To live and to write in South Africa is to engage with history, explains Karen Jennings, the acclaimed novelist and co-creator of the Island Prize for South African writers. Here, she recommends five historical fiction books set in South Africa for those who would like to improve their understanding of the country's complex past.

Overthinking might present as rumination about the past or worry about the future, and it comes in many different guises. But, as Dr Jessamy Hibberd explains, it’s dangerous in any form – inhibiting our problem-solving, trapping our mood, and causing mental and physical health problems. She talks us through five books for overthinkers, from classic research to books on compassion, mindfulness and acceptance.

Every year we eagerly await the annual International Thriller Writers Awards shortlists, which seek to spotlight the very best new writing in the genre. The 2026 finalists up for the title of 'best standalone thriller' include a breathless psychological novel about an obsessive relationship and a fast-paced suspense book centred on a medieval manuscript that has been likened to the Da Vinci Code.

From gigantic plant eaters to terrifying carnivores, dinosaurs and the long-lost worlds they inhabited capture the imaginations of children everywhere. Because it's such a popular topic, there are vast numbers of dinosaur books for kids out there. Our Children’s Editor talked to Daniel (age 6) and Caleb (age 7), two young dinosaur book enthusiasts, to find out which ones they have really enjoyed, and would like to recommend to other kids their age and younger.

World War II forced people of many nationalities into extraordinary circumstances, says Lori Inglis Hall—who works in the archives of WW2 photographer Lee Miller and whose new novel follows twins forced apart by conflict. Here, she recommends five of the best novels set during World War II, both historical fiction and novels written immediately after or during the war by eyewitnesses.

The Edgar Award for Best Novel is one of the most prestigious prizes in the mystery and crime fiction genre, and an excellent starting point if you're looking for a flavour of what kind of books are out there. As we start our list of the best mystery books of 2026, Five Books editor Sophie Roell runs us through this year's shortlist, from Dickensian London to the wilds of the Southern Ocean.

In early January 2026 US forces arrested the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and took him into custody in the US, charged with drug offences. Political scientist Julia Buxton chooses five books on modern Venezuelan politics and explains that this is only the latest political catastrophe to befall a country that has been plagued by its vast oil reserves. An endowment of natural resources that was expected to make the country rich when they were discovered in the early 20th century has only succeeded in making it poor and politically unstable.

Fairies have long stood for the numinous other, and since the twentieth century authors have put fairy tradition to a variety of uses. Award-winning author Jo Walton introduces us to five landmark stories of fairies – wide-ranging in setting and themes, but always at once alluring and discomfiting.

Every era has its monuments. What architectural legacy has the Industrial Revolution left behind? Jeff Brouws is a photographer whose work explores the American cultural landscape through a typological lens. His latest book, Silent Monoliths: The Coaling Tower Project, documents concrete coaling towers that once fueled steam locomotives across North America. He talks us through five essential books on industrial photography—from the Bechers' rigorous documentation to intimate portraits of displaced steelworkers—and explores what we preserve when structures themselves vanish.

In recent years, there has been a slew of novels retelling old myths and epics from the perspective of a female character, but books with strong female leads are nothing new. From classic fiction to memoirs, from fantasy to thrillers, literature is populated with female leads — both fictional and real — who are strong in different ways.