Literature

A composite of Hannah Neeleman, Caro Claire Burke and Anne Hathaway, with the cover of Yesteryear repeated in the background (Credit: Getty Images/ Harper Collins)

Why 2026's buzziest book is dividing readers

Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear is the book of the season – and quite likely the year, too. Here's why the satirical novel about tradwives and womanhood has everybody talking.

1 day ago

2 days ago

Actor Bill Paterson with grey hair and glasses in a blue shirt and light trousers reads a copy of Tales from the Back Green while sitting in a large, comfortable brown chair. There are books on the shelves behind him and a mug and books on a table beside him.

Bill Paterson brings memoir back to festival after nearly 20 years

The actor is part of the "richly varied menu" being offered at the Wigtown event this year.

2 days ago

Matt Damon, with a long grey beard and wearing a light brown shroud, and Zendaya, whose brown hair is covered by a beige scarf to match her beige dress, portray the hero Odysseus and the goddess Athena in the film The Odyssey

'Mission Impossible' takes ancient Odyssey to stars

Holding the oldest book copy of the text left director Christopher Nolan "very moved", a curator says.

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8 days ago

Two people on a stage in front of an orange whiteboard projected with "bradford literature festival" written in white and "in conversation with lemn sissay"

City literature festival attracts bumper numbers

Founder Syima Aslam says "people who are too often spoken about could speak for themselves".

8 days ago

12 Jul 2026

Amelia Lord is a white woman in her late 20s. She has shoulder length brown hair partly pulled back in a ponytail with frontpieces either side of her face. She has defined eyebrows and is wearing makeup, has a central nose ring and earrings, and is smiling at the camera. She wears a sleeveless black top. She is holding a pair of books and stands in front of a bookshelf with collections of books on it, including titles by Rebecca Yarros and the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.

I'm dyslexic and avoided reading until BookTok got me hooked - now I run a book club

Romance novels are enjoying a boom and even their own dedicated bookshops.

12 Jul 2026

11 Jul 2026

A pile of books fanned out over a table. The books are dark in color, with a little yellow monster in the corner and read the words 'Once upon a letter' a long the front.

Jersey Post releases book written by children

The book, Once Upon a Letter, has 30 stories written by young islanders in the form of a letter.

11 Jul 2026

10 Jul 2026

A black and white image of JRR Tolkien smiling for a photo while on a walk outside. A row of houses could be seen behind him.

Tolkien fan letters sell at auction for £103k

The letters, books and notes document the friendship between the writer and a profoundly deaf fan.

10 Jul 2026

9 Jul 2026

A man with light brown hair with grey temples in a light jacket with a striped shirt underneath

Book prize host and Walter Scott descendant dies aged 49

Matthew Maxwell Scott was a great-great-great-great grandson of the famous novelist.

9 Jul 2026

Ancient mosaic scene from Homer’s Odyssey, depicting Odysseus meeting with sirens (Credit: Alamy)

The Odyssey: 'A story of sex, strategy and power'

The protagonist of the epic poem is a heroic male – but the story is shaped by the stratagems and seductions of the women, nymphs and goddesses he meets along the way.

9 Jul 2026