Books

Jonathan Self: What I found out when I finally read a book I'd been meaning to read for 40 years

The author finally plucked up the courage to read Montaigne — here's what he made of it.

In Focus: Gerald Durrell, the 'pioneer with a marvellous sense of humour'

The author, conservationist and avid nature-lover describes his childhood in Corfu with the 'recollections of a child in a kind of earthy paradise,' in his book, My Family and Other Animals, finds Jack Watkins.

Jonathan Self: The greatest novel of the 20th century? Maybe, but 'Ulysses' still sent me to sleep within three pages

Jonathan Self looks back on some of the great books published exactly a century ago.

The rare images of J.R.R. Tolkien which caused a sensation at auction

Pamela Chandler's portraits of the great J.R.R. Tolkien went under the hammer recently, almost doubling the estimate set by the auctioneers.

How M.R. James wove country house architecture into his ghost stories

In his ghost stories, M. R. James had a perceptive eye for architectural detail, as Jeremy Musson explains and Matthew Rice evokes in specially commissioned drawings.

The wonderful tales of Christmas don’t change the difficulties we face, but they do serve to make the world a better place

Christmas is a time for comforting and uplifting stories, with their hope and unwavering faith in human nature.

The 100 greatest cathedrals in Europe, as picked by Simon Jenkins

Simon Jenkins gives himself a daunting task with his latest book, Europe's 100 Best Cathedrals (Viking, £30), which does no less than attempt to both explain and judge the masterpieces of western civilisation. Clive Aslet took a look and found a tome that will set readers 'afire to go on architectural pilgrimage'.

In Focus: Why the eerie thrives in art and culture

The tradition of ‘eerie’ literature and art, invoking fear, unease and dread, has flourished in the shadows of British landscape culture for centuries, says Robert Macfarlane.

Anne Glenconner: How rehabilitating Princess Margaret made her a literary phenomenon on the cusp of her tenth decade

Anne Glenconner, the former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret who has become a publishing phenomenon, speaks to Flora Watkins about finding fame late in life. Main photograph by Hal Shinnie.

The English villages that are hotbeds of murder, intrigue and endless summer days — at least in the minds of novelists

Comforting yet complex, intriguing and alluring, the village setting is territory to which writers — and readers — will return again and again. Flora Watkins looks at how the customs, characters and communities of the English village have long sparked literary inspiration, from Jane Austen to Midsomer Murders.

The enduring appeal of Peter Rabbit

Beatrix Potter's most famous creation, Peter Rabbit, remains as popular as ever, despite his genesis being well over a century ago. Jack Watkins investigates the enduring appeal of one of the naughtiest rabbits in children's literature.

The best gardening books for summer

Our gardens editor Tiffany Daneff picks out her favourite new books on gardening, featuring the likes of Sarah Raven, Arthur Parkinson and her predecessor at Country Life, Kathryn Bradley-Hole.

In Focus: A photographer's magical celebration of the farmers of Yorkshire

Photographer Valerie Mather has chronicled the lives of farmers in her award-winning images, which are now collected together together in a handsome book: Yorkshire Born & Bred: Farming Life.

How the Lifebook autobiography service is keeping memories alive for generations to come

Many of us have ageing family members who have lived truly extraordinary lives, but have never had a chance to record them properly. Lifebook seeks to put that right by helping people write autobiographies and preserve their tales forever.

In Focus: Thomas Geve, the boy who drew Auschwitz

After being liberated from a Nazi death camp, a Jewish boy sketched more than 80 profoundly moving drawings detailing his incarceration. Charlie Inglefield explains how he came to co-author a book of Thomas Geve’s powerful words and pictures.

The best new interior design books which will set the tone for 2021

Giles Kime picks out some of the finest interiors books of 2020 for those seeking inspiration in 2021.

Charlie Mackesy on The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: 'It's humbling... The reaction was beyond anything I ever imagined'

Charlie Mackesy is the author and illustrator of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, the bestselling — and hugely poignant — book that celebrates kindness and understanding. He spoke to Katy Birchall about why there’s no shame in showing weakness and asking for help.

With love from Father Christmas: J.R.R. Tolkien's enchanting Christmas letters to his children

For nearly a quarter of a century, J. R. R. Tolkien sent his children elaborate letters and pictures from the North Pole. Ben Lerwill explores the penmanship, kindness and magic that went into Letters From Father Christmas.

A beginner’s guide to fermentation: ‘After two days it smelt distinctly cheesy, but better at least than the dead-badger smell I was expecting’

From sauerkraut and kombucha fruit leather to pickled plums and honey marmalade, the art of fermentation is one well worth learning, advocates lifelong forager John Wright.

Ponden Hall: The house that inspired Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights comes up for sale

A hugely charismatic country house in Yorkshire has come to the market, one with a great literary claim to fame: it was the inspiration for Emily Brontë's seminal novel Wuthering Heights.