The Guardian - Culture: Books

A countdown of the greatest literature published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide. How many have you read?

A north London cafe is under siege in a state-of-the-nation satire that brings together the haves and have-nots

Britain, muses trainee barrister Xan, was getting “hotter, crueller and angrier”. Amanda Craig’s 10th novel watches as it boils over. Her setting is Prospect Park, a fictional north London suburb caught between gentrification and decline, on the 12th day ...

An awe‑inspiring investigation of the untamed places and inhospitable environments in which life – besides humans – finds a way

Off the coast of California, two miles down, there exist geothermal nurseries: gatherings of tens of thousands of small violet octopuses, each the size of a grapefruit. Known as pearl octopuses (Muusoctopus robustus), they congregate a...

In a rare public appearance, Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams warned of ‘networks of powerful elites’ using wealth and influence to silence dissenting voices

Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams and the late Virginia Giuffre have jointly won the Freedom to Publish prize at this year’s British book awards, marking the first time the award has been shared.

W...

Poet, poetry editor and writer of the Guardian’s long-running Poem of the Week column

Carol Rumens, who has died aged 81 after suffering from a brain tumour, was an inventive, discursive and c...