Black Rock White City by AS Patrić review – crime thriller meets immigrant tale
A poignant portrayal of two refugees from the former Yugoslavia trying to rebuild their lives in Australia is an admirably ambitious debut
Vital Little Plans review – why the ideas of Jane Jacobs are still vital
These short pieces showcase Jacobs’s opposition to top-down bureaucratic arrogance and big-money property development
America City by Chris Beckett review – dark vision of our future
The Arthur C Clarke winner’s dystopia is set in a future US ravaged by climate change and war
Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers review – a heartfelt hug of a story
Jeffers’s first nonfiction book is a witty, tender introduction to the world for his newborn son
Swearing Is Good for You by Emma Byrne; How to Swear by Stephen Wildish – review
Two books on swearing explore the cathartic pleasures of the four-letter riposte
Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 – review
Ian Black brings a fresh perspective to one of the most closely studied conflicts on Earth, unpacking its complexities with clarity and candour
Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza review – a people’s man at work, rest and play
A record of Barack Obama’s eight years in office by the official White House photographer reminds us of what we are missing in the age of Trump
The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time: No 92 – The Diary of Samuel Pepys (1660)
A portrait of an extraordinary Englishman, whose scintillating first-hand accounts of Restoration England are reported alongside his rampant sexual exploits
Everything You Do Is Wrong review – dark laughs and plot twists
The mystery of an amnesiac woman found on a beach is the setting for family woes in Amanda Coe’s third novel
David Bowie: A Life by Dylan Jones review – skilful and revelatory
The GQ editor’s biography is comprehensive and full of new revelations and details
Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew Kneale review – stirring portrait of a city at war
The historian and novelist’s episodic account of a resilient, flexible population brings Rome’s fractious past to life
The Future Won’t Be Long review – a deep dive into New York’s 90s clubland
Jarett Kobek’s Bildungsroman, set in the vanished art and music scene of the city in the late 20th century, is skilfully narrated
Winter by Ali Smith review – luminously beautiful
A fraught family Christmas in Cornwall is the setting for the second part of Smith’s seasonal quartet, a tender tale inspired by Dickens and Shakespeare
Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard – review
In tracing the roots of misogyny to Athens and Rome, Mary Beard has produced a modern feminist classic
Alias Grace review – a blessed adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s extraordinary novel
This cerebral true-crime miniseries, brilliantly adapted by Sarah Polley, is just as well done – and just as suited to our times – as The Handmaid’s Tale