Books TerrorTome: The perfectly imperfect, hilarious return of the Titan of TerrorSpoof horror maestro Garth Marenghi delivers a trio of interlocking dark tales full of bathos and banalities
Book Review The Twilight World – A German master of cinema churns out a riveting thrillerThe legendary film auteur Werner Herzog returns to the jungle with a fine debut novel about Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who refused to surrender for 29 years
Book review: The Anomaly – A playful science fiction yarn from France spins plenty of plates on sticksHervé Le Tellier’s inventive doppelgänger narrative of passengers on an Air France flight is already a bestseller in his homeland
Book review: Red Carpet – How Hollywood gambled big on not upsetting ChinaA new book lays bare the complex picture of the US film industry’s relationship with the Asian superpower
The Sweet Spot: Why there’s more to human suffering than merely ‘no pain, no gain’Psychologist Paul Bloom explores the reasons why we sometimes seek out unpleasant experiences
Theroux the Keyhole: An entertaining record of a TV star’s family life in extraordinary timesDocumentary maker Louis Theroux focuses his usual perceptive intelligence and irony on his own life in this personal account of the lockdown
April in Spain: Banville discards his pseudonym with plenty of panacheThe veteran writer’s latest effort is initially confusing – a Benjamin Black crime novel under his own name – but ultimately rewarding
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel: Tarantino picks up his pen with surprisingly successful resultsThe director has written a highly entertaining novelisation of his Manson Family murders drama
Klara and the Sun: An intriguing lesson in humanity from the masterKazuo Ishiguro examines human behaviour and its constraints through the lens of artificial intelligence
The Marvel Universe: Origin Stories: A cancelled satire finally sees the light of dayBruce Wagner’s entertaining new novel was turned down by a publisher for allegedly ‘problematic’ content, but is now available for free
The Silence: DeLillo returns with another snapshot of a glazed, automated worldThe veteran American writer is on familiar ground with his latest novel, but still displays his mastery of the form
Death in Her Hands: A meta journey through a less interesting landscapeIn this unusual murder mystery, the writer Ottessa Moshfegh shows her hand from the start, which discourages the reader from engaging fully
Antkind: Charlie Kaufman’s debut novel is a hilarious tangle of baroque inventivenessThe screenwriter and director’s outlandish satire on ‘wokeness’ evokes the story-within-a-story ingenuity of his films
Apeirogon: McCann dazzles with many-faceted exploration of Middle Eastern strifeThe Irish writer’s latest work, containing no fewer than 1,001 chapters, is no ordinary novel
The Great Pretender: A damning diagnosis of a well-known psychiatric experimentPsychiatry: Susannah Cahalan reveals how the results of a famous study into psychiatric malpractice weren’t as clear cut as they initially appeared
McCabe shows off his softer side as Francie returnsBook review: The Big Yaroo, by Patrick McCabe (New Island, €14.95)
Feel the fear of changing your habits and do it anywayBook review: Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, by Wendy Wood (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, €17.95)
