2020 has been a great year for popular philosophy with many excellent books published. Here, Nigel Warburton, our philosophy editor and co-host of the Philosophy Bites podcast, picks his favourites and explains what he likes about them.

Whether you’re looking for ideas on how to run a successful business or books that look at the various challenges facing capitalist society, the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award is a great place to start. Andrew Hill, who with colleagues at the Financial Times sifted through hundreds of entries to compile the award’s longlist, talks us through the books that made the 2020 shortlist—as well as offering some predictions for the year ahead.

Every year, the Booker Prize judges whittle a year’s worth of fiction down to a shortlist of six books, each competing for the title of the best novel of the year. Margaret Busby, chair of this year’s judging panel, discusses the six books that made the cut in 2020.

If you’re looking for the best history books published this past year, the annual Wolfson History Prize is a great place to start. Each year, the judges pick out outstanding books that are both originally researched and readable. Historian and Wolfson judge Richard Evans talks us through the six history books that made the 2020 shortlist.

How do you find the perfect subject for a biography? “Pick a real bitch, or real bastard, and make sure they’re dead,” a famous biographer once told Elizabeth Taylor. The author, critic and chair of the National Book Critics’ Circle biography committee talks us through the books that made their 2020 shortlist.

Every year the British Academy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize is awarded to the best nonfiction book that has contributed to ‘global cultural understanding.’ This year, the legacies of colonization and empire loom large. Patrick Wright, Emeritus Professor at King’s College London and chair of this year’s panel of judges, talks us through the books shortlisted for the £25,000 prize.

Sci fi is booming, says Tom Hunter, the director of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction, as he discusses their 2020 shortlist: six novels that embrace classic sci fi narratives, while subverting or reimagining them for a contemporary audience.

Every year, the International Thriller Writers awards highlight the best new thrillers of the previous year. Anthony Franze, administrator of the awards and an acclaimed thriller author in his own right, talks us through their 2020 shortlist for the best new thriller published in hardback.

To find the best science books for kids, the judges of the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize look for books that are not only accurate but also entertaining. Mike Kendall, Professor of Geophysics at Oxford University and chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the six fabulous books that made the 2020 shortlist (the final winner will be chosen by the real experts: more than 13,000 kids).

After coronavirus-induced chaos threw publishing schedules out of whack earlier this year, fall 2020 is shaping up to be a bumper book season. But with hundreds of new titles flooding onto the shelves, it can be hard to identify those that are most deserving of your time. Here, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn highlights some of the most anticipated new novels of the coming weeks.

Historical fiction is experiencing something of a golden age at present: there’s never been a better time to immerse oneself in the past. The acclaimed novelist Katharine Grant—chair of the judges for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction—talks us through their 2020 shortlist.

Comedy offers escapism and a way of processing our emotions during stressful times, says the comedian Pippa Evans—who this year served as a judge for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. Here she talks us through the books shortlisted for the title of the funniest book of 2020, and explains how she found herself researching pig deliveries.

From reflections on travel and searching for a personal philosophy to live by, to books on important aspects of democracy and contagious diseases, here’s British philosopher Nigel Warburton’s 2020 summer reading list. All the books you need to keep you thinking over the summer, whatever it may hold and wherever you may be.

No writer could resent you losing track of the new novels being published into the chaos of summer 2020 – with the world on lockdown and protestors taking to the streets. But fiction can offer respite from a relentless news cycle, writes Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn – and an opportunity to consider our own lives and choices through the prism of others’.

The best romance books of 2020 (so far) as recommended by Frannie Cassano, winner of the 2018 RWA Cathie Linz Librarian of the Year award. After nearly two decades as a librarian, she remains an avid reader of romance and picks out her favourite ‘comfort reads’ from across the genre.

After reading hundreds of newly published books and asking children and adults alike for their input, the winners of the 2020 Newbery Medal and Honors have been chosen. Librarian and chair of the selection committee Krishna Grady introduces us to the best new children’s books that will surprise, delight and hold your kid’s attention—including the first graphic novel to ever win the award.

From a brave account by the Stanford rape case survivor Chanel Miller to New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow’s gripping tale of investigating the Harvey Weinstein scandal, it’s been a golden year for autobiography. Veteran critic Mark Athitakis talks us through the memoirs that made this year’s National Book Critics Circle autobiography shortlist.

Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn rounds up the most hotly anticipated new novels of early 2020, including the final instalment in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy and new work from the authors of Dept. of Speculation, Eileen and Station Eleven.

Audiobooks are a great way to keep teenagers entertained and informed. Mary Burkey, an expert on kids’ audiobooks, and Robin Whitten, editor and founder of AudioFile magazine, talk us through the wonderful titles that were finalists in this year’s Audie Awards in the ‘young adult’ category.