An acutely observed tale of dysfunctional romance from one of this year’s Observer debut novelists

The German author’s International Booker-shortlisted novel puts a tricksy spin on the life of film-maker GW Pabst

One of the most influential books of the 1990s, this novella about a young heroin addict still thrills today

The anthropologist debunks the myths behind the mystic tradition and explores its modern legacy

A punchy history of the alt-right shows how it was formed via the connection online of niche groups with shared views

Fifty years after the murder suicide of three farmer siblings, the author revisits his own work of investigative journalism

This grim tale of murder finds the former defence lawyer aligning herself with Paris’s banlieue-dwelling underclass

The viral sensation was incapacitated by a stroke, necessitating a new way of expressing himself

The French author attempts to use fiction to demystify the life of Hitler’s architect and confidant Albert Speer

Whether braving gales on a night ferry or joining early risers at a bakery, Richards’ engaging book illuminates the nocturnal workings of the nation

Banned in Iran, Parsipur’s novel about a makeshift family of women is timely and human – and revels in the unexpected

This biography paints a compelling portrait of the artist from poverty to riches in life – and neglect to reverence in death

In the Guatemalan writer's audacious work of autofiction, a stay at a Jewish holiday camp morphs into Nazi role play

Stripe’s immersive memoir of her Yorkshire upbringing breathes in the smells – sweet and foul – of a lifetime’s experience

The late Rachel Cooke anthologises the experience of female relationships in all their complexity

The French author brings chaotic energy and leftist politics to this tale of ragtag revolutionaries

The novelist on the myths of the Middle East, the horrors and wonders of history, and life at a Madrid museum

Rosenberg was raised to believe the state of Israel was a ‘blessing’, only for years of human rights abuses to convince him otherwise

When a tumour was discovered in Chris Power’s abdomen, the oncologist’s book became indispensable

Against the backdrop of a stifling polluted Delhi, two sets of siblings go to war over family inheritances