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The quest to understand life may have been missing an ingredient: the flow of ‘information’ through living organisms
Richard Bassett’s memoir of Trieste, Vienna and Prague recalls the charms of a lost world
Three books that explore this dark and difficult territory
New biography Mr Five Per Cent by Jonathan Conlin explores the many lives of one of the world’s richest men
Are tech companies manipulating data to control human behaviour — or are their leaders simply naive?
The two rightwingers forged today’s nation by preventing a viable Palestinian state
The author talks about his collection of 12 connected stories that create a telling picture of a fragmented world
The Library Book by Susan Orlean, a gripping profile of the LA central library, makes the case for these once-radical institutions
This sympathetic profile of a nation falls short on balance and scrutiny of its populist leader
A writer navigates the complexities of memory in this study of an ill-fated love affair
This 1992 novel, published in English for the first time, is an empathetic study of German guilt
A glittering and funny crime fiction debut from the Nigerian novelist unpicks a dark sibling rivalry
From a constructive break to being ethical — a round-up of this month’s top titles
A radical road map towards a brighter future for the corporation and capitalism
An artist who captured the subtle moods of childhood
The book depicts the push-and-pull of friendship with wisdom and the occasional surreal flourish
A satisfyingly rounded and beautifully illustrated tale in which the images do much of the work
This impressive debut novel is a timely addition to the canon of international thrillers
This debut novel weaves a fascinating and original fairytale
People have had it inked on ankles, forearms, backs, bellies, under their ears and on their wrists
Set in the near future, this speculative fantasy is the author’s best novel yet
An exemplary biography of one of America’s most unusual writers grounds the novel in his own literary awakening
How appropriate is irony or humour in an account of the Anschluss?
Two professors argue that an exit from the EU could be a ‘disaster with silver linings’
A punchy polemic in praise of nuclear power
The author was an incomparable transcriber of the work of the senses
A well-heeled mother’s perfect family life is torn apart when her daughter is kidnapped
This debut novel by a young British writer has set the bar high for historical crime fiction in 2019
An entreaty for inactivity makes the case for the re-evaluation of busy lives
Historians are divided on where ages begin and end: how will they assess this one?
An intrepid investigation of a deadly business
Victor Hugo created a global phenomenon in 1862, and, from London to Tehran, the story still generates outrage today
The biggest titles will see writers grappling with China, AI and climate change
An account of the persistent allure of political violence to ‘purify society’
As Christmas approaches, I reach for books that contain descriptions of feasts and family gatherings
A lesbian couple enrols in clinical trials of a new ‘ovum-to-ovum’ technology
An ex-corporate enforcer is employed as bodyguard to help conduct an ‘audit’ of the colonised Mars
