John Boyne: “Life is short; I feel no compunction to finish a novel that is boring me. I’ll read something else.” Photograph: Dave Meehan
The SDLP, Politics and Peace: The Mark Durkan Interviews by Graham Spencer – a sharp mind in full flow
The Grammar of Angels: Propulsive new account of Renaissance controversies about language, knowledge and the occult
Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) by Markus Zusak: When the family pets are ‘complete b*stards’ but also ‘beautiful darlings’