Nine Black Robes review: how Trump turned the supreme court right
Joan Biskupic of CNN delivers an assured history of the conservative takeover that threatens to reshape America
Fassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors by Ian Penman – a freewheeling and insightful study of the film-maker’s allure
The former NME star writer rewatches the films of the German director and writes hauntingly about the way our tastes and passions change over time
Unlikely Heroes review: the advisers who helped FDR shape America
Frances Perkins, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes and Henry Wallace are given their dues in a fascinating group biography
Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Andrey Kurkov review – ode to a lost city
First published in 2012 and now translated into English, a whimsical love letter to Ukraine’s cultural capital from the author of Death and the Penguin
The Power of Language by Viorica Marian review – the virtues of multilingualism
An eloquent but relentless attempt to prove the superiority of polyglots fails to convince
People Person by Candice Carty-Williams audiobook review – sibling bonds and absent fathers
Four half-siblings rally round their sister when she makes a grim discovery in this wise and funny tale from the author of Queenie
The best recent science fiction and fantasy – reviews roundup
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh; The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan; Not Alone by Sarah K Jackson; Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll review – death in Brighton
The gripping inside story of the 1984 Brighton bombing, its victims, and its unintended consequences
Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day review – friends with benefits
A candid examination of the difference between being good at friendships and being a good friend
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson review – smart debut about wealthy New Yorkers
Minutely observed and packed with one-liners, this tale of the 1% insists on giving the super-rich a chance
Pathogenesis by Jonathan Kennedy review – in sickness and in health
A fascinating account of how diseases have shaped humanity, from the neolithic to Covid-19
Superman review – Christopher Reeve’s superhero origin movie still looks swell
Richard Donner’s 1978 event movie brought Hollywood grandeur, a great John Williams score and a gentlemanly hero quite unlike any other
Shy by Max Porter review – lyrical study of troubled youth
The author’s fourth book is a loving portrait of a teenage boy at a young offenders’ institution
Good Girls by Hadley Freeman review – anorexia from within
The journalist and former in-patient offers a clear-eyed view of a debilitating and misunderstood illness
The Home Child by Liz Berry review – a long injustice
Based on the life of the author’s great-aunt, this verse novel about forced child emigration from the UK to Canada is a profound act of witness