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

Cross by Austin Duffy review – an IRA ceasefire with bloody strings attached

The Dublin-based author’s fourth novel, set in a fictional border town during the 1994 ceasefire, feels as uncertain and jittery as the fragile peace

The Orange Room by Rosie Price review – quietly devastating portrait of coercive control

An art student’s self-worth is undermined by her boyfriend in the author’s second novel, a subtle tale of a toxic relationship

The Paddington Bear Experience review – the Marmalade Day jamboree must go on!

Visitors get stuck in when they enter the world of 32 Windsor Gardens, thanks to a merry immersive show boasting hands-on games and evocative design touches

The Silence in Between by Josie Ferguson review – love in a fractured city

The legacy of sexual violence is explored in a compelling debut about a mother who is separated from her son by the Berlin wall

In brief: Same As It Ever Was; Hello Beautiful; The Golden Rule – review

Claire Lombardo’s outstanding second novel delves into mother-child relationships, Ann Napolitano’s fourth explores self-delusion and Dr Lucy Pollock reflects on ageing in an empowering book

Coming Home by Brittney Griner review – from hoop dreams to a living hell

The US basketball player’s suspenseful account of her nightmarish nine months trapped in Russia’s draconian penal system also serves as a reminder of the potential pitfalls when autocrats invest in sport

True Gretch review: Whitmer’s story – next stop the White House?

The Michigan governor’s memoir describes personal growth and political ascent. She may climb even higher

No Small Thing by Orlaine McDonald review – a true-to-life tale

This refreshingly honest debut explores a south London family shaped by the pain of emotional neglect

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench review – a class act

Ripe language and impish humour abound as Barbara Flynn reads the actor’s entertaining recollections of seven decades on stage – and Dench herself recites excerpts from the Bard

The best recent science fiction and fantasy – reviews roundup

Curandera by Irenosen Okojie; The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman; The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer; Toward Eternity by Anton Hur

Nine Minds by Daniel Tammet review – a new language for neurodiversity

A celebration of the gifts and talents of autistic people refutes the idea that autism and empathy cannot coexist

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner review – trials of the wealthy

The follow-up to Fleishman Is in Trouble explores the fallout from a kidnapping in a rich American family

Big Time by Jordan Prosser review – a lush, drug-fuelled adventure in a future Australia

Blending dystopic soothsaying and raucous imagination, Prosser’s debut novel is a bit Philip K Dick, a bit Jennifer Egan and a bit entirely unique

The Uptown Local by Cory Leadbeater review – exploding the Joan Didion myth

A young writing assistant is swept up in the rarified world of the US literary icon in this funny, moving memoir