Summer sizzlers: six must-read books by Black authors

From the mysterious ‘return’ of a vanished mother to a London love affair gone awry, check out our guide to the freshest fiction to read by the pool

Four Letters of Love review – top-notch cast aim to bring Nicholas Sparks-ish romance to life

Sugary story of destiny and dreams slowly brings together two troubled young people and a prize painting

Pan by Michael Clune review – a stunning debut of teen psychosis

This wild ride of a novel is remarkable for the honesty of its treatment of both mental illness and adolescence

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley review – teenage mothers and melodrama

This ambitious tale of solidarity and sisterhood in Florida has moments of poetic clarity, but falls short of the author’s dazzling debut

Brooklyn and beyond: Colm Tóibín’s best books – ranked!

As the Irish author turns 70, we rate his best works of fiction – from his latest, Long Island, to his emotionally wrenching ‘masterpiece’

Men in Love by Irvine Welsh review – the Trainspotting boys grow up

Three decades on from the author’s breakthrough debut, why are we still trapped in the Trainspotting moment?

Where authors gossip, geek out and let off steam: 15 of the best literary Substacks

More and more writers are publishing newsletters – but which are worth your time? From Margaret Atwood to Hanif Kureishi, George Saunders to Miranda July, here’s our guide to the best

The Guardian view on The Salt Path scandal: memoirists have a duty to tell the truth

Editorial: In an era of misinformation, trust in publishers is more important than ever.

Where to start with: Elizabeth Strout

A guide to the Pulitzer-winning novelist’s tales of small-town life, family secrets, and fraught relationships

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Here and Beyond by Hal LaCroix; One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford; I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman; The Reaper by Jackson P Brown

Clare Chambers: ‘Iris Murdoch taught me that a novel could be about absolutely anything’

The author on Anthony Trollope, Andrew Miller, and why she sided with 19th-century coal miners

First jobs, first love and a serve of minimum chips

Our teenage jobs are generally far from glamorous but one of the pleasures of writing a book is the chance to do it all again – only better

Ruins by Amy Taylor review – Euro getaway turns to hell in this addictive, soapy thriller

Over one stinking summer in Athens, a thirtysomething couple open their relationship – with disastrous consequences. It’s no surprise a film adaptation is already in the works

Orbital by Samantha Harvey audiobook review – lyrical, hypnotic reading of otherworldly tale

Sarah Naudi reads the Booker-prize-winning novel about the daily lives of astronauts on the International Space Station

Moderation by Elaine Castillo review – a twisted look at the tech workplace

Castillo’s ambitious second novel, set in the worlds of social media and VR, considers labour and storytelling in a world veering right