The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
Loss Protocol by Paul McAuley; Night Babies by Lucie McKnight Hardy; Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell; Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
Go Gentle by Maria Semple review – a joyfully clever New York romcom
A Stoic philosopher navigates midlife in this madcap comedy from the author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Circle of Wonders by Kathryn Heyman review – solace and healing in an acid-etched portrait of a dysfunctional family
Heyman’s story about women struggling to put aside their hurts and do right by one another is all about rage, vulnerability, forgiveness and a bit of woo-woo
Overnight by Dan Richards audiobook review – an immersive journey into the night worker’s world
From bakers in London to night ferry operatives in Aberdeen, the author narrates atmospheric behind-the-scenes stories of the people who work while the world sleeps
Gillian Anderson and Cara Delevingne to hit Cannes as auteur heavyweights dominate festival lineup
The 79th edition of the film festival will see work by Pedro Almodóvar, Hirokazu Kore-eda and László Nemes considered for the coveted Palme d’Or
Where to start with: Muriel Spark
From an extraordinary debut inspired by a real-life breakdown to a creepy masterpiece, here’s a guide to the Scottish novelist’s works
The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit review – a manual for coping with change
In the midst of violent upheaval, the author and activist reminds us of the power and promise of transformation
You Are the Führer’s Unrequited Love by Jean-Noël Orengo review – Hitler, Speer and beyond
This unconventional exploration of Albert Speer’s duplicity during his Nazi years and into his rehabilitation is a masterful forewarning of the post-truth era
British novelist Gwendoline Riley wins $175k Windham-Campbell prize
Awarded to writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, other recipients include S Shakthidharan, Adam Ehrlich Sachs and Kei Miller
Two for two? Stella prize winner Evelyn Araluen nominated again for second poetry collection
The Rot is nominated for the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, alongside books by Geraldine Brooks and Miranda Darling
My Lover, the Rabbi by Wayne Koestenbaum review – as fierce and strange as anything you’ll read this year
With echoes of Balzac and Proust, this tale of obsessive love evokes the dangers and delights of forbidden desire
Stand By Me review – Rob Reiner’s nostalgic look at friendship and the loss of innocence still grips tight
The 40th anniversary re-release of the film about four boys on a quest to see a dead body is a masterclass in directing, storytelling and acting
The Black Death by Thomas Asbridge review – a medieval horror story
A magisterial history of one of the worst ever pandemics focuses on the individuals caught up in the chaos
Modern heroes and a ravaged Earth: reboot of 1950s space comic Dan Dare has liftoff
Beloved characters reinvented in graphic novel coming later this year – just as interest rockets in all things space
‘For leftist Jews, the Bund is a model’: the radical history behind one of Europe’s biggest socialist movements
A new book by Molly Crabapple documents the rise and fall of a revolutionary Jewish party that fought against Zionism and for ‘solidarity across difference’