Alan Hollinghurst wins David Cohen lifetime award for ‘pioneering’ novels
Author says he is ‘overcome with emotion’ after winning £40,000 honour for books including The Line of Beauty and The Swimming-Pool Library
Sara Pascoe’s novel wins inaugural Jilly Cooper award
Weirdo, the comedian’s ‘daring look at young womanhood’, is the first winner of new honour named after the Riders novelist, adding to the Comedy women in print prizes
Tom’s Crossing by Mark Z Danielewski – House of Leaves author returns with a 1200-page western
A quarter century after that landmark cult novel, this new epic has aspects of brilliance but seems designed for academic study rather than readerly enjoyment
Horror show: North American box office records lowest monthly total since 1997
Halloween weekend failed to make numbers jump, adding up to the weakest monthly performance – other than during the pandemic – for three decades
Mushroom tapes, erotic Greek myths and joyful Thai cooking: the best Australian books out in November
Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on
Queen Esther by John Irving review – a disappointing companion to The Cider House Rules
The once-great author revisits St Cloud’s orphanage all too briefly, in a novel that begins with an adopted girl but wanders all over the place
‘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