This week, TLS contributors select their favourites from 2025; plus an interview with CD Rose, winner of this year’s Goldsmiths Prize.

‘We Live Here Now’, by CD Rose

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, how well does Alan Hollinghurst's novel The Line of Beauty translate to the stage? And Toby Lichtig interviews the newest winner of the Booker Prize, David Szalay.

'The Line of Beauty', by Jack Holden, based on the novel by Alan Hollinghurst, Almeida Theatre, London, until November 29

'Flesh', by David Szalay

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Terri Apter reviews a quartet of books exploring the impact of parenthood on identity, particularly for women; and we revisit Helen Garner, as she wins the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.

'Four Mothers: A year of motherhood around the world', by Abigail Leonard

'The Republic of Parenthood: On bringing up babies', by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

'Second Life: Having a child in the digital age', by Amanda Hess

'Childless by Choice: The meaning and legacy of a childfree life', by Helen Taylor

'How to End a Story: Collected Diaries', by Helen Garner

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Lily Herd introduces us to the concept of Fascist Yoga; and Mark Storey on America’s ghosts.

‘Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread’, by Leila Taylor

‘Haunted States: An American Gothic Guidebook’, by Miranda Corcoran

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Margaret Drabble enjoys an enthralling biography of an adventure writer and his entourage; and Thea Lenarduzzi on the gothic mystery at the heart of her new book.

'Storyteller: The life of Robert Louis Stevenson', by Leo Damrosch

'The Tower', by Thea Lenarduzzi

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Mary Beard grapples with a noisy new version of Euripedes at the National Theatre; and Norma Clarke on the mysterious world of Helen DeWitt's new novel.

'Bacchae', by Nima Taleghani, after Euripedes, Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London, until November 1

'Your Name Here', by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Tim Lake explains why Bertie Wooster is not half the dimwit we think he is; and fiction editor Toby Lichtig introduces the novels to look out for this autumn.

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Nicola Shulman is entranced by the life of a naturalist; and Larry Wolff enjoys a night at the opera - with added superheroes.

'A year with Gilbert White: The first great nature writer', by Jenny Uglow

'The amazing adventures of Kavalier & Clay', by Mason Bates and Gene Scheer, based on the book by Michael Chabon, Metropolitan Opera, New York, until October 11

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Richard Sennett delivers a powerful warning to universities to defend their freedom; and Helena Kelly on the revolutionary world that shaped Jane Austen.

'The Worlds of Jane Austen: The Influence and Inspiration Behind the Novels', by Helena Kelly

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, AE Stallings immerses herself in Daniel Mendelsohn's new translation of Homer's Odyssey; and Dinah Birch is intrigued by an ambitious novel twenty years in the making. 

'The Odyssey', by Homer, translated by Daniel Mendelsohn 

'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny', by Kiran Desai

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, James Shapiro celebrates New York's love affair with Shakespeare; Mark Nayler goes on the hunt for monsters; and Lily Herd introduces this issue's In Brief pages. 

'Monsterland: A journey around the world’s dark imagination', by Nicholas Jubber

'The Perilous Deep: A supernatural history of the Atlantic', by Karl Bell

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Professor Jonathan Bate on a tiny Elizabethan portrait with an illuminating history; and novelist Gwendoline Riley assesses the mysterious life and work of Dame Muriel Spark.

'Electric Spark: The enigma of Muriel Spark', by Frances Wilson

'The Letters of Muriel Spark – Volume 1: 1944–1963', edited by Dan Gunn

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the winner of this year's TLS Ackerley Prize, Jeff Young, discusses his spellbinding memoir; and Toby Lichtig talks to the Australian novelist Michelle de Kretser at this year's Hay Festival.

'Wild Twin', by Jeff Young

'Theory & Practice', by Michelle de Kretser

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, George Berridge instructs Lucy and Alex on the noble art of oenophilia; and Lucy takes in a trio of musicals.

'Who's Afraid of Romanée-Conti: A shortcut to drinking great wines', by Dan Keeling

'One Thousand Vines: A new way to understand wine', by Pascaline Peltier

'Good Night, Oscar', by Doug Wright, Barbican, until September 21

'Top Hat', by Irving Berlin, Chichester Festival Theatre, until September 6

'Brigadoon', by Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe, adapted by Rona Munro, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, until September 20

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alex Clark celebrates the life and work of Edna O'Brien with filmmaker Sinéad O'Shea and novelists Eimear McBride and Jan Carson at this year's Belfast Book Festival.

'Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story', by Sinéad O'Shea

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, a special interview with farmer and writer James Rebanks about a life-changing stay on the Norwegian coast.

'The Place of Tides', by James Rebanks

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emile Chabal braces himself against the barrelling force of the Mistral; and Kathryn Hughes is exhilarated by memories of dancing to Dickens in the carpark of the Horsham Odeon.

'The Mistral: A Windswept History of Modern France', by Catherine Tatiana Dunlop

'Showtime!', at the Charles Dickens Museum, until January 18, 2026

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Norma Clarke explores the ancient arts of hedge-laying, thatching, hay-cutting and wood-turning; and highlights from this week's issue.

'Words from the Hedge: A hedgelayer’s view of the countryside', by Richard Negus

'Of Thorn and Briar: A year with the West Country hedgelayer', by Paul Lamb 

'On the Roof: A thatcher’s journey', by Tom Allan

'Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay?: How traditions from the past can shape our future', by Robert Ashton

'Ingrained: The making of a craftsman', by Callum Robinson

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Alicia Rix charts Henry James's return to an unrecognisable homeland; and David Horspool on a Victorian conman and a contemporary swimmer.

'Henry James Comes Home: Rediscovering America in the Gilded Age', by Peter Brooks

'On Writers and Writing: Selected Essays', by Henry James, edited by Michael Gorra

'Swimmingly: Adventures in Water', by Vassos Alexander

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Michael LaPointe celebrates a century of The Great Gatsby; and Miranda France on an epistolary novel by Natalia Ginzburg.

'The Cambridge Centennial Edition of The Great Gatsby', by F Scott Fitzgerald, edited by James LW West III, with an introduction by Sarah Churchwell

'The Annotated Great Gatsby', by F Scott Fitzgerald, edited by James LW West III, with an introduction by Amor Towles

'The Great Gatsby and Stories from All the Sad Young Men', by F Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Philip McGowan, with an introduction by Min Jin Lee

'The Bloomsbury Handbook to F Scott Fitzgerald', edited by Laura Rattray and Linda Wagner-Martin

'The City and the House', by Natalia Ginzburg, translated by Dick Davies

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.