Are grades and exams doing our children harm?
Sammy Wright’s Exam Nation is a compelling and wide-ranging discussion about the essence of formal education – and how we might improve it
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The greatest novel of the 20th century you’ve never heard of
Juan Rulfo’s book Pedro Páramo remains largely unknown in Britain. With a stage show and a Netflix film on the way, that’s about to change
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James Baldwin revealed the costs of the American dream – any presidential hopeful should read him
The novelist, born 100 years ago, diagnosed a sickness in the land of opportunity
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‘Stanley Kubrick fired me on my honeymoon’: Terrific and terrible tales of a film set photographer
Keith Hamshere on what the gods (and monsters) of cinema really get up to behind the scenes
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The best graphic novels of 2023, from broken families to a duckling called Norbert
Who said comics have to be comic? This year’s crop gave us haunted spas, apocalyptic visions – and the beauty of pastoral France
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The best children’s books of 2023, from the King to a Spartan princess
This Christmas, young readers can look forward to tales of His Majesty, three wily monkeys and a sumptuous reimagining of Peter Pan
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The best music books of 2023, from Bob Dylan to Britney Spears
Looking for a Christmas present for the music-lover in your life? Try Johnny Cash's lyrics, Sly Stone's memoir or Paul McCartney's snapshots
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The best science books of 2023: from the human battery to what’s inside a black hole
Our top thinkers turned the quest for hard truths into a mind-blowing funride
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The best Ukraine books of 2023, from histories to pictures of carnage
Year two of the war produced breathless tales of resistance, rebuttals to Russian propaganda, and the death of a promising young writer
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The best biographies of 2023, from Burton and Taylor to Mrs Orwell
This year, marriage went under the microscope in engrossing tales of mutual obsession, catastrophic union and doublethink
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The best (and worst) politics books of 2023, from Dorries to DeSantis
The Tory meltdown was a sign of the fractious spirit of the times. But consensus is possible – here are our politics picks of the year
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The best poetry books of 2023: from Homer to the apocalypse
In the 16 best poetry books of the year, readers meet Shakespeare's wife and Chekhov's sisters, a French comte and a wild London hyena
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Kemi Badenoch deserves scrutiny – but this litany of gripes isn’t enough
In Blue Ambition, Michael Ashcroft’s unrevelatory biography, the would-be Tory leader is branded ‘volatile’, but her sincerity remains clear
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Hitler’s yes-men: What really motivated the Führer’s inner circle
In Hitler’s People, Richard J Evans explores how the Führer’s closest supporters made helped his regime accomplish so much misery
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How the Jesus and Mary Chain escaped poverty for rock stardom
Never Understood charts William and Jim Reid’s journey from their childhood in dilapidated Glasgow to becoming the 1980s’ loudest band
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How should the future look? Utterly medieval, says one historian
When it comes to living happily and sustainably, writes Annette Kehnel in The Green Ages, our ancestors had some astonishingly smart ideas
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The greatest novel of the 20th century you’ve never heard of
Juan Rulfo’s book Pedro Páramo remains largely unknown in Britain. With a stage show and a Netflix film on the way, that’s about to change
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Don’t protect children from ‘offensive’ words in Roald Dahl’s books, says Lemony Snicket
Author Daniel Handler condemned ‘tinkering’ with the classic books, saying they were ‘a wonderful way to learn about wretched things’
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Edna O’Brien, acclaimed writer whose early novels caused outrage in her native Ireland – obituary
Her needle-sharp evocations of Irish life and manners, her sexual candour – and her vivid eye for detail – made her a literary star
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No ghost can haunt you like a critical Jewish mother
Mamele, Gemma Reeves’s second novel, tells of a woman in mid-life struggling to emerge from under the weight of intergenerational strife
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Parents, take note – the walk to school can become the adventure of a lifetime
A Wild Walk to School, a delightful book by Rebecca Cobb, contrasts the imaginative world of a child’s mind with a routine weekday morning
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Forget Sherlock Holmes – this dog detective will have children in suspense
Watts and Whiskerton, a smart new novel by illustrator Meg McLaren, follows a dog with a nose for crime and his feline companion
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Remember Victorian ‘invasion literature’? It’s back
In Sarah Merrett’s thrilling debut, The Others, set in 1900, a young boy loses his astronomer grandmother – and finds a wounded alien
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Grandparents – this is how to tell little ones about grief
The Fun We Had, a beautiful, gentle, rhyming story by Charissa Coulthard, sees a little girl visit her elderly grandmother, and reminisce
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A gorgeous environmental story to make children ponder
Time Runs like a River, Emma Carlisle’s latest book, uses gentle illustrations and lilting rhymes to foster a surprisingly deep message
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What nine-year-old wants an anti-imperialist lecture?
Mayowa and the Sea of Words, Chibundu Onuzo’s debut novel, about a girl who takes on a Right-wing MP, sacrifices plot to preaching
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Breezy, bolshy, bizarre – a fun science primer for kids
How to Be a Genius Kid, by ‘Waldo Pancake’ (Jim Smith), sees two cartoon narrators whisk us through eight fascinating lessons
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The girl who commandeered a submarine to look for her mother
The Wonderdays, by Clare Povey, has a solid villain, a daring journey and a sensible, albeit overly emphatic, eco-message
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The best poetry books of 2024 so far
Our Poetry Book of the Month reviews include an extraordinary posthumous collection from Gboyega Odubanjo and JH Prynne’s unlikely lullabies
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One man tackles the entirety of classical poetry – and triumphs
Christopher Childers has spent 10 years on The Penguin Book of Greek and Latin Lyric Verse – and his translations sing from the page
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Saved from the bin: the secrets of Austen, Beckett and Larkin’s scribbled first drafts
From Raymond Chandler's slippery similes to a scene Austen hid, a new exhibition reveals great writers' early drafts and discarded ideas
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Imelda May interview: 'I don’t think women have support within the arts'
As the Irish singer champions The Forgotten Yeats Sisters for Sky Arts, she talks about women in history and the thrill of rock'n'roll
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