Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood audiobook review – a dryly funny memoir
The Handmaid’s Tale author reflects on her loves, losses and literary achievements in a memoir that showcases her wisdom and witMargaret Atwood had to be persuaded to write a memoir. The thought of writing about herself initially seemed “dead boring. Who…
Tents, night-vision goggles, bear tracking kits – and even books: America’s first nature library opens
As well as books, the new facility in Colorado offers hundreds of kits to connect people with the natural world. We asked five of the first visitors what they thought of itMark Fink knows exactly why he opened the first public nature library in the US.…
Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub review – a self-indulgent finale to the Talisman trilogy
There are moments of shivering joy as the protagonist of two enduring classics, Jack Sawyer, returns – but this time his journey feels endlessly repetitiveBear with me, because there is some backstory to get through before we can talk about the book I am…
How I Shop with Jonathan Van Ness: ‘The price you pay for impulsivity is years later’
Always wondered what everyday stuff celebrities buy, where they shop for food and the basics they scrimp on? The Queer Eye legend talks handmade gifts, secondhand shopping and bag obsessions with the Filter• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox?…
Suspected Second-generation Planet Solves NASA Hubble Cold Case
New analysis of archival Hubble data points to the possibility of “dead” white dwarf stars hosting second-generation planetary systems.
Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne review – a quirky journey through the afterlife of invention
The Talking Heads frontman considers dormant ideas that made a comeback – from Indian irrigation to KafkaThere’s barely been a moment in the last half-century when David Byrne hasn’t been zinging about, dancing forward, opting odd. The art-school…
Children’s books with Black main characters down 8% in a year, study shows
Only 150 of 2,189 titles published in UK for young children last year focused on minority ethnic, disabled or neurodivergent charactersThe number of children’s books featuring Black main characters fell by almost 8% last year, according to research into…
The Guardian view on Barack Obama’s new podcast: all the president’s books | Editorial
From Oprah Winfrey to Dua Lipa, there is no shortage of celebrity literary champions. But the former US leader is in a class of his ownAt the Labour party conference Andy Burnham revealed that Hamlet, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Tony Harrison’s…
Fangs a million: Lenny Rush on turning an Eric Morecambe classic into a hilarious vampire comedy
He won a Bafta while only a teen, and now he’s the lead in a creepy sitcom adapted by Alan Partridge’s writers. Ahead of The Reluctant Vampire, he talks mates, mums who write him letters – and his love of David BrentOnly when absolutely badgered will…
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson audiobook review – a Caribbean child’s-eye view of 60s Bradford
The author captures the comedy and cruelty in this tenderly written coming-of-age taleThis Women’s prize-nominated novel from Marcia Hutchinson is told from the perspective of Mercy Hanson, a girl born in Bradford in 1962 to a mother she adores and a…