When the sun is out, it’s just about warm enough here in north-east London to read outside – which means it’s time to crack ...

From the halls of Camelot to the reaches of interstellar space, five works from this year that broke through to new realities.

To celebrate the 30th edition of the L.A. Times Festival of Books, we asked authors, editors, critics and scholars to select the 30 best fiction books since the festival was inaugurated.