• The best books if you love upstairs/downstairs historical sagas with a mystery twist
• The best books on Richard III from the writer who discovered the king’s grave in 2012
• The best novels written before 1800
• The best books on just how much English owes French (and why most English speakers are loath to admit it)
• The best books for readers who act out novels in their heads
• The best books about medieval life and widows who prefer independence to remarriage
• The best books to rewild the mind
• The best books on perspective, optics, and realistic illusion in art