From Joyce to 21st-century feminism to a new on-screen reimagining: why this millennia-old poem and its complicated hero continue to inspire
Our podcast on the top titles of 2024; Pasolini’s new film and the enduring appeal of ‘The Odyssey’; the unappetising truth about factory-farmed turkeys; an epic novel about Austria’s dark 20th-century past; musings on the ups and downs of fatherhood; notebooks (and paintings) by Orhan Pamuk; two writers explore our search for meaning; reissues of novels by Caroline Blackwood — plus Nilanjana Roy on AI translation and 12 books to explain events in Syria
Alejandro Zambra explores the ups and downs of fatherhood in this collection of essays, poems and stories
David Safier’s new crime series grants the former German chancellor a lively post-leadership twilight as a super sleuth
Eva Menasse’s sprawling bestseller, set in the run-up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, confronts a nation with its murky past
These cynical domestic horror stories by the Guinness heiress seem to speak to a contemporary mindset
Compiled over more than a decade, the Nobel winner’s notebooks combine memoir with his own colourful paintings
AI could instantly open up a huge range of books in different languages — but fiction really does require that human touch
A mother-and-son road trip is propelled by guilt and unease in Christian Kracht’s hilariously unsettling novel
The American journalist’s fiction debut is a difficult, beautiful tale of coming of age at a 1960s New England boarding school
From intergalactic sci-fi to 1970s California, Clark’s unnerving and surreal short stories traverse time, place and genre
Guided by enthusiasm, Edwin Frank’s study sidesteps the pitfalls of canonisation
A crop of fantasy novels features female warriors — and Vikings from a cult board game
Susan Minot’s first novel in a decade explores familiar themes with a pared-back tale of mid-life female desire
Malachy Tallack makes his most imaginative journey home to the Shetlands
A haunting novel set in the freezing, snowbound English winter of 1963
We asked you to share your favourite reads of the year — here are the results
James Lovegrove and Suzi Feay select their must-read titles
Maria Crawford selects her must-read titles
Laura Battle selects her must-read titles
James Lovegrove selects his must-read titles
Ángel Gurría-Quintana selects his must-read titles
Alex Clark selects her must-listen titles
Barry Forshaw and Adam LeBor select their must-read titles
The 2024 prize winner talks about setting her novel aboard the orbiting ISS to observe the beauty of our planet — and warn of its fragility
