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Books and literature

Books and literature
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Books and literature. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
In his new book Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom, Li says he has always been searching for his true self, and finally found it through practising Tibetan Buddhism. He wrote the book to share the spiritual benefits of these practices. Photo: handout
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

6 surprising facts from Jet Li’s new book, including his near-death moment

From his many names to dishwasher woes, Beyond Life and Death shares things about the Chinese martial artist fans may not have been aware of.

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Taylor Swift

Meet the Paisleys, whose non-profit is backed by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

European travel

A new literary festival in a tiny French village has a Hong Kong connection

Asian cinema: Japanese films

Author Eiko Kadono is 91, loves pink and never tires of writing

Eiko Kadono has written 200 books and does not intend to stop. One of her stories, Kiki’s Delivery Service, became a Studio Ghibli anime hit.

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Eiko Kadono, the author of Kiki’s Delivery Service, in Kamakura, Japan, in June 2026. Photo: AP/Ayaka McGill
Hong Kong politics

Taiwan’s leader pays tribute to Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee after his death

‘I want to express my deepest condolences to his family, friends and all those who care about freedom and democracy in Hong Kong,’ William Lai says in Facebook post.

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Hong Kong national security law

Hong Kong national security police arrest 2 bookshop owners over alleged sedition

Hunter Bookstore owners, former district councillor Leticia Wong and local man arrested on suspicion of committing acts with seditious intent.

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Food and Drinks

Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for June 25-27

Phnom Penh’s Sora pops up at Terrible Baby, Bangkok’s Sundry takes over Friday After Class, and Shakespeare-inspired Madara cocktails land at Alibi.

Cherry Lady Punch, created by Sora from Rosewood Phnom Penh, will be on offer at Terrible Baby in Hong Kong for one night only. Photo: Handout
Food and Drinks

Davina Chang on food and community as her Paris cafe Bing Sutt closes

The @thecolordiet content creator moved to Paris and built a thoughtful space serving Hong Kong favourites; she’s since authored a cookbook, A Taste of Hong Kong.

Audrey Hepburn

New Audrey Hepburn biography is an emotional roller coaster of joy and tragedy

Intimate Audrey reveals new stories regarding the British icon famous for films including Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday.

Taiwan

How a prize-winning Taiwanese novel could stoke Beijing’s worries over history

Yang Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue wins the International Booker Prize – and reignites debate over the island’s shifting identity.

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Author Yang Shuang-zi (left) and translator Lin King pose with their 2026 International Booker Prize trophies at the Tate Modern in London on May 19. Photo: EPA
Chinese culture

As I see it | What the I Ching is really about

While it may depart from scientific axioms, readers can glean much about their circumstances by consulting the Book of Changes.

The I Ching contains 64 hexagrams, where solid and divided lines represent the cosmic principles of yang and yin respectively. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese culture

‘Night of Horrors’: LA’s Chinese massacre of 1871 brought to fore in new book

Lisa See’s novel Daughters of the Sun and Moon revisits the terrible events that saw around 500 people attack the city’s Chinese residents.

Fashion

How to style like … 4 famous authors with distinctive personal styles

Channel these famous writers with the help of Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Valentino and Saint Laurent – perhaps inspiration will strike, too.

Fame and celebrity

6 famous Eton College alums, from Prince Harry to Tom Hiddleston

Besides Princess Diana’s sons William and Harry, actors Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston, and authors George Orwell and Ian Fleming, were all educated at the famous boarding school.

Former Eton College students: actor Tom Hiddleston, former British prime minister Boris Johnson and Prince Harry. Photos: AP, AFP
Fifa World Cup

Photo book This is Football celebrates the game as the Fifa World Cup kicks off

As the biggest tournament in world football kicks off, this lavish book looks back at seminal moments involving Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pelé and more.

Pelé in action for Brazil against Bulgaria during a Fifa World Cup 1966 match in Liverpool, England. Photo: Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty Images
Food and Drinks

The magic of mushrooms, from foraging to fine dining

Taschen’s coffee-table book The Gourmand’s Mushroom looks at how fungi are portrayed in art, literature and music, and explores the health benefits of various species.

Travel news and advice

5 hot places and happenings to check out this summer

Explore Versace at a Paris museum, view Arthur Elgort’s photos in Los Angeles, shop at Selfridges, relax at Sant Roch sauna, and peruse The Mark Hotel’s new book.

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Obituaries

‘Persepolis’ author Marjane Satrapi dies ‘of sadness’ aged 56

The renowned graphic novel and film adaptation recount her early life and struggles in the shadow of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

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Iranian-born French graphic novelist, illustrator and film director Marjane Satrapi poses for photographs during International Women’s Day celebrations in Saint Ouen, near Paris, in March 2023. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong

Hong Kong author Kit Fan on ‘reverse migration’, identity and his new novel

The UK-based writer, whose Goodbye Chinatown follows a food-centric family between Hong Kong and London, talks about how places change people.

Architecture and design

How buildings and cities shape our lives, from ancient Rome to Hong Kong today

Architectural scholar Stefan Al compresses 2 million years of human habitation into 258 pages in his new book, Dwelling on Earth.

Chinese culture

She rejected her Chinese heritage as a child. Now, she writes about it

Scottish-born Eliza Chan, who once dropped out of medical school, is a fantasy writer who marries Eastern myths with Western folklore.

Eliza Chan speaking at the Manchester Literature Festival in 2025. The writer, who grew up in Scotland, went from rejecting her Chinese heritage to embracing it. Photo: Chris Payne
Space

How should we greet aliens? Neil deGrasse Tyson has the answer

In his new book, Take Me to Your Leader, Neil deGrasse Tyson examines what we can anticipate from first contact and how to react.

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen Colbert appear on the CBS series The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 21, 2026. DeGrasse Tyson’s new book, Take Me To Your Leader, was released in May. Photo: CBS via Getty Images
TV shows and streaming video

Meet Belmont Cameli, who plays Garrett Graham in Amazon Prime Video’s Off Campus

In the wake of the smash hit Heated Rivalry, Amazon Prime Video’s latest series is creating buzz – so just who is the show’s heartthrob?

European cinema

Who was Marguerite Duras? Decoding the French cinema radical’s dual identity

Born in French Indochina in 1914, Duras was a visionary who treated the silver screen as a canvas for her haunting psychological experiments.

Music

‘This is insane!’ Korean-American rapper Dumbfoundead on family, music and Beef

A writer on Beef season two, battle rapper Dumbfoundead has taken his underground rap mentality with him from the gutter to the stars.

Rapper Jonnie Park, aka Dumbfoundead, explores his journey from Korean-American immigrant to multi-album artist and television show writer. Photo: TNS
TV shows and streaming video

‘Sex is a language in this show’: Heated Rivalry’s Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney

Author Rachel Reid and director Jacob Tierney talk about writing sex scenes, realising they had something big, and upcoming sequels.

Heated Rivalry director-screenwriter Jacob Tierney and Rachel Reid, whose books are the basis of the series, are pictured in New York on April 18, 2026. The pair talk about the success of the HBO Max show based on Reid’s Game Changers book series, the joy of writing sex scenes and sequels in the works. Photo: Invision/AP
Hong Kong

Poison books: Hong Kong joins the search for Victorian-era arsenic-laced tomes

Victorian-era books may contain arsenic in their bindings. One Hong Kong University book conservator went on the hunt for such toxic volumes.

Chinese culture

As I see it | How ancient Chinese philosophers make sense of modern headaches

Scholar Daniel A. Bell has written an entertaining new book, exposing a new generation to ancient Chinese wisdom on the issues of our day.

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