Visiting Mum in her nursing home was a shock at first. I didn’t expect it to become a joy

As she inched towards the end of her life our conversation was the most authentic it had ever been

The lost art of letter writing – and why it still matters

It’s the 10th anniversary of Letters Live, where stars read funny, moving and sometimes surprising letters of note on stage. Miranda Sawyer reports from the green room

Tales of the unexpected: inside the thriving world of independent bookshops

Cosy, curated and community-minded, the bookshops we cherish offer much more than a place to find a good read…

Hot chocolate, woolly socks and a good book: why cosy living is good for you

When it’s dark and cold outside (not to mention existentially troubling), our sense of survival kicks in and we withdraw to that place we feel safest – home

Ken Follett: ‘You don’t have to wear a hairshirt to be in the Labour party’

The writer, 74, on Bollinger Bolsheviks, champagne socialism, the power of public libraries and how he came to write the first of his 36 novels

Sara M Saleh: ‘I want to know the system and its flaws, so I know how to undo it, transcend it’

Grief and trauma can be generational, says the poet and human rights lawyer, but gifts can be generational too

There’s no right thing to say to people who are grieving, but the worst thing is fearing to speak at all

Learning how to respond sensitively to other people’s bad news is the last piece in the jigsaw of adulthood, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

Six ways to make your life easier and more peaceful – by using stoic principles

As the world felt increasingly chaotic, I wondered which principles I could apply – turns out there were many

Naomi Klein on wellness culture: ‘We really are alive on the knife’s edge’

The author examines how some chiropractors, health coaches and fitness fanatics came to embrace far-right theories

Dom Joly looks back: ‘My wife says I’ve become slightly nicer in my 50s. I’m still very argumentative, but I have relaxed a bit’

The comedian on being terrified of fame, living with self-doubt, and finding a new niche as a travel writer

Bonk hard and start a business! 10 life lessons I learned from Jilly Cooper

The queen of bonkbusters is taking everyone back to Rutshire with her new book, Tackle! You won’t learn much about football – but you will learn a lot about horses

Notes from the Henhouse by Elspeth Barker review – little masterpieces from the author of O Caledonia

The wife of poet George Barker ought to be better known and this book should be on every bedside table – to cheer, reassure and inspire

What my interracial marriage has taught me: ‘We would both know one of us was viewed as more worthwhile’

As a young Black woman, racism made me fearful and angry. Then I met my white boyfriend and things got … complicated

Christos Tsiolkas: ‘I don’t understand wanting to live a youthful life forever’

At 58, the bestselling author grapples with ageing, pornography and the suburbs as he releases his most tender book yet

Marriage is an inherently misogynistic institution – so why do women agree to it?

From the true purpose of the ‘best man’ to losing right to property, marriage was never designed to benefit women. It can’t be fixed – it must be rejected, writes Clementine Ford