The Adversary: the man who wasn’t there – and the family he murdered
The true tale of one of France’s most notorious killers makes for a grisly but thought-provoking read
Our Israeli Diary: Of That Time, of That Place by Antonia Fraser review – humour shines through
A recently rediscovered diary of the writer’s 1978 trip to the Holy Land with Harold Pinter is wise and witty
The Abominable Mr Seabrook review – tales from a heart of darkness
Joe Ollmann’s illustrations capture the life of William Seabrook, explorer, cannibal, sadist and zombie expert
The Case Against Sugar review – an unsweetened attack on diet myths
Gary Taubes’s latest assault on the ruinous effect of sugar on our lives and the promotion of fat-free diets is detailed and compelling
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay review – stories of resilience
The author of Bad Feminist beautifully conjures tales of women who show strength under duress
Storm in a Teacup by Helen Czerski review – physics for first-timers
The physicist and oceanographer explains the science of everyday things – from popping popcorn to spilling coffee – with erudition and enthusiasm
The Trouble With Goats and Sheep review – secrets and sorrow
An English suburb is the setting for Joanna Cannon’s bestselling tale of a woman who goes missing in the 1976 heatwave
The week in TV: To Walk Invisible; The Witness for the Prosecution; Delicious; Maigret’s Dead Man; Mrs Brown’s Boys – review
Sally Wainwright’s Brontë sisters drama was a triumph, and a dark Agatha Christie classic was brilliantly revived, but Dawn French was badly miscast as an Italian chef
Nonfiction to look out for in 2017
Prepare for a flood of books on the new populism, Sayeeda Warsi’s thoughts on British Muslims and a lavish biography of artist-poet David Jones
Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love by Emily Witt – review
One woman’s quest for personal fulfilment proves a handy guide to sex in the internet age
A World Gone Mad by Astrid Lindgren – war and the birth of Pippi Longstocking
These 1939-45 diaries from the Swedish children’s author, which feature roast reindeer and sorrow across Europe, are oddly cheering
Montpelier Parade by Karl Geary review – an affair to remember
A teenager escapes the drudgery of 80s Dublin through a relationship with an older woman in this auspicious fiction debut
The Attention Merchants review – how the web is being debased for profit
Tim Wu on a decades-long campaign to monetise attention which has reached new intensity in the Facebook age
The Great Gatsby review – get immersed in jazz-age hedonism
F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel comes to life in the Guild of Misrule’s fancy-dress interpretation, though you may be too busy playing spin the bottle to hear the whole story
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher review – fame, sex and Harrison Ford
Fisher recently unearthed the diaries she wrote as a 19-year-old playing Princess Leia. They were the inspiration for a memoir that crackles with one-liners