• The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books - Lectures on Dostoevsky by Joseph Frank
  • The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books - Memoirs from the House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Jessie Coulson
  • The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books - Dostoevsky: Reminiscences by Anna Dostoevsky
  • The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books - The Master of Petersburg: A Novel by J M Coetzee
  • The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Best Fyodor Dostoevsky Books, recommended by Alex Christofi

His father had clawed his way up into the minor aristocracy, but Fyodor Dostoevsky chose to live the life of an impecunious author. He was sentenced to death, but his execution was stayed and he spent years in a Siberian labour camp instead. His books are about human compassion, but he was a difficult man who had trouble with his own personal relationships. Alex Christofi, author of a brilliant new biography of Dostoevsky, one of Russia’s greatest novelists, recommends five books to learn more about the man and his work—including the novel of which Tolstoy said he ‘didn’t know a better book in all our literature’.

  • The Best Mystery Books - Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
  • The Best Mystery Books - The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
  • The Best Mystery Books - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  • The Best Mystery Books - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie
  • The Best Mystery Books - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Best Mystery Books, recommended by David Baldacci

The best mystery books are completely unputdownable and addictive, the entertainment they provide more portable than watching TV and so much more satisfying than looking at your phone. Bestselling author David Baldacci, one of the masters of the genre and a passionate advocate for literacy and reading, talks us through some of the best mystery books ever written—as well as the contemporary authors he most admires.

  • The Best Long Novels - Ulysses by James Joyce
  • The Best Long Novels - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  • The Best Long Novels - Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
  • The Best Long Novels - A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
  • The Best Long Novels - Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Best Long Novels, recommended by Five Books

If you’re stuck in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, it might be time to finally crack open that one long read you always meant to get around to, but slid down your list of books for whatever reason—not enough time, too many pages. Problem is, there are so many monster doorstoppers, and it can be hard to tell which are worth your time. The Five Books editors weigh in:

  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett Graff
  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner
  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - Becoming by Michelle Obama
  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - Charlotte's Web by E.B. White & Garth Williams (illustrator)
  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
  • The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year - The Testaments: A Novel by Margaret Atwood

The 2020 Audie Awards: Audiobook of the Year, recommended by Mary Burkey & Robin Whitten

Every year, the Audie Awards celebrate the best audiobooks published over the previous year. Veteran audiobook reviewer Robin Whitten of AudioFile Magazine and Mary Burkey, who has served on multiple audiobook judging panels, explain what makes a good audiobook and talk us through the brilliant books that were finalists in the 2020 ‘Audiobook of the Year’ category.