The Parallel Path by Jenn Ashworth review – a soul-searching walk across England

Forget the Salt Path – this writer’s introspective journey provides genuine food for thought

‘Women have more power than they think’: self-help superstar Mel Robbins on success, survival and silencing her critics

The lawyer turned motivational speaker fills arenas with her promise that you can always turn things around – even if her ideas aren’t exactly new. What is it about her that makes people listen?

Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar review – night terrors

The Guardian theatre critic’s imaginative exploration of life in the shadows

Summer reading: the 50 hottest books to read now

From dazzling debuts to unmissable memoirs, prize-winning novels to page-turning histories … Plus our pick of paperbacks and children’s fiction

How to Lose Your Mother by Molly Jong-Fast review – Erica Jong’s daughter on the worst year of her life

In this frank, exposing memoir, Jong-Fast reflects on her dysfunctional upbringing as her family falls apart

Norma Meras Swenson obituary

Sociologist and women’s health activist who was a co-author of the groundbreaking book Our Bodies, Ourselves

Joy Schaverien obituary

Psychoanalyst and art therapist hailed for her bestselling 2015 book Boarding School Syndrome

Pathemata by Maggie Nelson review – a writer’s attempt to describe chronic pain

Woolf said language ‘runs dry’ when it comes to convey the reality of illness. Here is an impressive effort to do just that

Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girls’ Guide to Life by Frances Ryan review – countering the stereotypes

The journalist’s second book offers positivity in the face of the obstacles confronting disabled girls and women

‘A case study in groupthink’: were liberals wrong about the pandemic?

US political scientists’ book argues aggressive Covid policies such as mask mandates were in some cases misguided