The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams review – a glorious way with words

Williams’s debut novel, a tale of two lexicographers, is a playful delight

War of the Worlds: the pioneering work of science fiction inspired by Australian brutality

The tale of marauding Martians is familiar sci-fi, but it’s less well-known that the book and radio play both have Australian antecedents

Pilgrims by Matthew Kneale review – witty, thoughtful medieval tales

Multiple voices richly evoke the fear of God, and of prejudice, among 13th-century penitents on the road to Rome

Culture in the Third Reich by Moritz Föllmer review – when fascism stole the show

This weighty study reveals how the Nazis exploited films and theatre to spread their poisonous ideology

In brief: The Peer and the Gangster; Tennis Lessons; To Calais, in Ordinary Time – review

A riotous 60s scandal revisited, an ace coming-of-age debut, and a haunting, medieval plague tale

Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo review – immigrant swansong

An aspiring Colombian couple in Connecticut feel their marriage falling apart in this sharply observed novella

Fat Cow, Fat Chance by Jenni Murray review – well meaning but haphazard

Murray’s memoir-cum-polemic about her lifelong struggle with her size is a lightweight in a crowded field

Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces by Laura Tunbridge – review

The author lets the music do the talking in this pithy new biography, which uses the composer’s works to shed new light on his life

Too Much and Never Enough review: Mary Trump thumps Donald

The president’s niece follows John Bolton’s right hook with a sharp left to the ribs. Revenge Trump-style is grimly engrossing

Vernon Subutex 3 by Virginie Despentes review – the trilogy concludes

Flashes of vulgar energy and trademark cynicism enliven an overlong finale of ageing French rockers

British Summer Time Begins by Ysenda Maxtone Graham review – what school summer holidays were like

What should happen during the summer holidays? Evocative memories of roaming out of parental reach

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones; The Waiting Rooms by Eve Smith; The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde; The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott and Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

Female Husbands by Jen Manion review – a trans history

Published at a fractious moment in the analysis of gender and sex, this book challenges the argument that ‘reclaiming’ transgender ancestors is ahistorical

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell review – a musical journey

This portrait of a 60s band on the rise conveys the spirit of the age with gleeful energy

Rewild Yourself by Simon Barnes review – how to get closer to nature

Listen to the dawn chorus, find a giant moth ... suggestions to enrich your life