In brief: Banal Nightmare; Feeding the Monster; Burning Angel and Other Stories – review

Midlife millennial angst abounds in Halle Butler’s sardonic novel, while Anna Bogutskaya bites into our love of horror films, and Lawrence Osborne spans the globe with gripping tales

A Better Tomorrow by Mina Smallman review – devastation and beyond

The mother of two murdered daughters attempts to transmute horror and grief into action, seeking justice for them and women everywhere

Autocracy, Inc review – fears for liberalism and democracy

Anne Applebaum’s book charts the rise of the world’s strongmen. Has the rules-based international order been defeated?

Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking by Han Smith review – a secret history

This ambitious debut uncovers a town’s dark past, in a story of teenage dissidence that is alert to the deceptions of propaganda

A Better Tomorrow: Life Lessons in Hope and Strength by Mina Smallman review

A mother’s quest to understand why the murder of her two daughters was not taken more seriously

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A frazzled dachshund; a rebellious goatherd; standing up to your family; a dystopian vision of marriage and more

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey audiobook review – coming of age in a time of fear

Two girls set out to catch the Yorkshire Ripper in this vividly narrated novel of adolescent curiosity and confusion

Thom Gunn by Michael Nott review – sex, drugs and San Francisco

A sensitive account of the poet’s wild life on the West Coast

Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good by Eley Williams review – a freewheeling collection

A fascination with words and symbols provides a unifying theme in this richly ambiguous collection of short stories

The Honeyeater by Jessie Tu review – this biting tale of backstabbing uber-egos will stay with you

Tu’s second novel, charting a young translator’s messy relationship with a two-faced academic couple, brilliantly dissects power and whiteness

Alice in Wonderland review – down the rabbit hole and into the woods

Led by the White Rabbit, this groovy promenade show follows a determined Alice’s journey to the city’s Ashton Memorial

The Pages of the Sea by Anne Hawk review – Windrush children who were left behind

A young girl is bereft when her mother goes to England, in this vivid debut of family sacrifices and secrets

Paul Foot: A Life in Politics by Margaret Renn review – revolutionary intellect or posh trot?

A lively biography of the public schoolboy who became a scourge of corrupt politicians and dodgy businessmen

The Only Way Is Up by Polly Toynbee and David Walker review – climb every mountain

A savage indictment of years of Conservative rule and how social democracy can set it right

Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects by Zandra Rhodes review – wigs, turbans and fly spray

The fashion designer provides an uneven account of her multicoloured career