John Downing book: Roller-coaster career of journalist shot by the Taliban
IT WAS alchemy. Before my very eyes, an image shot days earlier reappeared like magic on a blank sheet of paper. Slowly but surely in the small, stuffy darkroom I’d been invited into as a 13-year-old kid, an outline appeared. The mere sight of it took my breath away. Daily Express :: Books Feed More...
‘Guns have more rights than my uterus’ Crime writer Karin Slaughter on US abortion ban
IT IS a decision many fear has set back women’s rights by half a century. Daily Express :: Books Feed More...
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ultimate fan quiz: Who said these 16 quotes?
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE was released 25 years ago today, launching the extraordinary book and then film franchise. But how ‘wizard’ is your knowledge of those early days? Can More...
The end for classic poets as GCSE syllabus ‘goes woke’
THE poems of Keats, Hardy, Larkin and Owen have been replaced in a GCSE English syllabus with works by disabled, black and LGBT poets. The move by examinations body OCR was condemned by Education Secretary Nadhim More...
Winds of Winter release: George RR Martin gives fans hope in his latest update
THE WINDS OF WINTER author George RR Martin has written a long blog post full of Game of Thrones news, including on the penultimate A Song of Ice and Fire book with a mention of Tyrion Lannister. Daily Express More...
Crime writer Val McDermid says Jubilee reading list should include more fiction books
THE late Queen Mother was a fan of Dick Francis whose novels married her love of horse racing with the excitement of thrillers. Francis once admitted avoiding sex scenes and swearing because he knew she would be More...
The stand-up star who secretly inspired Mark Billingham’s latest hero cop
AUTHOR extraordinaire Mark Billingham on seeing the funny side of crime, going on the run with Sir Paul McCartney and why it’s case closed for now on his bestselling detective. Daily Express :: Books Feed More...
Celebrity seamstress Esme Young reveals behind the scenes secrets in new book
ESME YOUNG has a gung-ho approach to life, one that’s served The Great British Sewing Bee judge well during her 50 years in fashion. Now 73, her love of an artistic challenge and a boisterous party have seen More...
Grieving an animal is shamed but even the greats like Winston Churchill suffered loss
HE died six-and-a-half years ago, on November 24 at 1.24am. I know the exact time because I’d been looking at my watch for 14 hours wondering when it would happen. When the moment came, the pain was as raw More...
Novelist Fern Britton’s A Good Servant breathes new life into the Queen’s governess
SHE’S written nine novels set in Cornwall, all of them top 10 bestsellers. There has also been a clutch of Cornish-based short stories. But now Fern Britton is popping out of a completely new semi-fictional More...