Is social media influencing book cover design?
With ‘bookstagramming’ becoming a force in marketing, are designers making covers more colourful, bolder and cleaner, to stand out on our screens?
The Observer’s ultimate guide to autumn culture
A musical Twelfth Night, Michelle Obama’s memoirs and the last ever gig by Ennio Morricone: our critics preview the new season
Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound
When the reading brain skims texts, we don’t have time to grasp complexity, to understand another’s feelings or to perceive beauty. We need a new literacy for the digital age writes Maryanne Wolf, author of Reader, Come Home
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari review – a guru for our times?
The author of global bestseller Sapiens is back, with a self-help guide for a bewildering age – and its sweeping statements are peppered with truly mind-expanding observations
‘Elitist’: angry book pirates hit back after author campaign sinks website
OceanofPDF was shut down last week after publishers issued hundreds of takedown notices – but authors have been left dealing with angry users
Perfidious Albion by Sam Byers review – furiously smart post-Brexit satire
The power of global corporations and the rise of the right are scrutinised in a novel that explores current anxieties with a cold and horrified eye
Outnumbered: From Facebook and Google to Fake News and Filter-bubbles by David Sumpter – review
We are too smart to be manipulated by algorithms, argues a mathematican. But the maths misses the crisis we are facing
First edition of Ada Lovelace’s pioneering algorithm sold for £95,000
Rare book by ‘world’s first computer programmer’ contains a groundbreaking method for calculating Bernouilli numbers
Ctrl Alt Delete: How Politics and the Media Crashed Our Democracy – review
Tom Baldwin’s account of the abusive relationship with the truth in media and politics is lucid, punchy and often funny
Will computers be able to think? Five books to help us understand AI
From exploring the limits of machine learning to a novel exploring human prejudices – Nick Harkaway shares his favourite books about artificial intelligence
‘Twaddle’: librarians respond to suggestion Amazon should replace libraries
Piece in Forbes magazine said libraries ‘don’t have the same value they used to’ and cost taxpayers too much
Book sales boom but authors report shrinking incomes
Calls for writers to reap rewards as British publishers enjoy record-breaking year
Is it possible to turn online aggression into a frank debate?
While trolls and idiots are best ignored, there can be value in seeking to genuinely understand those who disagree with us
Picnic Comma Lightning by Laurence Scott review – perceptions of reality in the age of Instagram
A stylish, playful exploration of what digital life is doing to the way we find meaning in the world
Hack, spy, swing an election: Orwell game sums up life in a tech dystopia
The terrifying extent of online government surveillance is laid bare in the Orwell game series. How complicit will you be when put in control?