Were our readers right to put Lord of the Rings above Middlemarch? What was missing from our list? Has anyone read the whole 100 … ?

Liese Spencer, our joint head of books, and non-fiction editor David Shariatmadari are live now to discuss the huge reaction to our 100 greatest novels list, our readers’ choices of the 100 best – and any other burning questions you may have about what to read next

Escoppycoppy asks: What was the actual question you asked the contributors? Did you ask for “best” novels, “greatest”, “favourite”? The wording would influence the choices eg “greatest” primes people to think of big, ambitious books, ‘best’ less so. “Favourite” would be very different- more personal choices, possibly children’s books. I think “favourite” would have produced a very different final list. Might even be a good follow-up?

David: The wording said we were looking for the “best novels of all time published in English”, asking for contributors for the “top 10”. It was interesting to see how different people responded to that and I’m not sure if anyone set their own favourites entirely to one side – a completely dispassionate assessment is probably impossible and not really the point. A lot of the comments we received, which are really interesting and you can explore by clicking on the individual voters on the novel list, suggest that it was a combination of critical merit and personal significance.

Benjamin Myers, for example, said “I have chosen 10 titles that I feel have advanced what it is the novel can – and should – do, while also taking into consideration the influence each has had on my own reading enjoyment and writing career”.

Liese: I think many voters – including this one! - chose many books that they read at an impressionable age, because those are the ones that hit the hardest (also possibly the ones that you study at school ending up staying with you). When you’re reading as a young adult novels can really be life-changing. I was struck by a comment from a reader who voted for George Orwell’s Animal Farm on our Readers’ top 100: “Reading this as a teen was my entry-level book to socialism. It opened my eyes to injustice, oppression and abuse of power. My parents always blamed my ‘communist’ English teachers for introducing me to Orwell!”

Surreal genius from Harry Hill, trailblazing women and a passionate ode to an incredible New York rapper – these are the best listens from the last six months

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Everyone here knows this is a sliding doors moment. A win could be a new beginning for the party, a loss an unimaginable calamity

They flock to Makerfield from everywhere: canvassers and camera crews, MPs, peers and volunteers, from Swansea to Gateshead, 700 a day to help the Labour campaign. Every door has already been knocked four times, boasts the Burnham team.

How does it feel for voters to be the most important constituency in living memory? Most are quite pleased, bar the usual “we only see them round here when they want our votes”. But with a chance to choose a prime minister, never was a vote so valuable.

People tell of feeling alienated in own city, disruption to daily life including healthcare, and frustration with politicians

Belfast residents have reacted with anger and disgust at the disorder in the city in response to a an online callout by the Guardian.

People were asked if they had been affected by the unrest sparked by the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie in the city earlier in the week.

Eras. Easter eggs. Masters. Monoculture. It has been 20 years since Swift released her debut single, setting in motion a career so extraordinary, it permanently redefined the concept of pop stardom. Not only did her fight to own her music educate a generation of fans in how the music industry works, she also bent that industry to her will, outwitting the competition and defying norms to reset its terms. This is how she did it

Trump says hundreds of tankers have escaped Iran’s blockade. Data suggests shipments are increasing but many questions remain

Donald Trump has claimed that the US has been conducting a “secret mission” in the strait of Hormuz to help Gulf petrostates bypass Iran’s chokehold on oil flows – which has roiled global energy markets for months.

In televised comments from the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president claimed Iran was unaware that dozens of tankers had been escorted out of the blockaded channel at night with their transmitters off.

Bradford-born painter, who made his name with sun-kissed visions of California, has died
• ‘David Hockney caught the look of the modern world’
• David Hockney’s life in pictures

David Hockney, the iconic British painter who cast a revolutionary gaze across 20th-century art, has died aged 88.

He made his name as a pop artist during the swinging 60s and was perhaps best known for his paintings of swimming pools that helped define the Los Angeles aesthetic. Works such as A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) depicted hedonistic scenes of love, lust and loss taking place below the city’s sun-soaked skies.

John Healey and Al Carns resigned from their ministerial positions on Thursday over the government’s defence investment plan

As armed forces minister, Al Carns was not involved in work on the defence investment plan (Dip). In his resignation letter, he said it was flawed not just because of the amount of funding involved; he also claimed it focused too much on the wrong capability. He said (and I’ve highlighted the key phrases in bold):

The character of conflict is changing faster than our procurement can keep up with. We are still purchasing capability suitable for the last war while our adversaries arm for the next one. Platforms that cost billions can be defeated by systems that cost thousands. Any serious defence investment plan has to start from that reality.

While I had no hand in the defence investment plan, that distance does allow me to say plainly that it is not built for the threat we face.

I want to see a higher percentage for uncrewed systems, AI, data – data is the new gunpowder – and we’ve got to move that forward if we are going to win the next war.

Too many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.

The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months. Departments fight each other instead of the problem. Officials and ministers who know the truth are not always rewarded for telling it. We are trying to govern a more dangerous world with processes designed for a calmer one, and the gap is now showing in the things that matter most.

Figures suggest common travel area being used in both directions, but particularly UK to Ireland

Up to 90% of asylum seekers in Ireland may have entered the country via the Northern Ireland land border in the last three years, figures suggest.

Irish government data shows the common travel area (CTA) is being exploited in both directions but suggests it may be more popular for those seeking asylum in Ireland than in the UK.

Ayoub Junaid, seven, given new pair but needs surgery as Gaza’s children remain unable to access treatment

A video of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza who suffers from a severe visual impairment crying over his shattered glasses has drawn widespread attention across social and international media.

The footage of Ayoub Junaid has shone a light on the plight of the many visually impaired children in Gaza who, because of Israel’s blockade and the devastation caused by the war, have been unable to access eye examinations, corrective lenses or specialist ophthalmic surgery.