Cal Flyn, Deputy Editor

Mountaineering is a thrilling, mind-altering pastime that brings the climber into direct contact with some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes. But it is also one that carries significant risk, explains Anna Fleming, author of the rock-climbing memoir Time on Rock. Here, she recommends five fascinating mountaineering books that combine history, nature, and sheer adventure.

Historical novels hold a mirror up to contemporary society, says Kate Kruimink—the novelist and joint winner of the inaugural Weatherglass Novella Prize. Here, she recommends five fascinating works of historical fiction from her home country, Australia.

Noir is as much an aesthetic as it is a genre of book or movie, explains the film director Simon Hawkins; and though it might be set anywhere, Los Angeles is its spiritual home. Here, he recommends five of the best noir novels—each defined by their strong settings, seedy atmospheres and suspenseful plotting.

Intensive agriculture, pesticides, and overuse of artificial fertilisers have badly impacted fertility in farming regions. But—says the award-winning environmental writer Louise Gray—new, soil-friendly methods are increasingly embraced by farmers on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, she recommends five of the best books on ‘regenerative agriculture.’

Life on board a warship entails physical danger, close-knit community, and an unusual combination of cutting-edge technology and generations-old tradition. We asked Jim Carter, the author of Hearts of Steel, to recommend five of the best books on warships—from military history to naval biography.

‘Eco-thrillers’ are books that combine suspenseful plotting with environmental themes. Here, the bestselling novelist and chart-topping podcaster Manda Scott selects five thrilling novels that explore the climate emergency and other ecological crises through fiction, with an emphasis on books that envisage a route forward.

Bookseller and former Economist journalist Tom Rowley offers book recommendations on British politics that share expert insight into the backdrop to the UK general election: from a technical discussion of the statistics used by politicians and policy makers to an in-depth exploration of Rawlsian philosophy.

Each summer, the judges for the Women’s Prize for Fiction highlight the best new fiction books by female writers published over the previous twelve months. We asked Monica Ali, the acclaimed novelist and chair of this year’s jury, to talk us through the six novels that made the 2024 shortlist. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations

Since 1996, the Women’s Prize has been awarded the best new novels by female writers. This year, for the very first time, an equivalent prize has been established for female nonfiction writers—whose books receive less coverage and lower advances than those of their male counterparts. Suzannah Lipscomb, historian and chair of the inaugural judging panel, introduces us to the six books that made the 2024 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction shortlist.

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award highlight the best of the latest batch of science fiction books. In 2024, the six-strong shortlist includes an exploration of octopus intelligence, a queer space opera, and a dystopian novel hailed as the new Hunger Games. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists for the title of sci fi novel of the year.  See all our best science fiction books and  best novels of 2024 recommendations