Writers and critics on the best books of 2013

Hilary Mantel, Jonathan Franzen, Mohsin Hamid, Ruth Rendell, Tom Stoppard, Malcolm Gladwell, Eleanor Catton and many more recommend the books that impressed them this yearChimamanda Ngozi AdichieFive Star Billionaire by Tash Aw (Fourth Estate) is a brilliant, sprawling, layered and unsentimental portrayal of contemporary China. It made me think and laugh. I also love Dave Eggers' The Circle (Hamish Hamilton), which is a sharp-eyed and funny satire about the obsession with "sharing" our lives through technology. It's convincing and a little creepy.William BoydBy strange coincidence two of the most intriguing art books I read this year had the word "Breakfast" in their titles. They were Breakfast with Lucian by Geordie Greig (Jonathan Cape) and Breakfast at Sotheby's by Philip Hook (Particular). Greig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness. Hook's view of the art world is that of the professional auctioneer. In an A-Z format, it is an entire art education contained in under 350 pages. Wry, dry and completely beguiling.Bill BrysonThe Compatibility Gene by Daniel M Davis (Allen Lane) is an elegantly written, unexpectedly gripping account of how scientists painstakingly unravelled the way in which a small group of genes (known as MHC genes) crucially influence, and unexpectedly interconnect, various aspects of our... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-08-12 22:46:20 UTC ]
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Chicago rapper Noname’s new book club highlights work from writers of color.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-25 17:08:40 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-10 19:37:39 UTC ]
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Amazon imprint signs three-book series from debut crime writer Kane

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-02 15:18:44 UTC ]
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Festival of Books music writers on Nipsey Hussle’s impact: ‘Dude could rap’

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London Book Fair 2019: Ian McEwan Leads Writers Against Brexit

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Stormzy announces #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize

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Zadie Smith, Rachel Kushner among nominees for 2019 National Book Critics Circle Awards

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Jill Abramson says Howard Kurtz trying to 'Foxify my book' by focusing on passage critical of New York Times

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Books News: Does It Pay to Be a Writer?

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[ The New York Times | 2019-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rooney’s Normal People crowned critics’ book of the year

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, Long-Serving Times Book Critic, Dies at 84

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[ The New York Times | 2018-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC buys joyful cookery book from food writer Rosie Birkett

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German writer sues Random House for refusing to publish controversial book on Islam

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[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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