Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Why can't the French government pass a budget? Who will win in the fight for the soul of the Labour Party? Why do pensioners keep being arrested? Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer's Tom Gatti and Serna Cesareo, as well as the journalist and author Charlie Brinkhurst Cuff, as they each try to pitch the top story of the day.  

Old, new, borrowed and blue, here are five romantic songs to suit all Valentine’s moods

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

From mould-breaking fiction to essays, memoir and more, The Observer’s critics and editors choose the most memorable books of the last 25 years – and encourage you to have your say

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

The paper that championed Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes is continuing its long love affair with poetry

Your essential guide from The Observer’s books desk

Your essential guide, from The Observer’s books desk (with help from Robert Harris, Elif Shafak, Lenny Henry, Deborah Levy and more)

As the band finish a run of gigs in London, we look back at the best reimaginings of their songs

Your essential guide, from The Observer’s books desk

The writer of Adolescence on his new phone-hacking drama, living with disability and why he feels a responsibility to tell stories that matter

After charming Hollywood in The Ballad of Wallis Island, the comedian is drawing on more mundane experiences for his role in The Paper

Pious Keku escaped forced labour in Ghana and human traffickers in the UK only to spend the next three years in detention