Fever dreams: did author Dean Koontz really predict coronavirus?
From ‘Wuhan-400’, the deadly virus invented by Dean Koontz in 1981, to the plague unleashed in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, novelists have long been fascinated by pandemics
Cleaning up: the best 20-second songs to wash your hands to
The NHS advises singing Happy Birthday twice while washing your hands to help avoid spreading coronavirus. But there are better snippets to hum
The Crying Book by Heather Christle review – why do we weep?
A personal examination of tears – what causes them, why we cry – which takes in biological science, relationship break-up, poetry and Donald Trump
Bradford puts money on libraries to boost city’s health
£700,000 could be diverted from Yorkshire council’s wellbeing budget to offset library cuts
Dear Life by Rachel Clarke review – a doctor on grief, love and the NHS
A medic’s heartbreaking personal account of the loss of her father, and of witnessing the courage of the critically ill
Picture books on prescription
A scheme for GPs to recommend books for mental health and wellbeing is extending its reach to younger readers. Which are the best titles for anxiety, grief or online pressures?
Beyond borders: the best books about pandemics
As the coronavirus has spread to four continents, Laura Spnney chooses scientific studies, memoirs and novels about Aids, TB, polio and Spanish flu
Great expectations: art’s struggle to depict pregnancy
From the Virgin Mary to Demi Moore, art history swells with iconic mums-to-be. But can a single image ever do justice to such a head-scrambling state of flux – especially one made by a man?
I love going to the cinema alone, and not just for the popcorn
As a child, I assumed lone movie-goers had no friends. Do teenagers think this of me?
Dr Rachel Clarke: ‘Wrinkles, middle age, grey hairs… these are reasons to celebrate’
The palliative care doctor on her moving new memoir, Boris Johnson’s broken promises, and why the way we treat dying people should be the number one metric of a civilised society