Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner review – a thrilling novel of ideas
An American spy infiltrates a commune of eco-activists in France in this Booker-listed exploration of ideology and sensation
Crime and thrillers of the month – review
Bella Mackie assembles a gloriously repugnant dysfunctional family, a murderous nurse hides in a library, and a female vigilante hunts down sexual predators in a skilful debut
Munichs by David Peace review – United in guilt and grief
In this dramatisation of the 1958 Munich air disaster, the author’s previous brushes with controversy seem to have stifled artistic licence
Precipice by Robert Harris review – the PM and the socialite
In this nuanced and poignant retelling of the affair between HH Asquith and Venetia Stanley, the novelist blurs the line between fact and fiction, illuminating love and power
‘Destined to be a classic’: the best Australian books out in September
Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have already devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on
The Edge of the Alphabet by Janet Frame review – strikingly imagined voyage into delusion
Three characters each caught in their own mental turmoil sail from New Zealand to postwar England in this 1962 novel, reissued to mark Frame’s centenary
Medusa of the Roses by Navid Sinaki review – erotic Iranian noir
The Tehran-born film-maker’s powerful debut novel explores the burgeoning relationship between two friends that endangers their lives
In brief: Henry V; Midnight in Vienna; Clairmont – review
A lively new study of the warrior king by Dan Jones; a wartime espionage thriller from Jane Thynne; and an engaging novel about Byron’s spurned mistress
Ferdia Lennon: ‘I was tired of Merchant Ivory accents’
The recent winner of the Waterstones debut fiction prize on literary friendships, the lucidity of Georges Simenon and Irish writing’s debt to the financial crash
Can fairytales and fantasy compete with Fortnite? How to get kids reading at any age
Books, comics, films, video games … does it matter how children discover stories? Keeping an open mind is just one way to help get them hooked
‘Writing this book was like a drug high’: Rachel Kushner on her Booker-listed novel
The author on her party years in San Francisco, why she loves getting older and her most ambitious novel yet
Dogs and Monsters by Mark Haddon review – brilliant tales of beasts
Greek myths inspire a masterly short-story collection that takes in ghosts, gods and meditations on mortality
Major publishers sue Florida over ‘unconstitutional’ school book ban
Hundreds of titles from Judy Blume to Mark Twain purged from school libraries following rightwing challenges
Author Robin DiAngelo accused of plagiarism over doctoral thesis
Complaint brought against White Fragility author over passages in 2004 paper, but some suspect political motives
The best translated fiction – review roundup
Mammoth by Eva Baltasar; Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes; The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem; Dead-End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto