Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day review – friends with benefits

A candid examination of the difference between being good at friendships and being a good friend

Good Girls by Hadley Freeman review – anorexia from within

The journalist and former in-patient offers a clear-eyed view of a debilitating and misunderstood illness

‘We’re in a golden age for microbes’: the man rewriting history from the perspective of germs

Forget ‘great men’ – infection and disease are the really important forces in the development of humankind, believes public health specialist Jonathan Kennedy

Travellers to Unimaginable Lands by Dasha Kiper review – how dementia changes lives

A clinical psychologist turns the spotlight on caregivers in this profoundly compassionate study

The Art of the Straight Line review – how tai chi brought out Lou Reed’s mild side

The singer-songwriter transformed his later life practising the martial art, as this compilation of writing, edited by his widow Laurie Anderson, shows

Weathering by Arline Geronimus review – how discrimination makes you sick

A public health expert charts the cumulative effect of prejudice on peoples’ bodies, from heart disease to cancer

In brief: Don’t Think, Dear; My Nemesis; Handmade – reviews

A thoughtful memoir casts a critical eye on ballet, a gripping novel digs deep into feminine rivalry and a bracing manifesto extols the virtue of woodcraft

The Real Work by Adam Gopnik review – the art of expertise

The New Yorker writer explores what it takes to get good at something, from baking and boxing to mastering his own mind

You Are Not Alone by Cariad Lloyd review – the mourning after

In this moving and funny meditation on loss, the host of the award-winning podcast Griefcast argues that shared stories are an effective response to death

The big idea: your personality is not set in stone

Think you’re stuck being scatty, or an introvert? The latest research suggests otherwise