Lust, lies and leisure
Review: The Reserve by Russell BanksAn enjoyably practical take on bourgeois relationships in the style of Updike or Yates, writes Martin Hemming
The Horse Boy
Audiobook review: The Horse Boy by Rupert IsaacsonSue Arnold is moved by the story of a couple who took their autistic five-year old to the Mongolian steppes
Obelisk: A History
Review: Obelisk: A History by Brian A Curran, Anthony Grafton, Pamela O Long and Benjamin WeissA beautifully illustrated collaborative work, that traces obelisks through the ages, says PD Smith
The Bolter
Audiobook review: The Bolter by Frances OsborneSue Arnold sees the unmasking of Idina Sackville, the five-times married femme fatale
Angels and Ages
Review: Angels and Ages by Adam GopnikThe author makes extremely elegant work of a slightly wobbly premise, says Steven Poole
A life pieced together
Rachel Cooke is enthralled by an unusual autobiography
Always happiest in the line of fire
Review: A Fortunate Life by Paddy AshdownWhether in a byelection or war zone, Paddy Ashdown loves going into combat. But his weakness, says Gaby Hinsliff, is self-analysis
Cuckoo in the Hollywood nest
Review: Love Child by Allegra HustonAllegra Huston gives a tender, painfully honest account of her tangled childhood, writes Elizabeth Day
The Death Maze by Ariana Franklin – review
Review: The Death Maze by Ariana FranklinThis is a wonderfully atmospheric and intelligent recreation of a vanished world, says Joanna Hines
Rooms of recovery
A show of works by the Whitechapel Boys is a perfect launch exhibition for the renovated gallery in the East End. Its respect for history stands out in the shadow of the City's greed, finds Iain Sinclair
Misery with a stiff upper lip
Review: The Music Room by William FiennesA young writer tells how his brother lost his mind. The prose is exquisite, but a little emotion wouldn't go amiss, says Adam Mars-Jones
Desperately consoling Susan
Paperback of the week: Swimming in a Sea of Death by David RieffA short, honest and sometimes achingly angry memoir, says Alison Flood
A poignant matter of life and death
Review: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCrackenA mother's tender remembrance of her stillborn baby moves Hephzibah Anderson
The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of VS Naipaul by Patrick French
Review: The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of VS Naipaul, by Patrick FrenchThis flawless, funny and engrossing biographybalances distaste for Naipaul's obnoxious traits with a recognition of his achievement. PD Smith
The geometry of love
Review: Frances Partridge: The Biography by Anne ChisholmA life of Frances Partridge does full justice to the last of the Bloomsbury set. By Diana Athill