Novelist Kate Atkinson: ‘I do feel a need to prove myself’
As her latest Jackson Brodie thriller comes out, the award-winning author discusses cosy crime, sniffy critics, and how she investigated her own family’s secrets
Can the Game of Thrones universe ever return to greatness?
An underwhelming end to the second season of frustrating prequel series House of the Dragon has fans wondering what’s next
The best recent science fiction and fantasy – reviews roundup
Extremophile by Ian Green; Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan; Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova; The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey; Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts
Ravelling by Estelle Birdy review – a gutsy coming-of-age debut
This is a beautifully observed portrait of five young men growing up on the edge of Dublin’s underworld
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter review – an art world satire brimming with fury and flair
Baxter’s follow-up to New Animal is part Melbourne scene sketch, part stalker thriller – and a wholly unique manifesto for seizing creative power from fear
Bonding by Mariel Franklin review – smart satire of tech elites
This debut about love, sex and wellness in the digital age is harsh and fun
It Ends with Us review – Blake Lively anchors glossy romance adaptation
Colleen Hoover’s smash hit novel gets a winning and emotionally effective transfer to the big screen
The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş review – everyday grace
This elegant portrait of an expat couple’s day-to-day existence delves into the complexities of love, home and social expectations
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak review – story of a raindrop
This ambitious, multi-perspective novel about the politics and preciousness of water ranges from ancient Mesopotamia to contemporary London
The Voyage Home by Pat Barker review – a brilliant finale to the Trojan war trilogy
This third volume brings a characteristic blend of brusque wisdom and piercing compassion to the stories of Cassandra and Clytemnestra
Crime and thrillers of the month – review
In a month full of big hitters, Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie makes a welcome return, Mick Herron’s reissued debut doesn’t disappoint – and Janice Hallett is as ingenious as ever
My weeks of reading hornily: steamy book sales have doubled – and I soon found out why
From fairy porn to romantasy via the Omegaverse, publishing is sexier than ever. The reason? A big shift in gen Z and millennial attitudes to respectability and shame ...
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott review – Bridget Jones in the jazz age
Reissued after a century, this lively, funny and harrowing debut follows a divorcee torn between sexual liberation and the compromised ‘safety’ of marriage in the 1920s
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak review – water, water everywhere
The links between a 19th-century Londoner who escapes poverty and a Yazidi girl born 200 years later are gradually revealed in an absorbing novel that reflects on global inequality
Rosa Regàs obituary
Spanish publisher opposed to the Franco regime who went on to write acclaimed novels