Cal Flyn, Deputy Editor

We spoke to Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, the novelist and judge on this year’s Booker Prize panel, about their 2025 shortlist: a varied line-up of six novels, from a work of historical fiction set in a frozen rural England to an experimental ‘Rorschach blot’ of a novel told in two conflicting parts.

Visionary, mystic, poet, etcher: the English artist William Blake (1757-1827) developed his own, highly distinct, style—but he was also in conversation with the artistic currents of his day, explains Mark Vernon, the author of a new philosophical exploration of Blake’s work. Here he highlights five books that will help you gain an understanding of William Blake’s life, work, and spiritual life.

A historical thriller should be both well researched and tightly plotted, explains Mike Downey—the filmmaker and author of Istria Black, a fast-paced novel set partly among war criminals in postwar Argentina. Here, Downey recommends five gripping books so dense with atmosphere and action you won’t be able to put them down.

A satisfying literary love story doesn’t need to end happily ever after—but one does need to be left with a sense that two characters belong together, advises the novelist Lily King, whose book Heart the Lover follows the long tail of a campus love triangle. Here, she selects five novels from literary writers that examine love and desire in the depth they deserve.

India’s complex history—specifically, its turbulent 20th-century—lends itself well to ambitious historical fiction, says the filmmaker and novelist Ruchir Joshi, whose latest book is set in Second World War-era Calcutta. Here he recommends five of the best historical novels set in India, including beloved modern classics by Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth.

Female stories often went unrecorded in history—but that’s not because there weren’t any, explains Kate Mosse, the acclaimed novelist and nonfiction writer. Here, she explores the role of fiction in illuminating historical events when the written record is thin, and recommends five novels with strong female protagonists that have influenced her own work.

Thomas Hardy, author of many classic novels including Tess of the d’Ubervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd, is best known for his books that explore the social mores and class divides of rural life in 19th-century England. Here, Mark Chutter—chair of the Thomas Hardy Society—talks us through five key texts by Hardy, and explains why they have stood the test of time.

Every year, the judges for the Royal Society Book Prize search for the most informative and most readable new books on scientific subjects. In 2025, their shortlist of the best popular science books includes a history of extinction in the colonial world, and the heartrending story of the struggle to save the world’s first seed bank during the Siege of Leningrad. We spoke to the botanist Dr Sandra Knapp, chair of the judging panel.

It’s notoriously difficult to recognise great works of literature at the time of publication, but certain books come to the fore as ‘modern classics’: exceptional texts that will stand the test of time. We asked James Rebanks, the Lake District shepherd and celebrated author, to recommend five books that deserve the label.

Of the world’s 7000 languages, around half are expected to be extinct by the end of this century. Samantha Ellis’s mother tongue is one of them. We asked her to reflect on what we lose when we lose a way of speaking—culturally, linguistically, emotionally—and to recommend five books about endangered languages.