Colm Tóibín, Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Michael Rosen and more share the novels, poetry and memoirs that make the perfect gift

Brand’s strange journey from darling of the left to cancelled crank makes for an informed podcast, while a power imbalance impairs rock groupies’ tales. Plus, writer Katherine Rundell on the power of children’s fiction

Steve McQueen, Tracey Emin, Steve Coogan, Adjoa Andoh, Danny Dyer, Jesse Darling and many more spell out what must be done to restore Britain’s cultural lifeblood, from ending elitism to supercharging libraries – and flooding schools with music

Leading authors including Bernardine Evaristo, Armistead Maupin and Alice Roberts recommend books to read this summer

Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Leading authors recommend the best recent books, from a forbidden love affair at the Western Front to a murder mystery set in Egypt

The author on Vladimir Nabokov’s footnotes, James Baldwin’s essays and returning to Hilary Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety

Authors recommend their favourite recent reads, from addictive novels and fascinating cultural history to a game-changing graphic memoir