New York's BookCon: 'Where literature and pop culture collide'
Reality TV stars mixed with celebrity authors and YA's biggest names at the fan-friendly final day of BookExpo America 2014's 'organized chaos'On Saturday, at the Javits Center in midtown New York,...
View ArticleReading group: choose a David Mitchell book for June
The impending arrival of his new novel is a good cue to return to his back catalogue. But which one? Cast your vote belowThis month on the Reading group we're going to look at David Mitchell....
View ArticleOn my radar: Tim Booth's cultural highlights
The James frontman on the power of performance, wild times at Burning Man, and the extraordinary influence of BuffyBorn in Bradford, Tim Booth was recruited by British rock band James while at...
View ArticleJune's Reading group: The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
An overwhelming vote this time for a characteristically ambitious novel which has divided critics, but won many readers' loveThe votes are in -and there's a runaway winner: The Thousand Autumns Of...
View ArticleLive webchat with David Mitchell
The author of Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet was online to answer your questionsDavid Mitchell's webchat: 10 things we learnedIn a slight change of formula, we're running this...
View ArticleDavid Mitchell's webchat: 10 things we learned
The author of Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet joined us live to answer your questions. From writers being 'nuts' to how he names his characters, here are the highlightsDavid...
View ArticleDavid Mitchell's unusual adventure into history
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet appears to be an unexpectedly traditional book. The Reading group has been considering whyWebchat with David Mitchell: 10 things we learnedIn his New Yorker review...
View ArticlePhilip Hensher's top 10 parallel narratives
From Mrs Gaskell to David Mitchell, the novelist picks the best of a surprisingly long tradition that pairs unconnected but related storiesThe novel of unconnected narratives is older than you might...
View ArticleTips, links and suggestions: What are you reading this week?
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of themWelcome to this week's blog. Here's a roundup of your comments and photos from last week.AggieH sang the praises of Michelle de...
View ArticleBest holiday reads 2014
From classics to memoirs to cutting-edge fiction, authors and critics tell the Observer which books they will be packing in their beach bag To buy any of these titles for a special price, go to...
View ArticleNovelist David Mitchell publishes new short story on Twitter
Booker-shortlisted author submits to twitter 'straitjacket' for 280-tweet tale of boy tripping on valiumRead Mitchell's short story hereDavid Mitchell, the award-winning author of Cloud Atlas, this...
View ArticleThe Right Sort, David Mitchell's Twitter short story
The Booker-shortlisted novelist has published his latest short story, The Right Sort, on Twitter this week. Here you can read the author's ongoing 280-tweet tale of a boy and his mother's valium pills...
View ArticleThe tales that could have been tweeted
Novelist David Mitchell took 280 tweets to tell his new short story. But some novels don't even need that many. Here are some other stories that could have been told on social media. Please add your...
View ArticleDavid Mitchell: a storyteller of infinite richness | Observer profile
For the Cloud Atlas novelist, famed for playing with form, writing a short story on Twitter is just his latest challenge. But this is only the prelude to the big event, his eagerly awaited new...
View ArticleMan Booker prize 2014: the longlist in pictures
This years Man Booker longlist sees Americans appearing for the first time amid a field of established names, including David Mitchell, Ali Smith and 2010 winner Howard Jacobson. The shortlist will be...
View ArticleMan Booker prize 2014: a judge speaks up for the longlist
Our choices this year are marked by great ambition and they will continue to draw readers for much longer than the next 12 months, writes Erica WagnerJustine Jordan: A more global, less diverse...
View ArticleMan Booker prize 2014: why the longlist has bewildered the bookies
With its lack of big names and its potential contenders that have yet to be published, this year's lineup has elicited wildly divergent predictionsIn a nice coincidence, Commonwealth Games athletes...
View ArticleAn 'audience with' David Mitchell or Stephen Fry? I'd rather have more gags
Increasingly, big-name comedians are swapping the usual standup format for something that seems more intimate, honest and a bit of a get-outWhen is a standup gig not a standup gig? David Mitchell's...
View ArticlePublishing's heavyweights jostle for windowspace in Booker's seasonal sweetspot
Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell, Sarah Waters and Martin Amis among authors with new novels timed for greatest exposureSome seasonal traditions are unassailable. As surely as April breeds lilacs out of...
View ArticleBook now: the essential new fiction from the big names in 2014
Autumn is always the busiest time in the publishing calendar this year more than ever, with new books from many of the best-known authorsAUGUSTContinue reading...
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