Bad Girls review – a much-needed history of Holloway prison
Caitlin Davies’s timely study brings into focus the problems with incarcerating women – be they prostitutes or royalty
Epitaph for the Ash by Lisa Samson – review
Lisa Samson’s reflections on Britain’s dying ash trees at a time of her own illness is a remarkable labour of love
The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti review – friends in high places
A boy bonds with a local while holidaying in Italy’s mountains in a thoughtful, if homespun, coming-of-age story
Brother by David Chariandy – review
A tale of two Canadian siblings whose lives are blighted by racial injustice is breathtaking
In Byron’s Wake by Miranda Seymour – the Lord’s ladies
Byron’s wife and daughter - Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace – can’t escape the shadow of the great libertine in this in-depth account of their lives
Val McDermid: ‘I probably have too great an appetite for cheese’
The crime writer, 62, talks about spending too much time gaming, having a sense of her worth and why she fasts for two weeks every year
Will Self: ‘The novel is absolutely doomed’
The award-winning author, currently writing a memoir of his early years, on reading digitally and why he’s making a list of the female greats
Raw by Lamont ‘U-God’ Hawkins review – the gritty Wu-Tang Clan backstory
The Clan member’s hard-hitting hip-hop memoir ranges across martial arts lore, drug dealing and black Muslim self-empowerment
Almost Love by Louise O’Neill review – when grief and passion collide
The hard-hitting YA author makes her adult fiction debut with an exploration of sexual obsession set in post-crash Dublin
Waiting for the Last Bus by Richard Holloway review – reflections on death and how to live
The former bishop of Edinburgh considers old age an opportunity for self-examination, in a book enriched by its breadth of cultural reference
Travelling in a Strange Land by David Park review – daring and deeply felt
A dark secret and a frozen journey through the fraught terrain of parenthood drive this brave, exhilarating novel
Out of Nothing review – a breezy trip from the big bang to the end of days
Daniel Locke and David Blandy’s graphic novel covers everything from the creation of the universe to hip-hop through the eyes of a blue-skinned time traveller
The best recent crime novels – review roundup
Our House by Louise Candlish, The Fire Court by Andrew Taylor, Tangerine by Christine Mangan, House of Beauty by Melba Escobar and Ragnar Jónasson’s The Darkness
The Dawn of Christianity review – how a startup faith won hearts and minds
Robert Knapp’s study, subtitled People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles, is a fascinating glimpse into the beliefs of ordinary people
A Walk Through Paris by Eric Hazan review – no museum city but a radical capital
The renowned editor and writer takes a walk from the south of Paris to the north and finds the metropolis still in the grip of revolution