Call Off the Search by Anna and Andrew Wallas – digested read
John Crace reduces a profound spiritual journey of love and healing to a more manageable 700 words
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves – review
By recounting real-life stories that have stayed with him, Grosz offers an intriguing insight into contemporary psychoanalysis, writes Susanna Rustin
Consumed: How Shopping Fed the Class System by Harry Wallop – review
In his breezy romp through the intricacies of our social structure, Wallop declares that Guardian readers are Wood-Burning Stovers and Prescotts are Blackpool Posh, writes Sam Leith
Susannah Cahalan: ‘What I remember most vividly are the fear and anger’
The New Yorker was 24 when she fell seriously ill with a mystery condition. Here she tells Carole Cadwalladr how she pieced together her terrifying ordeal to write a remarkable memoir
Five self-help books that want to change your life
It's January, so the shops are full of new diet, exercise and self-help books. We sample five of them, from a polemic against sugar to a harrowing account of gastric bypass surgery
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova – review
Emulating Conan-Doyle's fictional sleuth requires more than a deerstalker and a predilection for the violin – attention to detail and a questioning, methodical approach are vital, writes Sam Leith
Zig Ziglar and staying Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down, Down world
Oliver Burkeman: Britons may have grounds to sneer at positive-thinking gurus, but the late 'Master of Motivation' knew life was also hard work
Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks – review
Our minds play tricks on us far more often than you might think. In his new volume Oliver Sacks cites a host of vivid examples, writes Lisa Appignanesi
Lorna Byrne: ‘I believe in angels’ – interview
Irish mystic Lorna Byrne is not alone, she says. Not only is she in daily contact with the benign supernatural, her faith is shared by a third of Britons. Tim Adams talks to her
Best psychology books of 2012
From Adam Phillips to Steven Pinker, experts in several fields have pushed the boundaries in our understanding of the mind, writes Lisa Appignanesi