Blank Pages by Bernard MacLaverty – stories from the far end of life
A matchless observer of human details returns with tales of bereavement and endurance
Around the World in 80 Days review – a charmingly goofy take on Jules Verne
Phileas Fogg and Passepartout become a frog and a monkey in a modest French-Belgian animation that’s hard to hate on
The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan review – the politics of sexual attraction
A daring feminist collection considers pornography, desire and the boundaries within student-teacher relationships
Red Knight by Michael Ashcroft – an unauthorised biography of Keir Starmer
A two-dimensional portrait of the Labour leader says more about its billionaire author than his subject
An Island by Karen Jennings review – compact allegory of postcolonialism
This Booker-longlisted fable about the turbulent history of an unnamed African country is small but powerful
Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett – a life in books
A woman tests novels against first-hand experience in this risky, immersive narrative, which is absolutely faithful to its own raw spirit
Inflamed by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel review – modern medicine’s racial divide
The colonial legacy of healthcare is laid bare in an urgent study of how medicine has progressed – and who has been left behind
The Delicacy by James Albon review – razor-sharp restaurant world parable
Two ambitious brothers are driven to despair by the pressures of the kitchen in a vivid, shrewdly observed satire of fine dining
Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman – review
This wise meditation on human transience strikes a perfect balance between self-help manual and philosophical odyssey
In brief: The Island of Missing Trees; Tunnel 29; Vesper Flights – review
A powerful novel with a Cypriot backdrop, the thrilling story of a cold war escape and astute essays from nature writer Helen Macdonald
Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek review – bold portrayal of besieged people
The young, mute narrator of this compassionate novel by the author of The Crossing becomes a poignant emblem of the Syrian women confined by war
Speak, Silence: In Search of WG Sebald by Carole Angier review – the artful master of repressed memories
This spectacular, meticulously researched biography reveals how the singular German author blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction to illuminate the horrors of the Holocaust
Something Out of Place by Eimear McBride review – a howl of despair hard to put into words
The novelist adds her voice to the growing trend for feminist essays with a variable collection of thoughts on the endless shaming of women through their bodies
The Reckoning by Mary L Trump review – how to heal America’s trauma
A revealing blend of family lore, history, policy and anger casts light on the background and legacy of Donald Trump
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian review – a magical debut
A novel about anxiety and ambition asks what it means to be both Indian and American