Children's booksChildren's booksPerfect Days by Raphael Montes – review‘the book has an electrifying pace, full of shocking and macabre twists and turns’ In an interview for the literary website Carpe Libri, Raphael Montes makes it clear that, in his books, he prefers to explore the countless facets of human wickedness instead of creating a fantasy world. The young writer is being called the Brazilian Stephen King and shows in Perfect Days, his second novel, a violence steaming with irony that can happen by your side and you don’t even dream about it, absurd as it may seem.

9/11: 20 years laterSeptember 11 2001Children who lost a parent that day share a burden of grief, prying questions and ubiquitous footage of the disaster that killed their parents Robyn Higley has always hated September. It’s the month when everything bad happens, when her spirits, generally so bright and bubbly the rest of the year, grow bleak and deflated. She feels sad in September. Though she doesn’t fully understand why.

Howard Jacobson's diaryHoward Jacobson This article is more than 6 years oldThe Meyerowitz Stories is an excruciating watch if you aspire to make great artThis article is more than 6 years oldHoward JacobsonCompare this portrait of an artist to Maudie. I know which I’d rather hang on my wall ‘If he isn’t a great artist, that means he was just a prick.” That contribution to the art versus morality conversation is delivered ungoofily by Adam Sandler, playing Danny Meyerowitz in Noam Baumbach’s Netflix film The Meyerowitz Stories.

Crate expectations … French volcanologist Katia Krafft by a volcano in Iceland in Fire of Love. Photograph: Image'EstMissing the heatwave? With the release of Sara Dosa’s hotly tipped new documentary Fire of Love, we round up the most epic, exploding-mountain movies ever made by Anne Billson20. The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)Steve Reeves seeks vengeance for his father’s murder and Vesuvius erupts in a shower of sparks in this handsome peplum epic, no more faithful to Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1834 novel than countless other films that borrowed its title.

BooksReviewNicholas Lezard salutes Ciaran Carson's new translation of The Inferno The Inferno of Dante Alighieri, translated by Ciaran Carson (Granta, £7.99) Samuel Beckett, whom we would do well to emulate, was once asked what ambitions he had. "All I want to do," he said, "is sit on my arse and fart and think about Dante." Some years later, the Nobel prize for literature was his. Now you too can think about Dante with this award-winning new translation of the Inferno.

Animal behaviourDogs may wag their tails so much due to rhythm-loving humans, scientists sayExperts hypothesise that attractiveness of behaviour was selected for during domestication process Whether it is an elegant swish or a furious oscillation, tail wagging is ubiquitous among dogs. Now researchers have suggested it may have become commonplace during canine domestication because humans love its rhythm. It is thought humans domesticated dogs sometime between 15,000 and 50,000 years ago – a process that has led to a fervent bond between the two species, with about a third of households in the UK having a dog.

Queensland researchers have discovered a new species of giant trapdoor spider, Euoplos dignitas. Photograph: Queensland MuseumQueensland researchers have discovered a new species of giant trapdoor spider, Euoplos dignitas. Photograph: Queensland MuseumQueensland This article is more than 9 months old‘It’s very big’: new species of giant trapdoor spider discovered in QueenslandThis article is more than 9 months oldThe arachnid plays an important role in the leaf litter ecosystem, helping to control insect populations

Readers recommendMusicKiller queens, Caribbean queens, savage queens. Here are your favourite songs about female sovereignsAlthough we didn't quite match the crowds thronging the Mall for the diamond jubilee celebrations, last week's request for songs about queens produced a massive response. The slew of recommendations for Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen (which unfortunately is zedded) reflects the presence of more seditious sentiments in rock and pop than there were jubilee protesters shown on telly at the weekend.

ArtsObituaryRichard SeifertWorkaholic architect whose tall towers changed the urban skyline of Britain and EuropeThe death, at the age of 90, of the architect Richard Seifert, the designer of Centre Point and the Natwest Tower - still the tallest building in the City of London - marks the end of one of the great buccaneering eras of office building in Britain. Though a later arrival on the scene than some of his competitors, through serendipitous connections and hard work Seifert soon became an awe-inspiring figure in the world of commercial development.

Guy Lodge's streaming and DVDsScience fiction and fantasy filmsReviewArgentinian director Juan Cabral’s debut, Two/One, is a subtle, alluring addition to a genre of films exploring second selves Some films are best watched more or less by accident: stumbled upon with little foreknowledge, so we’re led through the story without a compass. Mubi’s curation model often allows for such moments of discovery: their latest exclusive release, Two/One, is a strange, slippery puzzler well suited to a blind encounter.