‘It’s not just a book, it’s a window to my soul’: why we’re in love with literary angst

Why did an obscure Dostoevsky novella sell 100,000 copies in the UK last year? And why are TikTokers raving about a 1943 Turkish novel? The way young people are discovering books is changing – and their literary tastes reflect our times

What did Pasolini know? Fifty years after his brutal murder, the director’s vision of fascism is more urgent than ever

With mystery still surrounding Pier Paolo Pasolini’s death, the poet and film-maker’s warnings of corruption and rising totalitarianism offer a chilling message for our times

‘It is the scariest of times’: Margaret Atwood on defying Trump, banned books – and her score-settling memoir

At 86, she’s a literary seer and saint – and queen of the Canadian resistance. So what does the writer make of our dystopian world?

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in October

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah audiobook review – coming-of-age saga in Tanzania

Three young people step boldly into their adult lives in this elegantly narrated novel from the Nobel laureate

Last One Out by Jane Harper review – satisfying thriller lacks the heft of her previous novels

The Australian crime writer’s latest is less about the dead than it is about the living, in a dilapidated town left suffocating in the aftermath of tragedy

Heart the Lover by Lily King review – a love story to treasure

A companion novel to the brilliant Writers & Lovers, this delightfully witty tale of college romance matures into midlife poignancy

Where to start with: Paul Bailey

The novelist and poet, who died a year ago, left a huge body of work distinguished by its melancholy wit and warmth. These are some of the highlights

Saltwash by Andrew Michael Hurley review – raw, dark folk horror confronts mortality

This wildly atmospheric tale of a reunion of dying people in a crumbling seaside hotel borrows tropes from cosy crime, but is truly chilling

Zoë Wicomb obituary

South African-Scottish author admired for her first book You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, a collection of short stories

Richard Ayoade among authors in running to have pig named after book

The comedian is tipped for the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction alongside Outnumbered co-writer Guy Jenkin and Sandi Toksvig

The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie – a haunting coda to a groundbreaking career

From an afterlife fantasy to a tale of loss in Mumbai, death is a recurring theme in this story collection – an echo of the novelist at his peak

From White Teeth to Swing Time: Zadie Smith’s best books – ranked!

Twenty-five years on from her dazzling debut, and as a new collection of essays comes out, we assess the British author’s best books

The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus review – a cult writer tries something new

The I Love Dick author combines autofiction with memoir and true crime

Tigest Girma: ‘I was like – Hey, do you want black vampires? And they were like – Yeah, we want’

The Melbourne writer topped the New York Times bestseller list with her debut fantasy novel – but that doesn’t stop doubt creeping in