An Ordinary Youth by Walter Kempowski review – a young man’s memories from the fall of Berlin

Published in English for the first time, the German author’s 1971 novelisation of his early life in the 1930s blurs the boundaries between fiction and documentary

Tremor by Teju Cole review – snapshot of a restless mind

The Open City author traces a grieving teacher’s itinerant life in an enlightening autofictional novel sometimes hampered by its earnestness

Renegade review: Adam Kinzinger on why he left Republican ranks

One of two Republicans who sat on the January 6 committee considers a rot that set in before Trump even ran for president

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent review – Judi Dench’s seven-decade love affair

The veteran actor’s pragmatism, generosity and wit are to the fore in these reflections on her career – and there’s plenty of room for rude anecdotes

The Race to Be Myself by Caster Semenya review – running for her life

Controversy has surrounded the career of the South African athlete. But her timely, sometimes angry memoir inspires compassion

What’s Left Unsaid review: Andrew Cuomo and the case for his defense

Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to the disgraced New York governor, has plenty of scores to settle – which helps make for a vivid read

This Plague of Souls by Mike McCormack review – a mysterious homecoming

A man’s past comes back to haunt him when he returns home to rural Ireland, in this noirish metaphysical novel from the author of Solar Bones

The best recent poetry – review roundup

School of Instructions by Ishion Hutchinson; The Wrong Person to Ask by Marjorie Lotfi; Housebreak by Shareen K Murayama; Cowboy by Kandace Siobhan Walker; Incubation: A Space for Monsters by Bhanu Kapil

Big Beacon by Alan Partridge audiobook review – pomposity takes flight

Steve Coogan narrates the TV presenter’s attempts to resuscitate his career and ‘emigrate’ to the Kent coast

How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas review – home truths

A powerful debunking of myths about global migration, and an indictment of the political dishonesty that generates them

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan review – this deeply moving book is his finest work

Blending memoir and history and auto-fiction, this brilliantly unique book by the Booker winner is a treatise on the immeasurability of life

Gunflower by Laura Jean McKay review – exciting speculative tales

This virtuosic collection of short stories is vibrantly experimental and alive to contemporary concerns

Bad Taste by Nathalie Olah review – the good, the gauche and the ugly

The author of Class dissects the cultural codes of the Instagram generation – but there are some curious omissions

Held by Anne Michaels review – a kaleidoscopic family saga

A cleverly fragmentary tale of love, memory and time from the author of Fugitive Pieces shuffles the hopes and dreams of four generations

The Time Traveller’s Wife review – eternal romance is a bumpy ride

Joss Stone and Dave Stewart’s strangely forgettable score does little to lift this musical but there are some wonderful set pieces