In brief: What You Need from the Night; Elderflora; Tomorrow’s People – review

A haunting novel exploring a father-son relationship; a fascinating study of trees through history; and an illuminating analysis of demographics

A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò review – a blistering indictment of the abuse of power

Adébáyò’s compelling second novel follows the fates of two families who come up against the failings of the state

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton review – the root of all evil

The Booker-winner’s dark and brilliant tale of a gardening collective’s clash with a billionaire explodes the notion of caring capitalism

The State of Us by Jon Snow review – screen titan’s vision of a better Britain

The veteran broadcaster is a persuasive critic of social injustice, but often fails to translate his powerful screen presence into journalistic rigour on the page

The Courage to be Free review: Ron DeSantis bows and scrapes to Trump

On the page, the Florida governor doesn’t show much courage about the man he must beat to be the Republican nominee

A Stranger in Your Own City by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad review – inside Iraq’s two decades of war

The decorated journalist paints a tragic, brutal picture of the buildup to a conflict that engulfed a nation, and those who sought to profit from the war

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner audiobook review – sex, selfies and marital meltdown

Actor Allyson Ryan captures the sharp dialogue and sardonic wit in this tale of a newly divorced doctor whose ex-wife disappears

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

How to care for a pet cloud; overcoming bullies; a powerful tale of Muslim identity; a YA sci‑fi thriller, and more

It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism by Bernie Sanders review – straight talking from the socialist senator

Sanders tackles the grim facts about the economic order that the political establishment wilfully ignores

One Small Voice by Santanu Bhattacharya review – meltdown in Mumbai

A young man’s troubled existence mirrors wider social and political turmoil, in this epic yet intimate debut

How to Be Remembered by Michael Thompson review – a proudly earnest first novel

The story of Tommy, a boy who is forgotten on the same day each year by everyone who knows him

Affinities by Brian Dillon review – in the eye of the beholder

A critic’s tour of the images that have entranced him, from Julia Margaret Cameron’s niece, to pictures of seahorses and a drawing of a migraine aura

Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh – sex, death and baking

Set in postwar France, this sharp fable explores the power desire and envy exert over reality and memory

The West by Naoíse Mac Sweeney review – history rediscovered

An archaeologist’s sparkling new analysis of the West and its antagonists, from Herodotus to Tullia d’Aragona to Carrie Lam

Owlish by Dorothy Tse review – an anti-fairytale

Tse dissects the struggles of people and power in this subversive vision of perilous desire, set in a semi-imaginary Hong Kong