• The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - Glory: A Novel by NoViolet Bulawayo
  • The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - The Trees by Percival Everett
  • The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
  • The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
  • The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
  • The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist - Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

The Best Fiction of 2022: The Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Neil MacGregor

The Booker Prize is awarded each year to the best original novel written in the English language. We asked the art historian Neil MacGregor, chair of this year’s judging panel, to talk us through the six novels that made the 2022 shortlist—and why fiction can be a most effective means of engaging us emotionally in social and political crisis elsewhere.

  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins
  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland
  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden
  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown by Anna Keay
  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story by Polly Morland
  • The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist - Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson

Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.

  • The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Rose Nicolson: A Novel by Andrew Greig
  • The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - News of the Dead by James Robertson
  • The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Fortune by Amanda Smyth
  • The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Magician by Colm Tóibín

The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Laird

Every year, the Walter Scott Prize highlights the best new historical novels. In 2022, the shortlist comprises four fantastic works of historical fiction that immerse the reader in the past—from 16th-century Scotland to 1920s Trinidad—while confronting universal human dramas we still struggle with today. Elizabeth Laird, one of the judges, talks us through their choices this year.

  • The Best Economics Books of 2022 - The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality by Oded Galor
  • The Best Economics Books of 2022 - Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by Brad DeLong
  • The Best Economics Books of 2022 - Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success by Leah Boustan & Ran Abramitzky
  • The Best Economics Books of 2022 - Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V Reeves
  • The Best Economics Books of 2022 - Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

The Best Economics Books of 2022, recommended by Jason Furman

As we study the causes of economic prosperity over the millennia and particularly the last century-and-a-half, it’s worth remembering that humans are always the most important driver of economic growth. Jason Furman, a Harvard economics professor and former adviser to Barack Obama, picks out five of the best economics books of 2022, as well as topics he’d like to see books about in 2023.

  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Deep Wheel Orcadia: A Novel by Harry Josephine Giles
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Klara and the Sun: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D Rivera
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Andrew M. Butler

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award select the best of the latest batch of new scifi books. In 2022, the science fiction award’s shortlist includes new work from Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, a novel-in-verse from the Scottish writer Harry Josephine Giles, and a new title in Arkady Martine’s beloved Teixcalaan series. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists.

  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry by Kit Chellel & Matthew Campbell
  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition by Lulu Chen
  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era by Gary Gerstle
  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption by Sebastian Mallaby
  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller
  • The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award - Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century by Helen Thompson

The Best Business Books of 2022: the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, recommended by Andrew Hill

For its annual book award, the Financial Times looks beyond books that might be filed under business in a bookshop, picking out books that are compelling and enjoyable, explains Andrew Hill, the newspaper’s senior business writer. He talks us through the 2022 shortlist: books that shine a light on obscure but immensely important companies or industries, or address some of the bigger challenges facing our capitalist economies.

  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - The Greywacke: How a Priest, a Soldier and a School Teacher Uncovered 300 Million Years of History by Nick Davidson
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender by Frans de Waal
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Spike: The Virus vs. The People - the Inside Story by Jeremy Farrar & with Anjana Ahuja
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters by Henry Gee
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life by Rose Anne Kenny
  • The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize - Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change Denial by Peter Stott

The Best Popular Science Books of 2022: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Maria Fitzgerald

The renowned UCL neuroscientist Professor Maria Fitzgerald, chair of the 2022 Royal Society Book Prize, talks us through the judges’ selection of the best popular science books of the year—including a whistle-stop tour of the history of the Earth, a self-help book offering evidence-based advice on how to live a longer life, and a primatologist’s study of gender among apes.

  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - The Turnout by Megan Abbott
  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney
  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - These Toxic Things: A Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall
  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - Red Widow by Alma Katsu
  • The Best Thrillers of 2022 - I Am Not Who You Think I Am: A Novel by Eric Rickstad

The Best Thrillers of 2022, recommended by Tosca Lee

Every year, the International Thriller Writers—an honorary organisation of authors—showcases the best new books in the genre at their annual awards. Here, bestselling author and the organisation’s vice-president Tosca Lee talks us through the six-strong shortlist of books, and explains why ‘Southern noir’ writer S.A. Cosby won the title for the best thriller of 2022—only a year on from his last triumph.

  • The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist - A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
  • The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist - Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin
  • The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist - A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha by Rodrigo Garcia
  • The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist - A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
  • The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist - Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes by Albert Samaha

The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik

Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by ‘genre-fluid’ books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik, the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic’s Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 2022.

  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell
  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls
  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd
  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - The Books of Jacob: A Novel by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft
  • The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist - Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle

The Best of World Literature: The 2022 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Frank Wynne

The International Booker Prize celebrates the best fiction in translation published over the previous year. Frank Wynne, acclaimed translator and chair of the 2022 judging panel, tells Five Books about the six novels that made the shortlist, and reminds readers that world literature need not be tough, consumed only in the interests of self-improvement—but is often joyful, surprising and full of feeling.

  • Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 - The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great Defied a Deadly Virus by Lucy Ward
  • Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 - A Little History of Art by Charlotte Mullins
  • Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 - My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden
  • Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 - A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty
  • Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022 - Atoms and Ashes by Serhii Plokhy

Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell

In the past few months, lots of history books about the past as well as excellent insights into the present have hit the shelves. Some are gripping reads offering a few hours of escapism, others contributions to our human quest to make the world a better place. Some manage both. Five Books editor Sophie Roell offers a roundup of the most notable new books of nonfiction published in March, April and May 2022.

  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - How Was That Built? The Stories Behind Awesome Structures Roma Agrawal, Katie Hickey (illustrator)
  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - Microbe Wars: Humanity's Biggest Battles with the World's Smallest Life-Forms by Gill Arbuthnott & Marianna Madriz (illustrator)
  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - Fourteen Wolves: A Rewilding Story by Catherine Barr & Jenni Desmond (illustrator)
  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - Fantastically Great Women Scientists and their Stories by Kate Pankhurst
  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - If the World Were 100 People Jackie McCann, Aaron Cushley (illustrator)
  • Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize - Beetles for Breakfast and Other Weird and Wonderful Ways to Save the Planet Madeleine Finlay, Jisu Choi (illustrator)

Best Science Books for Children: the 2022 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Alan Wilson

The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize celebrates books that stimulate children’s curiosity and enthusiasm to explore, innovate and debate. Alan Wilson, Chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the six outstanding science books for kids that made the 2022 shortlist.

  • Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 - The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross
  • Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 - Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books by Geoffrey Roberts
  • Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 - Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb by Togzhan Kassenova
  • Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 - This Mortal Coil: A History of Death by Andrew Doig
  • Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022 - The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future by Julia Hobsbawm

Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell

Even though we’re still in the first couple of months of 2022, there are already lots of really interesting nonfiction books either out or just about to be published. Five Books editor Sophie Roell surveys the flood of books that cover everything from Neolithic archaeology to the latest insights of neuroscience and genetics, as well as books that explore where we work, what we feel, and how we die.