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

Elvis Costello reveals cancer diagnosis as he cancels tour dates

‘Small but very aggressive’ cancer has been operated on, but recovery forces songwriter to pull out of tour

The Incurable Romantic by Frank Tallis review – stuck in the crazy stage of love

A psychologist tells numerous and eye-opening stories of love sickness, rampant sex and obsessions with inappropriate partners

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig – how to survive the 21st century

This follow-up to Reasons to Stay Alive is not a smug self-help book, but an honest and human guide to coping with the modern worldo

‘I don’t like the stress of dying’: the game for people who don’t want to fight

#SelfCare packs a ‘tend and befriend’ strategy to appeal to players who find combat titles a turn-off. Its designers, Brie Code and Eve Thomas, make the case for staying in bed all day

Who rules the world? Narcissists. Let’s stop giving them all the breaks

So, research shows narcissists do life better. The meek among us must keep them in check, says humble Guardian columnist Stuart Heritage

Forty years since Fat Is A Feminist Issue

Susie Orbach never imagined her classic book would still be so relevant decades later

70 years of the NHS: a revolution that is reborn every day

The creation of the health service changed Britain. Yet while this vision is under severe threat, it has also never been more keenly cherished

Tim Booth: ‘I want to grow old but die suddenly’

The James singer on yoga, meditation and his ‘shadow side’

Rufus Wainwright: ‘I like sugar a lot; I can swig maple syrup from the bottle’

The singer on sleep, his sweet tooth, and home renovation in the Canadian mountains