Naomi Alderman’s The Power is finally out in the US. According to Lit Hub, the Baileys winner “taps into the deeper power of women“. Ron Charles of the Washington Post likes it a lot.

Test your Harry Potter Halloween knowledge here.

And speaking of gifts that keep on giving, EL James is releasing another book in the Fifty Shades series. Darker will be from Christian’s point of view.

John Green’s latest novel, Turtles All the Way Down, is out today, and Matt Haig reviews it for The Guardian, calling it a new modern classic and saying he “rather liked it”. (Translated into American English for my readers over the pond, that British understatement means he thought it was awesome.)

Stylist rounds up the five brilliant books Reese Witherspoon thinks you should read.

 

A fundraising book developed in the wake of the Manchester Arena attack has raised over £140,000 for charity since publication in September. This Is The Place - Choose Love, Manchester is on sale at Waterstones and Amazon.

If there was any doubt about Dan Brown’s popularity, let there be no more: Origin has sold more than 100,000 copies since it was published last week.

“Old-school gothic chiller” The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell is excerpted on The Pool this week.

If you liked Clémentine Beauvais’ Piglettes, you’ll be excited to hear that her “seductive and spine-tinglingly brilliant” novel Songe à la Douceur , beloved by Goodreads readers, will be translated by Sam Taylor published in the UK next July as In Paris With You.

The shortlist for the Wales Book of the Year is out, as has the shortlist for Management Book of the Year.

Ledbury Poetry Festival has launched a new mentoring programme to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing culture.

Podcasts

The Guardian Books podcast speaks to Pussy Riot musician Maria Alyokhina about her memoir and to journalist Omar El Akkad about his move from journalism to dystopian fiction.

On A Good Read, Jonathan Harvey and Sally Lindsay talk to Harriet Gilbert about books they love.

In The Joined Up Writing Podcast, Wayne Kelly interviews Matt Johnson, author of crime thrillers Wicked Game and Deadly Game and named a “rising star” by Amazon in 2016. Book blogger Victoria Goldman of Off The Shelf Books reviews Vanessa LaFaye’s latest novel, At First Light.