Sand with everything: writer Catherine Newman on family summers at the beach
Growing appetites and changing tastes … how summers at the beach capture the flavour of family life
‘I wanted to do pulpy, hyper-violent action’: Keanu Reeves on his novel with China Miéville and the afterlife of The Matrix
What happens when a Hollywood actor and SF author join forces on a novel? The pair talk about their literary bromance – and their quest to turn Reeves’s comic book series into something deeper
Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler review – witty millennial angst
A young woman returns to the university town where she grew up in this biting satire of precarity and privilege
The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker; The God of the Woods by Liz Moore; Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox; How Can I Help You by Laura Sims; The Exile by Patrick Worrall
Lorrie Moore: ‘I would never read literature for comfort’
The American author on finding sympathy for Ted Hughes, a Palestinian take on Hamlet, and the joy of cookery books
The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer review – a dreamy alternative to the world we live in
The playwright’s debut novel is an intergenerational saga that explores how fostering a strong sense of community brings happiness and harmony
Cross by Austin Duffy review – a tense Troubles tale
The transition from violence to political change is explored in this novel of betrayal and brutality in Northern Ireland
The Echoes by Evie Wyld review – ghosts of the past
A woman is haunted by her traumatic Australian childhood – and her dead boyfriend – in a darkly funny novel that hints at hope
Game of Thrones’ George RR Martin falls foul of Glasgow sci-fi event’s strict rules
Author’s efforts to take part apparently stymied by application protocol, but he still plans to attend Worldcon
If you like Baby Reindeer, you’ll love Young Mungo! 29 terrific TV shows – and the books to read instead
Want to watch less and read more this summer? Let your favourite series be a guide to clever, funny, moving titles you won’t be able to put down
Funeral Nights by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih review – an ode to storytelling
Travellers gather before a feast of the dead in this homage to Arabian Nights which spotlights a little-known community in northeast India
‘Huge scars’: novelist finds a fractured Spain in its half-built houses
A visit to the abandoned ‘Manhattan of La Mancha’ inspired Rosa Ribas’s Lejos (Far), newly translated into English
The Wendy Award by Walter Scott review – the voice of a bewildered generation
The fourth in this brilliant and painfully funny series finds our self-destructive millennial heroine nominated for an art award – and grappling with gen z sensibilities
Cross by Austin Duffy review – an IRA ceasefire with bloody strings attached
The Dublin-based author’s fourth novel, set in a fictional border town during the 1994 ceasefire, feels as uncertain and jittery as the fragile peace
The Orange Room by Rosie Price review – quietly devastating portrait of coercive control
An art student’s self-worth is undermined by her boyfriend in the author’s second novel, a subtle tale of a toxic relationship