Damian Barr shares his favourite books
The writer and broadcaster picks works by Alice Walker, Elif Shafak and others

The writer and broadcaster picks four of his favourites. His next novel, "The Two Roberts", will be published by Canongate in September 2025.
May Day
Jackie Kay, 2024
This inspiring collection speaks directly to our fractured and fractious moment and offers a way out. Raised to believe in the power of protest by her adoptive activist parents, Jackie Kay recounts a lifetime of marching – against wars, against racism but always for love. Her poems contain anger but aren't angry; they contain grief but never surrender to despair.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Available on The Week Bookshop
The Color Purple
Alice Walker, 1982
This story of Celie and Nettie, two sisters torn apart in Depression-era Georgia, is my touchstone. It gave me courage. Like Celie, I faced abuse at home and hatred in the world. I felt ugly, alone and afraid. Reading Celie's story, in words that sounded spoken, made me believe her and myself.
Available on The Week Bookshop
There Are Rivers in the Sky
Elif Shafak, 2024
I can't stop thinking about this epic novel, stretching from the cruel splendour of Mesopotamia to Victorian London and the environmental catastrophe of now. Elif Shafak charts one drop of water across time and space – from falling as rain on a king's head, to falling as a snowflake on a baby boy who will grow up to uncover a poem that changes history. Water remembers. People forget. That's the tragedy at the heart of this incredible story about all the ways we (dis)connect.
Available on The Week Bookshop
Some Men in London: QueerLife 1945-1959 & 1960-1967, Vols. 1 & 2
Peter Parker, 2024
These astonishing anthologies take us from VE Day to 1967, when homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales (but not Scotland or NI). We meet ordinary men and famous faces such as John Gielgud. Parker skilfully synthesises the raw material of history – newspapers, diaries, letters – and a story emerges of a community with its own culture and language, thriving despite unjust laws and moral panics.
Available on The Week Bookshop
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Pet cloning booms in China
Under The Radar As Chinese pet ownership surges, more people are paying to replicate their beloved dead cat or dog
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The EPA: Let’s forget about climate change
Feature You’ll miss the EPA when it’s been gutted, said former EPA heads
By The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?
Feature 'Schumer had only bad political options'
By The Week US Published
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Book review: ‘Abundance’ and ‘Raising Hare: A Memoir’
Feature The political party of ‘abundance’ and a political adviser befriends a baby hare
By The Week US Published
-
A horseback safari in the wilds of Zambia
The Week Recommends Unforgettable trip offers chance to see wildlife and experience local villages
By The Week UK Published
-
Erica's harira soup recipe
The Week Recommends Gently spiced Moroccan soup-stew warms the soul
By The Week UK Published
-
6 spacious homes in lofts
Feature Featuring a Landmarks Conservancy award-winning apartment in New York City and a helicopter-workshop-turned-home in Washington, D.C.
By The Week US Published
-
Properties of the week: little gems
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Kent, Cornwall and Fife
By The Week UK Published
-
Opus: 'charismatic' Ayo Edebiri can't rescue 'empty' cult horror
Talking Point Celebrity satire follows a 'well trodden' plot and struggles to find its voice
By The Week UK Published
-
Turner: In Light and Shade – an 'enlightening' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Superb' collection of the celebrated artist's works on paper are on display at the Whitworth
By The Week UK Published