The dog has adjusted to the new normal – wish I could say the same

More doom, gloom and government incompetence, but on the bright side, Herbert Hound has finished self-isolating

Chart flop: VisitBritain sorry for literary map ignoring Wales and Scotland

The nation’s official tourism agency published a map of inspiring bookish sights that left Wales ‘depicted as trees’ and Scotland guillotined

‘Dress rehearsal for catastrophe’: how Stoics are speaking to locked-down readers

Sales of works by ancient Roman Marcus Aurelius have seen a sharp uptick in recent months. Which makes calm sense

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot by John Lloyd review – the question of Scottish independence

This book by an established journalist argues that Scotland’s secession from the UK would be a disaster. But it fails to recognise the extent to which England has changed

Oxford dictionary revised to record linguistic impact of Covid-19

OED lexicographers report seeing huge rise in ‘a very short period of time’ of many coronavirus-related terms including self-isolation and WFH

Britain’s War by Daniel Todman review – a new world at home as old power is lost

Todman’s ‘total’ history of the second world war considers the texture of people’s lives as well as military events. This second volume is as skilful as the first

Yayoi Kusama’s message to Covid-19: ‘Disappear from this earth’

The veteran Japanese avant-garde artist has issued a poem of defiance in the teeth of the ‘terrible monster’, the coronavirus pandemic

Hidden Robert Dover poem uncovered in 17th century plea roll

Discovery sheds light on colourful character part of leading literary and legal circles of the time

Where now for travel? Lonely Planet closures point to an uncertain future

As the travel publisher closes its Melbourne and London offices, a guidebook writer asks what’s next for an industry in crisis

‘Weird tale’ by Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett discovered

Christmas in the Fog, written for adults, is to be republished in Queens of the Abyss, an anthology of lost stories

Mrs Hinch cleans up with book sales as Britons tidy homes in lockdown

Instagram ‘cleanfluencer’ Sophie Hinchcliffe’s The Little Book of Lists topples Hilary Mantel and David Walliams on charts

Government rejects bid to turn Oscar Wilde’s prison into an arts centre

Campaign to convert the former prison was backed by Reading council and luminaries including Stephen Fry but rejected by the Ministry of Justice

‘Biography’ of Nineteen Eighty-Four leads Orwell prize longlist

Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth is among the contenders for the political writing award named after the dystopian classic’s author

‘We will meet again’: when a monarch brings comfort with a song

The royals aren’t partial to posh poetry – but I remember George VI, like the Queen, bringing solace with a simple line of verse

The original Lydia? Portrait discovery delights Jane Austen museum

Mary Pearson, who was engaged to Austen’s brother, is thought to have been model for Pride and Prejudice’s bad Bennet girl