Five Books - Expert Book Recommendations

NEW: Political scientist @buxtonjulia chooses five books on modern Venezuelan politics and explains how the country has been plagued by its vast oil reserves: fivebooks.com/best-books/ven… Books by @SujathaTF, @mtinkersalas, @frrodriguezc

"We need to better understand women who are leaders, and if there is a lack of women leaders, why that is." fivebooks.com/best-books/vis…

"What enthrals me about Tomas Tranströmer’s work is how it just speaks and it doesn’t impose anything. I would see that as a step forward in my own interest and excitement in poetry." fivebooks.com/best-books/joh…

A variety of writers, comics and academics recommend their best funny humour books and their favourite comic writing. fivebooks.com/category/ficti…

"Anger at racial injustice is probably the first strong emotion that I have a memory of." fivebooks.com/best-books/ang…

"Why spend millions bringing a book to the screen unless it has an unusually spellbinding plot or is a particularly wonderful evocation of a time and place? Below are some of the books film directors have seen worthy of turning into movies in 2025." fivebooks.com/best-books/boo…

You can use our reading lists to find the best Islamic books ever written on a variety of subjects. fivebooks.com/category/relig…

NEW: Dinosaur books for kids, recommended by children for children fivebooks.com/best-books/din…

"When it comes to wine and Italy, Tuscany is at the forefront. It is a region in the heart of Italy that has maintained and sustained a certain set of values." fivebooks.com/best-books/tus…

Books about oceans and the sea, recommended on Five Books by marine biologist Helen Scales, as well as novelists, philosophers, journalists and geologists. fivebooks.com/category/natur…

Here, experts recommend books that will help you try to get to grips with space and the solar system—the bookworm’s guide to the galaxy, rather than the hitchhiker’s fivebooks.com/category/natur…

"What makes the book so special is the contemporary resonances that ring out on every page." Congratulations to Tim Bouverie for winning the 2026 Pol Roger @DuffCooperPrize for his book "Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler" fivebooks.com/book/allies-at…

"At the very root of a pessimistic mind-set is the fear brain, and at the very root of an optimistic mind-set is the pleasure brain." fivebooks.com/best-books/ela…

"Mary Wollstonecraft is often called the first English feminist" fivebooks.com/best-books/mar…

Whether you are after contemporary poetry collections or the earliest poems ever written, Five Books has recommendations for poetry books to read for both study and pleasure. fivebooks.com/category/ficti…

"If you look at the younger generation of American businesspeople in China, I’m struck by how many of them are able to function in Chinese in a business or professional situation compared with 10 or 15 years ago." fivebooks.com/best-books/lea…

RIP Len Deighton. Astonishingly, only two of his books have been recommended on Five Books. We need to remedy that! fivebooks.com/people/len-dei…

"Patrick was Irish by virtue of having eventually established himself there, but he wasn’t born in Ireland. He was born in Roman Britain" fivebooks.com/book/saint-pat… Happy St Patrick's Day!

"The American presidential election has been the most important battle that the opponents of authoritarianism have won so far." fivebooks.com/best-books/pol…

Of recent discoveries: If you are in London, I very much recommend checking this bookshop (near Tufnell Park). It specialises on classics and has a very nice collection of Greek & Roman literature I've been diving into Gibbon's footnotes and this place is an absolute treasure