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

‘I can still dance when I’m sober!’ My alcohol-free Glastonbury diary

On Saturday, I celebrated 365 days without booze. How would I cope, surrounded by thousands of well-lubricated strangers?

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

Every anxiety dream I’ve ever had – ranked!

From self-cannibalism to spilling tomato sauce down my wedding dress, my nightmares are trying to keep me real

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