Pelosi review: the speaker, her rise and how she came to rent space in Donald Trump’s brain
Molly Ball’s biography of the most powerful woman in American history is worthy of its subject
The Eighth by Stephen Johnson review – Mahler and sexual creativity
Bereavement, illness, adultery … the trials of Mahler’s late years are part of the story of his Eighth Symphony. This magnificent study explores its greatness
A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson review – free love with Leonard Cohen
‘Where would these male writers be without their ministering angels?’ A novel based around the arty 60s colony on a Greek island captures both the dream and the disappointment
The best recent science fiction and fantasy – review roundup
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell; Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang; Dark Angels Rising by Ian Whates; Lady of Shadows by Breanna Teintze; and Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn
Cleanness by Garth Greenwell review – intimacy and distance
The follow-up to What Belongs to You explores love, anonymity and the dark side of sex in beautiful sentences, but veers into solipsism
Tazmamart by Aziz BineBine review – life in a secret prison
Incarceration in a purpose-built dungeon in Morocco has produced a memoir that is a tribute to human fortitude and imagination
What Comes After Farce? by Hal Foster review – oppositional art in the age of Trump
Long known for his optimism, the renowned art critic now faces the question: how to belittle a political elite that cannot be embarrassed?
The City We Became by NK Jemisin review – a fizzing New York fantasy
Hideous apparitions attack NYC, as Jemisin has ‘a little monstrous fun’ after the Broken Earth saga
I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me by Juan Pablo Villalobos review – an eccentric hybrid
Pulpy crime fiction and avant-garde archness combine for an exuberant take on literary life
Antigone Rising by Helen Morales review – the Greek myths get subversive
From Beyoncé to Greta Thunberg, sex strikes to civil rights, its time to repurpose classical mythology as a force for liberation
Poetry book of the month: Tongues of Fire by Seán Hewitt – review
An inspirational, uplifting and assured debut collection
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman review – a tribute to our better nature
The Dutch historian’s overview of debate around humanity’s core instincts has blind spots, but its optimism is invigorating
In brief: Mother: A Memoir; Catherine House; Upheaval – review
Nicholas Royle explores the parent-child bond, Elisabeth Thomas serves up a gothic horror and Jared Diamond unpicks nations in crisis
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey review – a fishy tale of doomed womanhood
Magical touches blend with precise realism in this bittersweet tale of a mermaid trying to put the sea behind her
Sing Backwards and Weep by Mark Lanegan review – eye-popping trip
The singer-songwriter’s memoir is a harrowing but often hilarious chronicle of addiction and regret