A flight of fancy that explores the possibilities of Babbage’s early computer, and makes Victorian mathematics compellingly tangible

Nicholas Lezard’s paperbck of the week: Richard J Evans is no fan of ‘What if?’ speculation, unless it is used for humorous purposes

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: I was sceptical about such a salacious novel but it is clever, funny and psychologically astute

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: In Emily Berry, Anne Carson and Sophie Collins, Penguin has showcased three funny, playful and creative writers

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: These essays by the Romanian intellectual Benjamin Fondane look at the limitations of reason

A huge and necessary contribution to our understanding of this chilling subject

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: Carlo Rovelli has written a wonderful primer on how physics can help us understand the universe and our place in it

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: this re-creation of Odysseus’s convoluted route home from Troy is a study in self-deprecation that wears its learning lightly

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: Mark Vanhoenacker has written a beautiful, contemplative book that reveals nature’s wonders and reassures nervous flyers

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: this existential classic from 1940, focusing on a woman’s state of mind after she has a secret liaison, might be the most French novel I’ve ever read

Fleming’s nephew reveals a jokey side to the author in an entertaining book that you don’t have to be a Bond nut to enjoy

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: an honest, tender and funny memoir about growing up with a high court judge by a writer at the top of his game

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: teeming with characters and interest, this richly digressive book has atmosphere by the potful

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: this translation is the best way yet for English speakers to enter the poet’s dream-like world

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: a map of the weird and wonderful realm of the folk tale, drawn up by expert collector Katherine Langrish

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: a revised edition of the harrowing monologues from survivors of the disaster brought together by the Nobel prize-winner

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: bursting with learning and pulsing with life, Matthew Beaumont’s survey of writers from Chaucer to Dickens explores the city’s seamier side

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: Shakespeare, Donne and Jonson are all represented in this punchy and sinuous anthology, chosen by Stoner author John Williams

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: this unconventional life of the 17th-century biographer puts us right inside his head

Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: it’s hard to believe the author was the same age as his diarist when he wrote this playful, ludicrous and very good teen journal