Aoife Abbey: ‘Being a doctor is not like in the movies’
The intensive care specialist who used to blog as the Secret Doctor on her candid new book about her experiences as a young trainee
Best summer books 2018, as picked by writers – part one
Surrealist artists, dogged detectives, modern lovers and spies behaving badly ... leading authors pick their best books to enjoy these holidays
Sleep Demons by Bill Hayes review – an insomniac’s memoir
Reissued with a new preface, this intimate and beautifully written book brings scientific research alive in a heartfelt and deeply personal narrative
What can we learn about our wellbeing from memoirs of ill health?
Simon Gray, Christopher Hitchens, Joan Didion ... some of the most vivid memoirs have been accounts of illness. But what can they teach us about being well?
William Giraldi on life as a bookish bodybuilder: ‘It’s a poisoned way to be a man’
As a teenager, William Giraldi would pump himself full of steroids, hit the gym ... and secretly read Keats. His new memoir examines the absurdities of modern masculinity and envisages a better world in which his sons don’t get caught in its toxic grip
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard – digested read
John Crace cuts the Norwegian author’s letter explaining the world to his unborn daughter
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy review – a memoir of wanting too much
The New Yorker writer had a life that balanced domesticity with intellectual and sexual adventure. Then it fell apart
Defy the ‘wellness’ industry: here are some simple ways to feel better in 2017
Diet and detox marketing makes us feel bad about our holiday season excess. But most of the best advice is obvious and cheap
Tristimania by Jay Griffiths; Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon – review
Two depression memoirs aimed at different readerships both offer optimism and enlightenment
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi review – thoughtful and poignant
A dying surgeon contemplates his mortality and his vocation in this moving, astute farewell