Banned! The 20 books they didn’t want you to read
From Instagram poetry to Greek classics, the works of fiction that have caused uproar through history – and into the present
Arborescence by Rhett Davis review – strange and beguiling novel considers what it means to be human
People transform into trees in this meditation on despair and hope in a time of human-induced climate change
Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea review – a love song to Italy
A sculptor and his unlikely soulmate navigate the political turmoil of the 20th century in a prize-winning blockbuster
Chimamanda has returned to fiction after 12 years. But is the author stuck in the 2010s?
As a talent, the Dream Count writer remains confident and commanding – but as a social commentator, Adichie seems stranded
Circular Motion by Alex Foster review – what if the world spun faster and faster?
This impressive debut, in which super-quick pod travel causes the Earth’s rotation to accelerate, satirises climate change denial
Helm by Sarah Hall review – a mighty epic of climate change in slow motion
A Cumbrian wind is the central character in this hugely ambitious, millennia-spanning novel, which was 20 years in the making
From V to Vineland and Inherent Vice: Thomas Pynchon’s books – ranked!
With fans eagerly awaiting the reclusive author’s first book in more than a decade, the noir caper Shadow Ticket, we assess his best fiction of the past 60 years
The Expansion Project by Ben Pester review – surreal workplace satire
A father searches for his missing daughter at a business park, only to become a living ghost in a corporate nightmare
Blue sky thinking: why we need positive climate novels
Environmental fiction is booming – but can it move beyond dystopia to a brighter vision of the future?
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay; Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman; The Final Vow by MW Craven; The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
In the Green Heart by Richard Lloyd Parry review – neocolonial jungle fever
An intensely political story of a new father’s escape with his baby through a rainforest during wartime
John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’
Gender-critical novelist urges writers to re-enter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novella
Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé audiobook review – from enslaved teenager to celebrated preacher
The novelist’s final work tells a remarkable tale of resilience, based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, who was kidnapped by slavers but won his freedom
Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia
The bestselling author’s sixth novel is far from perfect, but this journey into the underworld is delivered with heretical glee
The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar review – whimsical fantasy in a kingdom long, long ago
In this first adult novel from the acclaimed children’s author, an immortal magician returns to tell the story of a royal court where he cast his spells some 500 years before