Top 10 books about awakenings
These moments of precious fresh awareness can be found in authors from Oliver Sacks to Ottessa Moshfegh and Franz Kafka
A moment that changed me: I lost my hair to cancer – and the trauma taught me an essential lesson
I found being bald truly distressing. But losing a vital part of my armour for that long year gave me a whole new perspective
Allergic by Theresa MacPhail review – in canaries the coal mine
Is environmental change behind the mysterious rise in allergies, from asthma to anaphylaxis?
Matrescence by Lucy Jones review – smashing motherhood myths
A thrilling examination of what it means to become a mother challenges assumptions in bravura fashion
One in three say books offer best form of escapism when having a bad day
A survey by the Publishers Association found reading to be more popular than going to the cinema or browsing social media, coming second only to watching TV
Overwhelmed in London, I moved to Berlin to save my sanity – and savour a new life
Irish author Naoise Dolan on taking refuge in the German capital
What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in May
Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments
Psychonauts by Mike Jay review – the drug-takers who changed history
Humphry Davy on laughing gas, Sigmund Freud on cocaine … how self-experimentation shaped science and art
I walked the 650km Australian Alps walking track at 19, alone. Nothing was as I expected
Ya Reeves lost toenails, survived anaphylactic shock and at one point was ‘found’ by police, but there was also true joy in the journey – and in leaning into the unknown
‘For a second, I don’t know who I am’: Ruby Wax on her stay in a mental health clinic
In this extract from her new book, the comedian and writer gives a Zoom talk about depression from her hospital room