Reader reactions to The Crimson Petal and the White

Michel Faber explores the reactions of readers to his famous novel set in 1870s London.

A smart, accessible history of philosophy to inspire readers young and old

Download an extract from Luc Ferry’s refreshing take on the history of philosophy and its tumultuous relationship with religion.

Read an extract from My Friend the Mercenary

In a fly-blown bar in West Africa, war reporter James Brabazon found himself discussing military plans to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea with one of Africa’s most notorious mercenaries – his friend Nick du Toit.

Read an extract from Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

Fate takes many forms… When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulling into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey – named Beatrice and Virgil – and the epic journey they undertake together.

Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade

Drug smuggler turned author and campaigner for legalisation of cannabis Howard Marks introduces the new edition of Snowblind. the story of the legendary Zachary Swan, a mover in the cocaine trade in the sixties who set the standard for all who followed.

Understanding Africa, with Africa United

A superb portrait of the divided continent of Africa, told through one of the few things that unites it: football.

How to make the fabric of the universe

Libby Miller, a character in Scarlett Thomas’s new novel Our Tragic Universe, exclusively reveals a very special knitting pattern…

Siberian education, according to Nicolai Lilin

Nicolai Lilin was born in 1981 and grew up in the small republic of Transnistria which declared its independence from Moldova in 1990 but has never been recognised. In this video, Lilin tells us more about his experiences in Siberian Education, his memoir of growing up in a society of ‘honest criminals’.

An interview with Sue Armstrong, author of A Matter of Life and Death

Sue Armstrong is a science writer and broadcaster living in Edinburgh, who has undertaken a variety of assignments writing reports for the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS. Here she talks about her book exploring the vital work of pathologists, which really is A Matter of Life and Death.

Read an extract from Ghosts and Lightning by Trevor Byrne

Happy or unhappy, all families are a mystery. None more than the Cullens. Having escaped their clutches and moved across the water, Denny is just beginning to make a life for himself when a call from his sister brings him back to Dublin, city of his birth. Back to square one.

Jarvis Cocker reads a story from David Eagleman’s Sum

In this startling book, David Eagleman shows us forty possibilities of life beyond death. With wit and humanity, he asks the key questions about existence, hope, technology and love. These short stories are full of big ideas and bold imagination – hear Jarvis Cocker read Descent of Species.

A Matter of Life and Death: the back story

Sue Armstrong, author of A Matter of Life and Death, shares with us her reasons for writing her book on pathology.

An extract from Six Months in Sudan

James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, in 2007. The newest Médicins Sans Frontières’ doctor in the field, he arrived with only his training, full of desire to understand this most desperate part of the world. He returned home six months later profoundly affected by the experience.

Read an extract from Under the Skin

Isserley spends most of her time driving. But why is she so interested in picking up hitchhikers? And why are they always male, well-built and alone? An utterly unpredictable and macabre mystery, Michel Faber’s debut novel, freshly reissued for 2010, is an outstanding piece of fiction that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.

The Gospel According to Matthew: introduction by A.N. Wilson

The following is A.N. Wilson’s introduction to the Gospel According to Matthew. It was originally published in The Pocket Canons and is now available in The Four Gospels, published by Canongate.

Philip Pullman: How Stories Become Stories

In The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman takes us back two thousand years to the time of Jesus, for his own version of the New Testament story. Here, he explains some of his ambitions in his approach to the world’s most influential myth.

Maile Meloy on Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

Find out about new short story collection Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It from author Maile Meloy, and read one of the stories here on Bookhugger.

Read an extract from Louise Welsh’s Naming the Bones

Some secrets are best left buried…

More Than Words

Canongate stalwarts Dan Rhodes and Louise Welsh talk new novels, flat pack furniture and knob gags.

Read an extract of Peter Hessler’s Country Driving

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the long-time Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver’s license. For the next seven years he travelled the country, tracking how the automobile and the improved transport system were transforming China.

Sir John Lister Kaye on his definition of nature writing

Naturalist and conservationist Sir John Lister Kaye on what it means to him to be a nature writer.

From Russia With Love

What’s it like to have your novel turned into an Oscar-tipped blockbuster?

Jay Parini describes the experience of adapting his novel The Last Station into a screenplay, and about what happened after that…