Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea review – a love song to Italy

A sculptor and his unlikely soulmate navigate the political turmoil of the 20th century in a prize-winning blockbuster

Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough review – a candid portrait of a literary one-off

Paul Sng’s documentary finds the Trainspotting author as funny, sharp and unrepentant as ever – from boyhood in Leith to globetrotting fame and a hallucinogenic trip in Canada

Circular Motion by Alex Foster review – what if the world spun faster and faster?

This impressive debut, in which super-quick pod travel causes the Earth’s rotation to accelerate, satirises climate change denial

Everything Evolves by Mark Vellend review – can Darwin explain JD Vance?

Why evolutionary theory should be applied to peacocks, politics, iPhones and quite a lot in between

A Noble Madness by James Delbourgo review – the dark side of collecting

From jewellery to the Parthenon marbles, why do people collect things? And what happens when interest tips into obsession?

Helm by Sarah Hall review – a mighty epic of climate change in slow motion

A Cumbrian wind is the central character in this hugely ambitious, millennia-spanning novel, which was 20 years in the making

Ending Isolation review – a takedown of solitary confinement by incarcerated co-authors

New book looks back at the history of the controversial prison practice while pushing for its dismantling

The Expansion Project by Ben Pester review – surreal workplace satire

A father searches for his missing daughter at a business park, only to become a living ghost in a corporate nightmare

Decolonizing Language by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o review – last words of a literary giant

An exhilarating collection distills the late writer’s thinking on power, exile and the importance of the mother tongue

The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup

A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay; Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman; The Final Vow by MW Craven; The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine

In the Green Heart by Richard Lloyd Parry review – neocolonial jungle fever

An intensely political story of a new father’s escape with his baby through a rainforest during wartime

Hawke PM by David Day review – a portrait of a vicious drunk and womaniser who mostly mended his wicked ways

The Making of a Legend details the rise of the peacemaker and king of consensus who made remarkable gains for ordinary Australians

Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé audiobook review – from enslaved teenager to celebrated preacher

The novelist’s final work tells a remarkable tale of resilience, based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, who was kidnapped by slavers but won his freedom

Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia

The bestselling author’s sixth novel is far from perfect, but this journey into the underworld is delivered with heretical glee

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar review – whimsical fantasy in a kingdom long, long ago

In this first adult novel from the acclaimed children’s author, an immortal magician returns to tell the story of a royal court where he cast his spells some 500 years before