Department of the Vanishing by Johanna Bell review – brilliantly, terrifyingly plausible
In this wild little miracle of a book, an Australian government office is tasked with cataloguing the casualties of the Anthropocene
Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps review – tender portrait of a woman with a learning disability
Longlisted for the Women’s prize, this ambitious debut journeys into the inner world of a vulnerable teenager who is left traumatised by a toxic friendship
Tales of the Suburbs by John Grindrod review – queer goings on behind the curtains
From ‘gaybours’ to treasure hunts in Tunbridge Wells, a tragicomic history of LGBTQ life outside the big city
The Bride! review – Jessie Buckley is electrifying as frizzy-haired, black-tongued monster’s wife
The actor has a blast as bride to Christian Bale’s lonely creature in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s darkly comic and gleefully bizarre reimagining of the 1935 film
Chasing Freedom by Simukai Chigudu review – a powerful memoir of postcolonial unease
A historian and exponent of ‘Rhodes must fall’ explores how political liberation doesn’t always bring personal freedom
The Quantity Theory of Morality by Will Self review – raucously inventive state-of-the-nation satire
Thirty-five years on from his debut collection The Quantity Theory of Insanity, Self takes aim at London’s chattering classes in an excoriating vision of moral decline
They by Helle Helle review – a novel to make the reader slow down and take notice
Minimalist but never austere, this mother-daughter portrait from the Danish author finds its power in everyday detail
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to Be Loved review – sword, sorcery and smartphones
Those not up to speed on the Miss Kobayashi manga may struggle with the full nuance of this dimension hopping anime, but the visuals are stunningly to look at
The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer review – the rise and reign of Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola
An epic account of how three demigod directors, in pursuit of indie freedom, redefined American film-making
Becoming George by Fiona Sampson review – the remarkable story of a cross-dressing 19th century novelist
A reappraisal of one of literature’s most sensational personalities, the author of more than 70 books
The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain review – virtuoso portrait of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath’s final year
Portraying the breakdown of the couple’s marriage through the eyes of the people around them, this deeply researched and utterly convincing debut is an astonishing achievement
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
A mission to grow plants in the desert; a potato’s adventures; a film-maker’s dreams; wartime bravery; a feminist fantasy and more
Ancient by Luke Barley review – the secret history of Britain’s woodlands
A former ranger tells the story of how the UK’s forests intimately shaped – and were shaped by – its people
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li audiobook review – a deconstruction of grief
The author’s prize-winning memoir about losing both her sons to suicide is a calm, sensitive account of ‘radical acceptance’
On Not Climbing Mountains by Claire Thomas review – impressive, for a patient reader
This ambitious novel follows a grieving woman who distracts herself with research on famous names who had connections to Switzerland