Mind your language: the fightback against global English
Are education systems around the world placing undue emphasis on our modern lingua franca — or merely delivering what parents want?
The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla review — ‘the default is always white’
An essay collection that seeks to redress black, Asian and minority ethnic underrepresentation
Orwell’s Nose by John Sutherland review — dust, plaster and fried dabs
An unusual biography of George Orwell, ‘virtuoso of the nostril’
The Edge of Reason by Julian Baggini review — passion versus cogitation
A philosopher seeks to reconcile faith in rational thought with a recognition of its limits
Men not at work: Lawrence Summers on America’s hidden unemployment
Increasing numbers are neither in jobs nor looking for them — but welfare reform alone will not solve the problem
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner review — anatomy of the everyday
Review by Laura Garmeson
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue review — ‘an excoriating meditation on fundamentalism’
A novel in which a pious girl in 19th-century Ireland refuses food is as much about the present as the past
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett review — family affairs
The children of two families are united by divorce in a compelling tale
Modern Lovers by Emma Straub review — when in Brooklyn
A novel about a teenage romance over a hot summer reads like a love letter to Ditmas Park
Q&A with author Nell Zink
‘When did I know I was going to be a writer? In 2014 when my agent sold a manuscript for six figures’
Mind your language: the fightback against global English
Are education systems around the world placing undue emphasis on our modern lingua franca — or merely delivering what parents want?
Spain fails to turn page on Franco’s legacy of censorship
Phrases and even entire pages are still missing from books by writers such as Orwell and Hemingway
Beyond Westminster: new memoirs by Labour’s Alan Johnson and Chris Mullin
Two dispatches show how ‘human’ politicians can prosper — up to a point
Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard review — the making of Winston Churchill
A crucial episode in the early life of the British leader is told with verve
Death and the Seaside by Alison Moore review — ‘a new English grotesque’
A directionless young woman is manipulated by her landlady in this multi-layered tale
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet review — crime and astonishment
A novel about a murder case that is the surprise nomination on the Man Booker shortlist
Estuary by Rachel Lichtenstein review — out from London to the sea
A collage of testimonies from the end of the Thames
The Gradual by Christopher Priest review — return to the Dream Archipelago
Review by James Lovegrove
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer review — beneath the rubble
An earthquake hits Israel in Foer’s first novel in 10 years, but the more convincing drama lies closer to home
Invasion by Luke Rhinehart review — SF from the author of ‘The Dice Man’
Review by James Lovegrove
John Banville reviews Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts — ‘a book of marvels’
Christopher de Hamel’s journey around 12 of the most precious medieval texts
