Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen review – a compendium of clever quotes and shrewd observations

Why are we so seduced by the idea of invisibility? Philip Ball's investigation is both original and thought-provoking, says Salley Vickers

The 100 best novels: No 47 – Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

What it lacks in structure and guile, this enthralling take on 20s America makes up for in vivid satire and characterisation, writes Robert McCrum

He Wants review – Alison Moore’s visceral second novel

Alison Moore explores desire, dreams and thwarted lives in her slim, poignant second offering, writes Anita Sethi

Anna Fox: Photographs 1983-2007 review – the many faces of middle England

The conformist and the decadent exist side by side in Anna Fox's revealing portraits of British society, writes Sean O'Hagan

Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914-1918 review – a well argued, important book

Alexander Watson's account of the Central Powers in the first world war is wonderfully lucid and enlightening, writes Ben Shephard

A Strange Business: Making Art and Money in Nineteenth-Century Britain review – ‘littered with fascinating facts’

James Hamilton's survey of the business of art leaves the history of art out of the picture, writes Christopher Bray

Their Lips Talk of Mischief review – Alan Warner’s Withnail and I-esque novel

The Scottish author's tale of two young slackers is brilliant in parts, writes Robert McCrum

Thérèse Raquin review – Pippa Nixon seems destined for stardom

Emile Zola's feverish, intense novel is exactly realised in this ultra-theatrical production, writes Michael Billington

1914 Goodbye to All That: Writers on the Conflict Between Life and Art review – war reimagined from different vantage points

An international group of essayists consider our awkward obsession with commemorating war, writes Peter Conrad

Hack Attack review – Nick Davies’s gripping account of the hacking affair

Nick Davies lays bare the phone-hacking saga and the 'pitiless regime' headed by Rupert Murdoch, writes Henry Porter

H is for Hawk review – Helen Macdonald’s taming of a goshawk called Mabel reads like a thriller

Helen Macdonald's account of how she coped with grief by training a goshawk captivates Rachel Cooke

The 100 best novels: No 46 – Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

This portrait of a day in the lives of three Dubliners remains a towering work, says Robert McCrum

Edinburgh festival 2014 review: The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha – Cervantes with clowns

From pillow sheep to psychic monkeys, this madcap debut from Little Soldier is cunningly constructed and wonderfully inventive, writes Lyn Gardner

Time Out of Mind: the Lives of Bob Dylan review – an essential addition

The concluding part of Ian Bell's epic Dylan biography proves there was fascinating incident well beyond Blood on the Tracks, writes WB Gooderham

The Stairwell review – Michael Longley’s shortcuts to the heart

Birth and death are never far apart in Longley's cherishable new collection, writes Kate Kellaway