Think Like a Freak by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner – review

Freakofatigue: this latest book from the Freakonomics pair has a couple of compelling stories but is evidence of the overextension of the brand, writes David Runciman

Science: A Four Thousand Year History review – a subversive pleasure

Tim Radford: Patricia Fara's history of science contains all the usual suspects, but they don't all emerge as heroes. Even Darwin gets a kicking

The Last Days of Troy review – Homer made modern, but missing a vision

Simon Armitage's modern take on the Iliad is impressive even if Lily Cole's Helen is less so – but it lacks the personal touch, writes Michael Billington

War and Gold: A Five-Hundred-Year History of Empires, Adventures and Debt review – a comprehensive study of money and society

This clever history of capital and its speculators weighs the enduring ability of money to ruin society, says Anthony Sattin

The best books on China: start your reading here

Pushpinder Khaneka: From a previously banned novel about rural hardship to a collection of short stories exploring everyday lives

Hard Times review – a penetrating study of the divisions created by the recession

Tom Clark's detailed analysis of the social effects of the financial crisis makes sobering reading, writes John Kampfner

David Malouf and Friends – artistic collaboration a Brisbane state of mind

To celebrate his 80th year, five Queensland artists have paired with the writer to create works inspired by his books. But are they any good, asks Sharne Wolff

No Pain Whatsoever review – Ken Grant’s photographs of wasted Liverpool

Merseyside's decline since the 1980s is the backdrop to Ken Grant's extraordinary images of the city's demoralised working class, writes Sean O'Hagan

The Dynamite Room review – Jason Hewitt’s strangely poetic second world war thriller

A Suffolk schoolgirl's world is turned upside-down by the arrival of a Nazi agent in Jason Hewitt's tense and pacy debut, says Alex Larman

Telex from Cuba review – Rachel Kushner’s hot stuff from Havana

Rachel Kushner's first novel, a deeply evocative missive from 50s Cuba, finds a UK publisher on the back of the success of The Flamethrowers, writes Natasha Tripney

Things I Am Ashamed Of review – unvarnished truth in Nicholas Clee’s digital memoir

The former Bookseller editor with an overactive conscience recounts a lifetime's regrets in raw, fascinating detail, writes Anna Baddeley

A Delicate Truth review – in a great Le Carré, the state has lost its way

The story of two flawed-but-good men in a world of government corruption and cock-up – pure reading pleasure, writes Edward Docx

The Snow Queen review – Michael Cunningham’s poetic meditation on life and death

Two siblings take different paths to salvation in a wise, episodic tale, writes Stephanie Merritt

Lost for Words review – Edward St Aubyn’s prize satire of the literary world

St Aubyn turns his 'restless wit' to a gorgeously vicious dissection of the judging of a book award, writes Kate Kellaway

A Curious Career review – sharp cuts from Lynn Barber

Lynn Barber's brilliant interviews, recalled in this entertaining memoir, define the genre, writes Rachel Cooke