lit fests: they're the perfect place to drink a lot of cider with friends. But for self-improvement? You're better off reading a book'

The Emperor's New Clothes (27/05/12)

Literary festivals are supposed to broaden the mind, but Matthew Bell would rather stay at home with a good book

The Day is Dark, By Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Reykjavik lawyer and under-age granny, Thora Gudmundsdottir, isn't usually fazed by the dark. But finding herself in remotest Greenland, investigating the disappearance of mining company employees, she finds herself listening out for unexplained creaks.

One Minute With: Shirley Hughes, author & illustrator

Where are you now and what can you see?

Simpson died last year, aged 92

Five-minute memoir: Andy Martin recalls how a stolen book changed his life

It was a small family bookshop, on a peaceful back street in a small town on the fringes of London. I treated it as my own personal library, and I would sit there for hours on end, often on the floor, usually not buying anything. I loved that bookshop, so naturally I had to go and betray it.

Half of all erotic fiction sold is in e-book format, compared with just 20 per cent of general fiction

Publishing: Rude bits in disguise

According to new research by discount website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, people have been buying e-readers to disguise the embarrassing books they're reading. The poll of 1,863 e-reader owners found that 58 per cent had acquired the device partly so as to disguise their taste in erotic and/or children's fiction.

Amol Rajan: The Authors XI, a game at Wormsley, and two noble charities

A team of writers is playing at one of England's most beautiful grounds this Sunday. Come along and help raise money for two great causes

Amol Rajan: Help us to run up some funds for two great causes

FreeView from the editors at i

Robert Enke, former goalkeeper of Hannover who suicided in 2009

Moving biography of keeper Robert Enke raises the bar at the British Sports Book Awards

Genre of football writing grows in credibility with crowning of A Life Too Short as book of the year

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death, By James Runcie

There is a bloody battle afoot in the world of crime fiction. Few would deny that the status quo in the fictional worlds of murder and detection these days is a grim and gritty one, with operatic levels of violence practically obligatory. And this isn't just the male practitioners of the genre; many female writers now cheerfully out-Herod Herod when it comes to upping the body count.

Between the Covers 20/05/2012

Your weekly guide to what's really going on inside the world of books

Railsea, By China Miéville

All aboard the Medes to hunt moldywarpes

Career Services

Day In a Page

David Rodigan: An MBE for reggae

David Rodigan on an MBE for reggae

The DJ from Oxfordshire and his obsession with the sound of Jamaica which is shared by Prince Charles
An artist who maps the human body

Mapping the human body

Angela Palmer: Life Lines picture preview
Crossrail: Celebrating 60 years in transport

Jubilant Crossrail

Celebrating 60 years in transport
Grace Dent: If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?

Grace Dent

If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?
Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

After years of savage cuts, the Irish now face a stark choice: do they hand over control of their economy to Europe – or go it alone without the safety net of future bailouts?
Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Advances in medicine have made the impossible, possible. But an over-reliance on healthcare threatens to bankrupt the world – and make all of us sick
The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The ASA has received 430,000 complaints during its existence, with a record 31,548 in 2011
Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

From Tom Daley's six-pack to scantily clad volleyball players, Olympic athletes are being sold on their sex appeal. Why can't we appreciate talent, not totty?
Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Sir Richard Needham's resignation from the board of Lonrho brings back bad memories of the group's controversial past
Off the rails in Bermuda

Off the rails in Bermuda

Best known for beaches, it's also home to a stunning hiking trail that follows the route of an old railway line
Get ready for a royal good time

Get ready for a royal good time

There are plenty of events to help you fly the flag during the Diamond Jubilee long weekend and half term
Spain: World football's marathon men

Marathon men: Are Spain running out of puff?

They have every right to be exhausted after four taxing years of almost non-stop action but the chance to claim a unique treble is spurring them on
Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Friday's 'slow' 100m has done nothing to dent Jamaican's supreme confidence he will triumph in London
The weirdest and most wonderful Diamond Jubilee memorabilia

Weird and wonderful Jubilee memorabilia

Coronation Chicken ice cream and Jubilee jelly moulds
'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

Being a teenager is hard enough – for those with hearing loss, it can be even more complicated