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Latest features and reviews

<p>The 29-year-old author takes on familial drama, conspiracy theories, and billionaire blood cults in her witty first novel</p>

Interview

How Madeline Cash became the year’s brightest literary star

Her unique take on American dysfunction has been praised by ‘the New Yorker’, but she’s also had to fend off rumours about how she earned her success. Annabel Nugent meets the novelist behind one of 2026's most talked about books

<p>David McKenna as Piggy in Jack Thorne’s ‘Lord of the Flies’</p>

in focus

Lord of the Flies: The perfect book for Jack Thorne to adapt for TV

Premium

<p>Axel Scheffler (right) with ‘his monster’, who he says ‘hasn’t changed in all these years</p>

Interview

The Gruffalo: How Axel Scheffler created everyone’s favourite monster

Premium

<p>Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi star as Cathy and Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’</p>

comment

I’m ready to admit it – Wuthering Heights is an awful, awful book

<p>David Foster Wallace, the late author of ‘Infinite Jest’, a book that’s many contradictory things: self-aware and indulgent, thoughtful and ostentatious, sentimental and nasty, deeply personal and completely abstracted</p>

Comment

Debunking the myth of the toxic ‘Infinite Jest bro’

<p>One of America’s leading and most incisive writers, George Saunders returns to the novel form with ‘Vigil’</p>

Interview

George Saunders: ‘The US government are like thieves in the house’

Premium

<p>Realism is not Freida McFadden’s strong suit, but nor is it her goal</p>

In Focus

How The Housemaid’s Freida McFadden took over the bestseller lists

<p>Helen Fielding, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Malorie Blackman, Jeanette Winterson and more give their advice</p>

National Year of Reading 2026

‘Don’t google the Beckhams’: Britain’s top authors on how to read more

<p>James Meek, Kate Pickett, and Mark Haddon deliver three superb books to sink your teeth into this February</p>

Books of the Month

What to read this month, including a guide to fixing a broken society

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<p>The story of a 17-year-old in love and lust with her teacher, Jennette McCurdy’s debut novel, ‘Half His Age’, is full of pathos and rage</p>

The Saturday Interview

Jennette McCurdy: ‘Do we ever grow out of wanting to feel special?’

<p>Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson star in an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s psychological thriller ‘Verity’</p>

Read these books before they take over our screens this year

<p>Literacy rates have stalled or declined across the Western world</p>

In Focus

Doomsayers warn about a post-lit society – here’s why they are wrong

Premium

<p>Lena Dunham, Cynthia Erivo and David Hockney all have exciting new projects planned for the next 12 months</p>

2026 culture guide

The biggest books, art, plays, TV and films to look forward to in 2026

Our critics choose some of the most exciting cultural highlights of the coming year, from Tracey Emin’s show at Tate Modern to Lena Dunham’s new fame memoir and Cynthia Erivo’s ‘Dracula’

Premium

<p>It was at Worthy Farm on 25 June 2000 that David Bowie regained his crown as the reigning monarch of contemporary music</p>

Extract

The ‘accidental brilliance’ behind David Bowie’s Glastonbury gig

In this chapter from his new biography of the singer, Alexander Larman recounts the improbable events – including one subpar Bowie gig – that led to a history-making performance at Worthy Farm