Oh-oh, catch that buzz as two musical greats are amplified this month: Bryan Ferry, with the publication of his collected lyrics; and Jarvis Cocker with a memoir, Good Pop, Bad Pop. And talking of buzz, you also shouldn't miss Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps by Seirian Sumner, which explains why you shouldn't, on any account, go squashing these remarkable creatures to a pulp (see what I did there?).

"Life-affirming" is a phrase publishers and reviewers frequently use to describe survival stories that work your emotions to... er... a pulp, and then dance away the heartache. It feels particularly appropriate this month in the case of Abi Morgan's brilliant memoir This is Not a Pity Memoir (it sure isn't); and Ella Risbridger's The Year of Miracles, a divine blend of food and life writing set in a time of grief and pandemic, accompanied by the most unpretentiously delicious recipes I've read in a long while.

Given that my job is partly about predicting the movers and shakers of the future, it's perhaps no wonder that I was so enthralled by my Book of the Month, The Premonitions Bureau by Sam Knight; a riveting blend of social history, psychology, popular science and the supernatural. It tells the stories of common people with a seemingly uncommon gift: that of being able to predict future events. Ostensibly a book about eccentric obsession in 1960s Britain, it is fated to set you thinking about the role of chance and coincidence in your own life too.

BookScan ratings accompanying titles are based on TCM sales (excludes e-book, export, direct, library and other sales) of the author's most recent original work in a similar format with at least six months' sales through Nielsen BookScan, using the notation left.

Art & illustrated

Stephen Ellcock & Mat Osman

England on Fire: A Visual Journey Through Albion's Psychic Landscape

Watkins, 10th, HB, 24.99 [pounds sterling], 9781786784285

"Whether your family has lived here for 4,000 years or four, we are all castaways on Albion's shore." A "groundbreaking" exploration through more than 200 images of the "fiery and chaotic" spirit of England's psychic landscapes; from medieval churches and ruins to the folkloric rituals of their inhabitants. Text by novelist and musician Osman, images from the brilliant author and online curator Ellcock.

Andreas Kilcher with Pavel Schmidt & Kurt Beals (trans)

Franz Kafka: The Drawings

Yale, HB, 35 [pounds sterling], 9780300260663

Billed as the only publication on the subject, an illustrated survey of the entirety of Kafka's known graphic output, including the sensational 2019 discovery of hundreds of drawings by the Czech author, kept under lock and key in a private collection for decades. Essays by Judith Butler and Andreas Kilcher.

Adam Nathaniel Furman & Joshua Mardell

Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places and Stories

RIBA, HB, 40 [pounds sterling], 9781914124211

Richly illustrated with more than 400 images, including drawings, plans and photographs, a celebration by more than 40 contributors of over 90 queer spaces--from Sissinghurst and an ice-cream parlour...