Books

Dune: science fiction’s answer to Lord of the Rings

Frank Herbert’s novel, now adapted for cinema with Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, is finally getting the recognition it deserves, agree authors including Neil Gaiman and Jeff VanderMeer

Alison Flood

18, Oct, 2021 @7:34 AM

The big idea: Is the era of the skyscraper over?

Has the pandemic put an end to the age of cities competing for ever taller buildings? Oliver Wainwright discusses the staying power of the high rise

Oliver Wainwright

18, Oct, 2021 @7:00 AM

The big idea: Is it your personality, or a disorder?

Psychological diagnoses offer an easy way in to understanding character – but our habit of using them comes at a cost

Lucy Foulkes

18, Oct, 2021 @7:00 AM

Noble Ambitions by Adrian Tinniswood review – classy tour of the country house

From enterprising aristocrats to musical VIPs, this history of the stately home illuminates the changes in postwar British society in a deliciously vivid read

Rachel Cooke

18, Oct, 2021 @6:00 AM

In brief: The Importance of Being Interested; Small Things Like These; Empireland – review

Robin Ince in conversation with scientists, a brave Irish novella from Claire Keegan, and Sathnam Sanghera’s extraordinary exploration of empire

Ben East

17, Oct, 2021 @3:00 PM

The Joy of Small Things by Hannah Jane Parkinson review – a compendium of delights

The Guardian writer’s collection of her columns is a droll and open-hearted bite-size read

Killian Fox

17, Oct, 2021 @2:00 PM

Palmares by Gayl Jones review – an enslaved child’s search for utopia

Set in 17th-century Brazil, Jones’s first novel in 20 years is an intricate, imaginative story of love and brutality

Kadish Morris

17, Oct, 2021 @12:00 PM

Life Without Children by Roddy Doyle review – frustrated lives in lockdown

In these emotionally charged short stories, Doyle explores love, resentment and connection through the eye of the pandemic

Stephanie Merritt

17, Oct, 2021 @10:00 AM

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl – a Foo Fighter pulls his punches

The pre-fame years of the stadium rocker take precedence over tensions in Nirvana in a family-friendly but lively collection of vignettes

Kitty Empire

17, Oct, 2021 @8:00 AM

Rigged review: shameless – and dangerous – catnip for Trump’s base

Mollie Hemingway says the 2020 election ‘went terribly wrong’. In a divided America, her deeply flawed book will find readers

Lloyd Green

17, Oct, 2021 @6:00 AM

Beyond a Fringe review - the rise and fall of Andrew Mitchell

An engrossing memoir charts the Tory MP’s ascent to cabinet, the disaster of ‘Plebgate’ and his subsequent reinvention as a scourge of Boris Johnson with honesty, insight and wit

Andrew Rawnsley