Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
Caring canines; daring donuts; a golden monkey; a boy from another planet; a dark take on Little Women and more
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry review – a dazzling puzzle-box of a debut
The plight of a reluctant medieval king is glimpsed through scattered pieces of the past, in an ingenious novel that asks how much we can really know about history
Workhorse by Caroline Palmer review – a Devil Wears Prada-style tale of ambition
Dark obsessions drive this debut about the golden era of magazines – but its vile and hilarious heroine is not someone you want to spend so much time with
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood review – getting through the day
Alex Jennings’s performance hums with buried rage in Christopher Isherwood’s landmark exploration of grief
Vigil by George Saunders review – will a world-wrecking oil tycoon repent?
The ghosts of Lincoln in the Bardo return to confront a dying oil man’s destructive legacy – but this time they feel like a gimmick
‘I could never hope to equal it again’: Jeffrey Archer announces next novel will be his last
The 85-year-old bestselling author’s final novel, Adam and Eve, will be published in English in October
Cameo by Rob Doyle review – a fantasy of literary celebrity in the culture war era
In this larky autofiction, the ups and downs of creative life are cartoonishly dramatised as the writer becomes an action hero
Sex, death and parrots: Julian Barnes’s best fiction – ranked!
As the Booker prize-winning author prepares to publish his final novel at 80, we assess his finest work
Departure(s) by Julian Barnes review – this final novel is a slippery affair
Memoir merges with fiction as the author reflects on failed love, ageing and the end of life in this last instalment to his writing career
Author Julian Barnes confirms new novel will be his last
Booker prize winner, 80, says he has reached point of having ‘played all my tunes’ after new book Departure(s)
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
The Cut Up by Louise Welsh; The Persian by David McCloskey; The 10:12 by Anna Maloney; Very Slowly All at Once by Lauren Schott; Vivian Dies Again by CE Hulse
Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray review – friends, lovers or something in between?
From classmates to co-parents, the changing dynamics of a female friendship are astutely observed in a novel that explores the boundaries between love, lust and companionship
‘How do you really tell the truth about this moment?’: George Saunders on ghosts, mortality and Trump’s America
The Lincoln in the Bardo author is back with another metaphysical tale. He discusses Buddhism, partisan politics and the terrifying flight that changed his life
I’m a crime writer. Here’s why we make the best Traitors contestants
Barrister turned novelist Harriet Tyce is playing a blinder in the fourth series of the show. As a thriller writer myself, I recognise the traits that make her such a formidable Faithful
Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy – the follow-up to I’m Glad My Mom Died
Family trauma shapes a student’s affair with her teacher in this bleak and funny fiction debut from the American memoirist