Formgiving by BIG, Naomi Pollock’s Japanese Design Since 1945, and Vegan Interior Design by Aline Dürr look at how we shape, and are shaped by, the world around us.

As the coronavirus forces desk jockeys worldwide to work from home, in his latest book, The Momentous, Uneventful Day, Australian author Gideon Haigh explores the pros and cons of being freed from the office.

The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin, Claudia Schwabe’s Craving Supernatural Creatures, and Gender: A World History by Susan Kingsley Kent offer different takes on traditional tales.

The Perfect Predator warns against the coming catastrophe of a post-antibiotic era and proves more frightening than fictional thrillers The Silence by Don DeLillo and The Russian Pink by Matthew Hart.

Katherine May argues the benefits of ‘wintering’ in her book of the same name, James Nestor experiments with the ‘lost art’ of breathing in Breath, and The Best of Brevity presents a collection of snappy non-fiction.

Caitlin Moran gets serious in More Than A Woman, abortion provider Dr Meera Shah takes on the stigma surrounding the procedure in You’re the Only One I’ve Told, and with Untamed, Glennon Doyle details the deconstruction and reconstruction of her family.

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, by Shoshana Zuboff, explores how our data is used for corporate profit, Sarah E. Igo’s The Known Citizen looks at Americans’ perception of privacy, and The Lost Family, by Libby Copeland, studies the ethics of genetic testing.

Mexico City-born writer Jazmina Barrera explores lighthouses around the world and in literature, while Nancy Jooyoun Kim’s debut novel takes the reader through grief, racism, the Korean war, family separation and more.

Amy Stanley, Sophy Roberts and Marie Lu will be appearing online at this year’s event, but there is still time to become acquainted with their works.

This One Wild and Precious Life, by Sarah Wilson, looks at ‘moral loneliness’, A Biography of Loneliness, by Fay Bound Alberti, studies the ‘modern epidemic’ of searching for a soulmate, and audiobook The Power of Ritual, by Casper ter Kuile, explains how the non-religious can create communities.

In her book What Can I Do? the American actor uses her celebrity to highlight the climate crisis and call armchair activists to action. Meanwhile The Planter of Modern Life and World of Wonders examine the environment and our relationship to it in different, but no less important, ways.

A trio of books – Who We’re Reading When We’re Reading Murakami, People From My Neighbourhood and The Monocle Book of Japan – examines how the Land of the Rising Sun has been interpreted for and embraced by the West.

In the book Pure Invention, Matt Alt, who translates Japanese games, comics and more into English, examines the country’s influences, from Hello Kitty to Tamagotchi, have changed the world.

With the Covid-19 pandemic having emptied urban centres, these three books – Designing Disorder, Sitopia and Terra Incognita – invite readers to question why we love and loathe our cities, and whether density is our destiny.

In his book Ametora, writer W. David Marx explores the cultural flow of fashions between the United States and Japan.

Recently arrived from Hong Kong, expat family says the 6,000 sq ft house was a ‘plug and play’ fit that proved a blessing during the months-long lockdown.

Overflowing with antiques, artefacts and plants, the ever-changing home of the American architect and his partner, horti­culturist Jirachai Rengthong, is a design masterclass.

A nod to Indian- and British-colonial style helps the grandparents to feel at home, while a subtle colour palette pulls the various multicultural elements together.

Manners coach Myka Meier, who trained under a former member of the British royal household, instructs readers how to navigate a number of social, business and networking environments.

Previous homes in China, the US and Spain influenced the redesign of bright, welcoming, highly personal Hong Kong apartment.

Budding architect Timothee Mercier was commissioned by his Hong Kong-based interior designer mother, Eve, to build the guest house on family land.

Cassia Schutt’s split-level flat has stunning views of Hac Sa Beach, in Coloane and pays homage to both her native Brazil and her adopted home.

Lala Curio’s Laura Cheung blends firm design favourites from around the world with exuberant hand-painted wallpaper in a 1950s harbourside house.

Cook’s hugely influential Archigram collective used ’60s futuristic ideas to visualise mobile cities, and the archive of its work has now found a permanent home in Hong Kong.

Former flight attendant Flavia Markovits decided to pay homage to her roots by adding a laid-back, beachy vibe to her Tung Chung flat

In her book about contemporary courtyard houses in Asia, South China Morning Post design editor Charmaine Chan explores how one house saved 50 trees; one preserved history; and one allowed three generations of a Chinese family to live together in harmony.

An auditor finds peace and privacy in the city, while dark woods, white subway tiles, brick and cement-rendered surfaces, and cold-rolled steel lend a contemporary, design-led edge.

After years of wandering, a Ralph Lauren executive and his interior designer wife finally put down roots in the Japanese capital.

With Dad’s trinkets banished to the basement, the 7,500 sq ft house is clean-lined and contemporary, with a double-height living space and subtle Asian details.

The eight-bedroom holiday house continues to evolve and surprise as it matures into a home.