The 40 best books to read before you die
Losing yourself in a great novel is one of life’s joys. Here our critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey pick the books you need to read
How Tintin satirised the Soviet Union
Belgian boy reporter's first caper saw him expose corruption in the USSR
Freefall by Jessica Barry, review: A scintillating thriller
Barry writes an eye for detail, an ear for voices, and a desire to show readers something about our world and those who inhabit it
Pulitzer winner Alice Walker criticised for citing 'anti-Semitic' book
Walker included David Icke's And the Truth Shall Set You Free, in which he claims 'alternative information' about the Holocaust is being suppressed, in a list of books currently on her nightstand
How Charles M Schulz created Charlie Brown and Snoopy
Artist wrote and drew all 17,897 comic strips himself over 53 years, articulating inner concerns of American youth with wisdom, humour and Midwestern modesty
Bad sex in fiction awards: Haruki Murakami among all-male shortlist
The awards single out the worst sex scenes in non-pornographic, non-erotic fiction each year
Hazards of Time Travel review: The horrors of our Orwellian era
You might be tempted to wonder just how much Oates is channelling her own aggrieved experience as a brilliant teenage girl in the repressive mid-20th century