Fiction
September 2011
Fran Lebowitz on New York Writers
‘The authors of these five books are people who came to New York for freedom – not so they could get rich, but so they could be free to pursue their interests and live their lives the way they wanted.’ New Yorker par excellence Fran Lebowitz recommends the writers who best capture her immutably mutable city.
December 2010
The best books on Fairy Tales, recommended by Jack Zipes
Fairy tales are as relevant today as ever, says Jack Zipes. They are a means of communicating about serious problems such as the abandonment of children (Hansel and Gretel) or the self-sacrifice expected of women (Beauty and the Beast). He picks the best books to help us reflect on the meaning and significance of fairy tales.
August 2010
Alison Weir recommends the best Historical Novels
The historian and author Alison Weir plunges us deep into the world of walled-up skeletons, Vikings, poisoning, intrigue, witchcraft and rebellion. This is the best of British historical fiction – novels that never compromise on painstaking research.
February 2010
The best books on Books that Changed the World, recommended by Amanda Craig
Jane Eyre, 1984 and Anne Frank's diary all make it onto the author's list. On Black Beauty's underrated importance: 'People forget that William Wilberforce, who abolished the slave trade, also founded the RSPCA.'
February 2010
Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man
When reading books, we often empathize with a main character and find redemption in our emotional response to their fate. But it's more important to think, says Bosnian novelist Aleksandar Hemon. Here, he picks the best books on 'man's inhumanity to man.'