The Telegraph has come up with a list of “The best books of 2014—The must-read novels, memoirs and history books released in 2014 so far.” In the category of biography, Adam Begley’s Updike made the cut with a five-star (out of five) rating, flanked by biographies on Updike’s literary frenemy Philip Roth, T.E. Lawrence, British politician Roy Kenkins, and Karl Marx’s daughter, Eleanor.

“Begley’s biography shows just how closely and relentlessly Updike mined his own life for fiction,” the editors write.