Broken Threads by Mishal Husain review – a spectacular family chronicle of partition
Dina Nayeri
Politics books
Hamas: The Quest for Power review – the men behind the masks
Daniel Hilton
Beverley Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrell’s update of their 2010 survey of the Islamist movement argues that violent struggle with Israel is a major part of its identity, but not its only goal
Autobiography and memoir
Not That I’m Bitter by Helen Lederer review – funny lessons from the comedy fringe
Hephzibah Anderson
The comedian and actor’s memoir, rich in laughs and wisdom, celebrates her knack for being in the right place at the wrong time
Music books
Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove review – a soundtrack for the world, from the Sugarhill Gang to Kanye West
Dorian Lynskey
Art and design books
A Little Art Education by Lynn Barber review – pocket portraits that are a breath of fresh air
Stephen Smith
Society books
Great Britain?: How We Get Our Future Back by Torsten Bell review – a roadmap to the new normal
Gaby Hinsliff
Science and nature books
The Captive Imagination by Elias Dakwar review – a window into addiction
Rebecca Lawrence
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.
All this solidarity from the world – yet nothing has changed
The Palestinian human rights lawyer and author Raja Shehadeh talks about his hopes and fears for his homeland, and finding a place of refuge amid the chaos of war
Rose Tremain
Sex scenes are like arias in opera. They have to move the story forwards
The bestselling author on how to avoid reader indifference, the advantage of writing historical stories and why she returns to Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates again and again
‘I want people to wake up’
Nemonte Nenquimo on growing up in the rainforest and her fight to save it
Anne Enright
Give me Moby-Dick over Persuasion anytime
‘It was high time I told our stories’
Jenny Erpenbeck on her International Booker winner Kairos
Author Coco Mellors
I needed from the book something that I needed in my life – a sense of hope
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.
Regulars
The books of my life
Emma Donoghue: ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull blew my tiny mind’
Big idea
The big idea: why we need to put death on the curriculum
Most British children experience bereavement, and schools should help them deal with it
Where to start with
Where to start with: Rachel Cusk
From a novel sequence that dispenses with much of what we expect from fiction to fearlessly honest memoirs of motherhood and divorce, Cusk is a challenging writer. But also a genius
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.
You may have missed
‘Imperial nostalgia has become so extreme’
Sathnam Sanghera on the conflict surrounding colonial history
Remembering John Burnside
His greatness was matched by his kindness
‘How could my mother leave her baby and then kill herself?’
Author Maria Grazia Calandrone’s quest for answers
‘Bond’s gone woke!’
Charlie Higson on the row around his ‘metrosexual’ 007
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.
