Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped by Russell Brand review – a grown-up guru
After several false starts, the comedian and presenter’s worldview has become surprisingly mature
Giles Yeo: ‘Love your food but don’t eat quite as much of it as you want’
The obesity expert and author of Gene Eating on fad diets, the magic of miso and why he can’t say no to pork scratchings
Back to work blues? What we can learn from slackers
Our culture demonises those who don’t work – but maybe it’s time we were more like Homer Simpson and Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, writes Josh Cohen
The Truth About Fat by Anthony Warner review – what the Angry Chef hates
Fat-shaming and snooty diet advice are rightly targeted in this polemic. But Warner’s anger is oddly limited: why doesn’t he blame the food industry?
Top 10 books about insomnia
From history and fiction to philosophy and poetry, Marina Benjamin reveals the works that helped her understand an unsettlingly common problem
Insomnia by Marina Benjamin review – sleeplessness as resistance
Ranging from Penelope to Virginia Woolf, this study makes a case for restlessness and insomnia as acts of female rebellion
Can a sleepless night awaken creativity?
Famous insomniacs include William Wordsworth, Emily Brontë, Vladimir Nabokov and Marcel Proust so could there be a positive side to sleeplessness, asks Marina Benjamin
Reasons to Stay Alive: how the suicidal Ibiza rave memoir became an album
Matt Haig’s powerful self-help book was a lifeline for Andy Burrows, one-time drummer with Razorlight. Now, with a little help from Kate Hudson, the two men have turned it into music
Book clinic: which books can help with my daughter’s low self-esteem?
A selection of books, from Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl to Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, to help build confidence
Book clinic: what books can help me deal with depression and anxiety?
From Winnie-the-Pooh to a comforting tale by Marilynne Robinson, all kinds of literature can come to the rescue