The Best of Guardian Books
20+ most popular Guardian Books articles, as voted by our community.
News, reviews and author interviews plus tweets from the @Guardian and Observer books team. Support the Guardian today: http://support.theguardian.com
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How Deborah Levy can change your life
The long read: From her shimmering novels to her ‘living autobiographies’, Deborah Levy’s work inspires a devotion few literary authors ever achieve
‘I spent years studying death, but it didn’t prepare me for grief’: archaeologist Sarah Tarlow on losing…
She has written books about death and mourning, but nothing could prepare the archaeologist for the shock of finding her partner of 18 years dead. Here she recounts what she has learned
Once Upon a Prime review – why maths and literature make a winning formula
Prof Sarah Hart’s exuberant study of the enduring conversation between mathematics and literature is fascinating
The Experience Machine by Andy Clark review
A cognitive philosopher explains how prediction, rather than perception, is the mind’s secret weapon
The big idea: will fusion power save us from the climate crisis?
Recent breakthroughs have been wildly hyped – but there’s still reason to hope
Guardian Books on Books
Can ‘smart thinking’ books really give you the edge?
Trust your gut, boost your memory, de-bias your decision making… can we train our brains to perform better?
«A decade ago, the fashion was to be pessimistic about the prospects of improving our thinking, and even about the value of thinking at all.»
Summer reading: the 50 hottest new books everyone should read
From missing lighthouse keepers to the healing power of trees ... 50 new fiction and nonfiction books to enjoy. Plus recent paperbacks to pack and the best children’s stories
Guardian Books on Comics
Art Spiegelman: golden age superheroes were shaped by the rise of fascism
Created in New York by Jewish immigrants, the first comic book superheroes were mythic saviours who could combat the Nazi threat. They speak to the dark politics of out times
‘I envy writers who suffer from no self‑doubts’: inside the world of graphic novelist Chris Ware
The mind behind Jimmy Corrigan on casting himself as a ‘jerk’ in his new book Rusty Brown, childhood nostalgia and discovering his distinctive style
Guardian Books on Feminism
Fighting the tyranny of ‘niceness’: why we need difficult women
Today’s thumbs-up, thumbs-down approach to feminism is boring and reductive. It is time to embrace complexity
The crisis in modern masculinity
Around the world, luridly retro ideas of what it means to be a man have caused a rush of testosterone – from Bollywood bodybuilding to nuclear brinkmanship
Guardian Books on Fiction
The 100 best books of the 21st century
Dazzling debut novels, searing polemics, the history of humanity and trailblazing memoirs ... Read our pick of the best books since 2000
Lost chapter of world's first novel found in Japanese storeroom
A fifth part of The Tale of Genji, which was completed around 1010 by a woman later named Murasaki Shikibu, has been found in a house in Tokyo
Guardian Books on History
Rutger Bregman: 'Our secret superpower is our ability to cooperate'
The historian offers a hopeful view of human nature in his latest book, Humankind. It couldn’t have come at a better time
‘It’s infuriating and shocking’: how medicine has failed women over time
In the eye-opening new book Unwell Women, Elinor Cleghorn uses her own misdiagnosis at the hands of male doctors as a jumping point for an alarming history lesson
«“It’s probably the first time in history that women’s subjective experiences and voices are used. That’s an important place to begin because women are not a monolith.”»
Guardian Books on Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb review
Hawkish politicians and reckless bankers never face the consequences of their actions – but they should, according to this arresting but flawed book
Guardian Books on Philosophy
Think yourself better: 10 rules of philosophy to live by
From Aristotle to Iris Murdoch: what the greatest minds of the past 2,500 years have to tell us about the good life
«Till Lauer/The GuardianLivros de filosofiaPartilhar no FacebookPartilhar no TwitterPartilhar via e-mail»
Stoicism in a time of pandemic: how Marcus Aurelius can help
The Meditations, by a Roman emperor who died in a plague named after him, has much to say about how to face fear, pain, anxiety and loss
«it’s easy to see how fear can do us more harm than the things of which we’re afraid because it can impinge on our physical health and quality of life»
Guardian Books on Poetry
Poem of the week: 7th Nerve by Rhiannon Hooson
A hi-tech medical exam draws its subject back to a more archaic, essential experience
When Milton met Shakespeare: poet's notes on Bard appear to have been found
Hailed as one of the most significant archival discoveries of modern times, text seems to show the Paradise Lost poet making careful annotations on his edition of Shakespeare’s plays
Guardian Books on Psychology
Living for Pleasure by Emily A Austin
A timely guide to the Greek philosopher – and rival to the Stoics – who saw freedom from anxiety as the ultimate goal
«Unnatural and unnecessary desires, such as for wealth, power, fame or eternal life, are considered “corrosive”, to be avoided like the plague.»
The big idea: does true kindness have to be selfless?
It feels great to give at Christmas. But does that pleasure detract from the good deed?
Guardian Books on Religion
How Religion Evolved by Robin Dunbar review
The Oxford psychology professor traces the evolutionary advantages, or otherwise, of faith
«Those who sign up to religions, he points out, “can incur serious costs in terms of self-imposed pain, celibacy and even self-sacrifice”.»
This Life and Outgrowing God review – heaven, atheism and what gives life meaning
Our lives are finite – but do we keep that in mind and spend our time well? The latest attack on religion by Richard Dawkins and Martin Hägglund’s argument for ‘secular faith’
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The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months
When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently to William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman
The big idea: are we living in a simulation?
Could the universe be an elaborate game constructed by bored aliens?
The end of capitalism has begun
Without us noticing, we are entering the postcapitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of working and the sharing economy. The old ways will take a long while to disappear, but it’s time to be utopian
Top 10 books about human consciousness
Authors from Carl Jung to Aldous Huxley and Susan Blackmore explore the deep mysteries of what it means to be a person
«9. Beyond Words by Carl SafinaMoving accounts of the reasons to suppose that various non-humans, including orcas, wolves and elephants, have emotions and a type of consciousness akin to ours. If they are conscious, why shouldn’t stones be conscious too?»
Summer reading: the 30 best holiday reads
Novelists including Johny Pitts, Monica Ali and Nina Stibbe – plus Observer critics – on their essential holiday books
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