Brian Bethune

A former priest argues that the loss of worldly power has increased the papacy’s spiritual power

The author of The Imperfectionists on making his characters lovably unlikeable: ’Great literature is full of difficult but compelling characters’

But in his new book Enlightenment Now, Pinker warns authoritarian populism on the right, and repressiveness on the left, could thwart progress

Opinion: As ’The Darkest Hour’ draws acclaim for its portrayal of Churchill, a comparison to Trump reveals two leaders obsessed with glory days

Talaga’s book, a wrenching account of the deaths of seven Indigenous teens in Thunder Bay, was one of the most acclaimed non-fiction titles of 2017

The literary blend of horror, fantasy and sci-fi is in the mainstream spotlight, with VanderMeer’s Annihilation now a Hollywood production

Maggie O’Farrell’s memoir recounts 17 brushes with oblivion—including her daughter’s terrifying anaphylactic episode

Robert McCrum’s Every Third Thought contemplates the endgame for a generation that’s changed everything it touches

Simon Garfield examines how railways and wars, among other factors, have fed our dependence on the ticking clock

Surprisingly, the biggest threat to Kate Harris and her cycling partner was traffic—not bad weather or bad people