Books

'Ramadan is a highlight of the Islamic calendar and involves a month of self-reflection and improvement as well as abstinence from food and water. Gaining knowledge is hugely celebrated within Islam, and with more time on my hands not eating or drinking, this spiritual month is the perfect opportunity to learn something new.'

It feels weird to be writing about books again. I used to consider myself a huge bookworm, often getting through multiple books in a...

Trinity 2021 will see at least a significant portion of the student body return to ‘normal Oxford’, a loose collection of memories, activities, and...

Jill Cushen talks to Last Bookshop owner Jake Pumphrey about his unconventional approach to the book business.

'After a report in 2020 revealed that only 5% of British children’s books featured a Black or minority ethnic main character, other titles are providing much needed representation.'

'In Klara, Ishiguro crafts a memorable first-person narrative voice, simultaneously robotic and infantile, scrupulous yet naïve.'

Literary awards and prizes have been around for centuries, with the first British Award for Literature established in 1919 (The James Tait Black Memorial...

In an already unusual term, this 5th Week, giving its name to '5th week blues,' might be more difficult than most. Whether after an...

As Valentine's Day looms, it's not hard to find examples of romantic love. But literature celebrates the expanse of human emotion, so our books editors have picked out two moving illustrations of the other forms love takes.

For the first 17 years of my life, I felt like everything I knew about love I learned from books. Sure, as a self-conscious...

For me, it is Cannon’s complete honesty and authenticity which make this an astounding read ... 'Breaking and Mending' is the perfect book to read as a medical student, a doctor, or anyone who wants to have their heart warmed by tales of genuine compassion and kindness.

Much like the 1920s and 30s, we live in a period of great change when all previously-held cultural norms and precedents seem to be shifting under our feet. All the King’s Men speaks to this time of turmoil, questioning how the individual responds to that, whether they challenge it or become corrupted by it.'

In light of the disaster that was 2020, many of us are looking towards 2021 with hope. Amongst the reasons to be excited about...

The YA fiction boom really was its own mini cultural era. Gone are the days of passing a tattered copy of The Fault in Our Stars around your entire friendship group, but how does YA lit hold up today? And how did that cultural era affect the ‘young adults’ at its centre?