A Twist in the Tail by Christopher Beckman – worth their salt
From ancient Roman condiment to vitamin-packed super food, how anchovies made a culinary splash
The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer review – a dreamy alternative to the world we live in
The playwright’s debut novel is an intergenerational saga that explores how fostering a strong sense of community brings happiness and harmony
Cross by Austin Duffy review – a tense Troubles tale
The transition from violence to political change is explored in this novel of betrayal and brutality in Northern Ireland
Fi: A Memoir of My Son by Alexandra Fuller review – to the edge of reason
A mother’s unvarnished portrait of grief after the death of her 21-year-old son
The Echoes by Evie Wyld review – ghosts of the past
A woman is haunted by her traumatic Australian childhood – and her dead boyfriend – in a darkly funny novel that hints at hope
Little Women review – where’s the magic in this musical adaptation?
The acting is generous and the tale is timeless – but many production details feel bafflingly bare, at odds with the story’s warmth
Balzac’s Paris: The City as Human Comedy by Eric Hazan review – street spirit
A stroll through 19th-century Paris that blends literary criticism and psychogeography
Sister in Law by Harriet Wistrich review – in defence of women
A campaigning lawyer’s account of her defining cases throws a feminist light on the UK justice system
Funeral Nights by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih review – an ode to storytelling
Travellers gather before a feast of the dead in this homage to Arabian Nights which spotlights a little-known community in northeast India
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum review – the devil you know
A masterful guide to the new age of authoritarianism
Forrest Gump review – Tom Hanks’ chocolate box hero still gets under your skin
Robert Zemeckis’s re-released fantasy is entirely ridiculous, hokey-sentimental and politically naive, but it’s superbly paced and expertly acted
Paris ’44: The Shame and the Glory by Patrick Bishop review – a gripping account of the City of Light’s liberation
This enthralling, cinematic study of the occupation and recapture of the French capital reads like an epic thriller
The Wendy Award by Walter Scott review – the voice of a bewildered generation
The fourth in this brilliant and painfully funny series finds our self-destructive millennial heroine nominated for an art award – and grappling with gen z sensibilities
The History of Ideas by David Runciman review – big thinkers with visions of a better world
The academic’s page-turning volume of essays – a study of intellectuals who sought to improve the politics and societies of their day – makes you feel a little more learned than you did before
The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979) by Jon Savage review – pop’s coming out period
In this erudite book with broad appeal, the renowned critic moves deftly from insightful analysis of pivotal artists and songs into the wider social history of the era that changed culture