A Body Made of Glass by Caroline Crampton review – an intelligent and engaging history of hypochondria

In this fascinating book, a survivor of a life-threatening illness chronicles the history of health anxiety and ponders whether it is a rational response to our flawed bodies

‘There is joy, and there is rage’: the new generation of novelists writing about motherhood

From the shock and awe of labour to domestic isolation, a wave of recent novels captures the transformative nature of being a mother

Alone by Daniel Schreiber review – me, myself and I

A moving insight into the joys and anguish of solitude – and the value of friendship

Under the Knife by Dr Liz O’Riordan review – cancer from both sides

A breast surgeon is diagnosed with the cancer in which she specialises in this frank memoir of illness and recovery

The Country of the Blind review – a penetrating study of the loss of sight

Andrew Leland’s thoughtful, beautifully expressed memoir about losing his eyesight invites us to rethink ideas about identity and independence

In brief: Don’t Think, Dear; My Nemesis; Handmade – reviews

A thoughtful memoir casts a critical eye on ballet, a gripping novel digs deep into feminine rivalry and a bracing manifesto extols the virtue of woodcraft

The Real Work by Adam Gopnik review – the art of expertise

The New Yorker writer explores what it takes to get good at something, from baking and boxing to mastering his own mind

‘I’m eternally fascinated’: confessions of a ghost writer

Storyteller, nosy neighbour, bad therapist… a friendly ghost must be all these things, says Alexandra Heminsley

In brief: Motherthing; Night Terrors; Looking for Trouble – review

A gripping, darkly humorous horror novel; the strange world of sleep; and the reissue of a dazzling wartime memoir

And Finally: Matters of Life and Death review – humility lessons from Henry Marsh

The ever candid neurosurgeon reflects on his own mortality, as well as the failings of his profession, in this enthralling third volume of memoirs