Light and Thread by Han Kang review – a tantalising book of reflections

These essays from the Nobel literature winner open up her novels and offer beautiful imagery

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki review – follow-up to global hit Butter

A Tokyo high-flyer tries to befriend her favourite blogger in a novel that wears its aura of black comedy lightly, and its political statements more heavily

Strange Beach by Oluwaseun Olayiwola audiobook review – a debut that dances with passion

The dancer and author gives this collection clarity and warmth as he narrates poems about family, queer identity, hedonism and race

In Bloom by Liz Allan review – an electric debut of grunge and teen spirit

Four fatherless girls in a band set out to escape their deprived Australian coastal town, in a dark, raw tale of friendship and abuse

Why Populists Are Winning and How to Beat Them by Liam Byrne review – a surprisingly original prescription

A former New Labour minister tackles the question of our times with rigour and verve – but blindspots remain

Do Not Go Gentle by Kathleen Stock review – the case against euthanasia

The philosopher offers a measured and reasonable argument against assisted dying

A Pale View of Hills review – two-stranded adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro novel in the shadow of the A-bomb

Kei Ishikawa’s take on Ishiguro’s first published work is frustrating and bland, undermining its fascinating characters’ emotional truths

Project Hail Mary review – Ryan Gosling’s charm carries unserious last-ditch space mission

Tale of a brilliant molecular biologist cast into outer space with only a helpful alien for company is a bit silly, but Gosling’s charisma keeps it watchable

Big Nobody by Alex Kadis review – groovy and Greek in 70s London

A teenage girl dreams of escaping her controlling father, in this sparkling coming-of-age romp haunted by trauma

Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli review – a heady brew of gossip, glamour and defiance

Lady Gaga and David Gest are among those who get ferocious dressings-down in this brutally candid memoir

Scarlet review – Mamoru Hosoda turns Hamlet into tale of prowling knights and deep ‘nothingness’

The normally great director misses the mark with a wonderfully animated but narratively clunky retelling of the Shakespearean staple

Love Magic Power Danger Bliss by Paul Morley review – Yoko Ono before the Beatles

A vivid celebration of the artist covers her childhood and breakthrough in New York – while sidelining ‘that other business’

Look What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester review – a battle between millennials and boomers

There are sharply observed pleasures to be found in this black comedy of infidelity, revenge and intergenerational tension – but the plot is both implausible and predictable

A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello review – a profound exploration of the inner life

How are we to account for things that lie outside ordinary language? A woman’s emotions are precisely observed in a novel that brilliantly captures what it means to be human

The best recent poetry – review roundup

Gravity Archives by Andrew Motion; Rabbitbox by Wayne Holloway-Smith; Strange Architectures by JL Williams; I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken