Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving – review
Psychotherapist Julia Samuel’s case studies provide vital and compelling insights into bereavement
Gemma Cairney: ‘I was a naughty teen – I got told not to talk back’
The radio DJ and author on her life lessons for young and old – plus raving in Margate
Never Enough by Barney Hoskyns; The Ice Age by Luke Williams; A Really Good Day by Ayelet Waldman – review
Three vivid memoirs reveal the horrific pull – and possible benefits – of illicit substances
Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love by Emily Witt – review
One woman’s quest for personal fulfilment proves a handy guide to sex in the internet age
The 100 best nonfiction books: No 41 – How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (1936)
The original self-help manual on American life – with its influence stretching from the Great Depression to Donald Trump – has a lot to answer for
Book reviews roundup: The Essex Serpent; The Muse; The Middlepause: On Turning 50
What the critics thought of The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, The Muse by Jessie Burton and The Middlepause: On Turning 50 by Marina Benjamin
The Middlepause by Marina Benjamin and In My Own Times by Jane Miller – review
What does it mean to be middle-aged? Is 50 over the hill? An honest facing up to loss and sadness is an important theme in these valuable studies
A Walk in the Park by Travis Elborough review – what makes a park a park?
William Boyd gives his definition of a park, and praises a wonderful book, full of learning and enthusiasm, that insists we need to cherish and protect these ‘people’s institutions’
A Walk in the Park: The Life and Times of a People’s Institution by Travis Elborough – review
There’s plenty to look at in this enjoyable stroll through the history of our public parks, despite a few omissions
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West – ‘I never wanted internet trolls to be my beat’
West’s memoir is full of a wild, joyous vulgarity and ranges from body images and rape threats to puberty and her love for her husband