New non-fiction books for March

'Bookish' picks up where 'Bookworm' left off: at the cusp of teenage, when everything - including the way we read - undergoes a not-so-subtle transformation. Revisiting the books of all genres, that ferried her through each important stage of life, 'Bookish' is a coming-of-age in books. It's an ode to our favourite bookish spaces - from the smallest secondhand bookstalls to libraries, glorious big bookshops and our very own book rooms - and a love story to how books not only shelter our souls through hard times and help us find ourselves when we feel lost, but also help us connect with the people we love through shared stories.

Take a wander through Adam's garden as he reflects on the plants that have shaped his life. The scents of the rosemary and thyme lining the garden path instantly welcome you to what follows - a wildflower meadow, an ornamental kitchen garden, a shady courtyard, terrace and borders, gravel garden, and woodland walk, taking you on a tour through Adam's garden. As you go, Adam explains his design and planting choices, drawing on personal feeling and memories as well as years of experience.

For almost five decades after the Second World War, Europe was divided by the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. The Iron Curtain, a near-impenetrable barrier of wire and wall, tank traps, minefields, watchtowers and men with dogs, stretched for 4,300 miles from the Arctic to the Black Sea. Charlie English tells this true story of spycraft, smuggling and secret printing operations for the first time, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who risked their lives to stand up to the intellectual strait-jacket Stalin created.

Fernande Olivier, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Therese Walter, Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, and Jacqueline Roque. These six extraordinary women shared Pablo Picasso's life and were instrumental in his career, yet they have long been dismissed as simply passive models or muses. 'Hidden Portraits' reveals that their lives were - without exception - remarkable. All six were unconventional, independent and talented. All six were tested, both by Picasso's subterfuges and betrayals, and the wider social turbulence they lived through. The extent to which each influenced Picasso's art in major new directions has never been fully acknowledged. Sue Roe delves deeply into the truth of the women's experiences to tell the story of Picasso's women from their point of view.

Michael Morpurgo has lived on a farm deep in rural Devon for more than forty years. In 'Spring', he observes the season unfold around him, as fragile new shoots emerge, buds turn to blossom and grey skies give way to blue. As the natural world shakes off a long winter, Michael watches lambs being born on the farm, delights in a fanfare of bluebells in the woods, and sings to the birds, dressed in his wellies and dressing gown. He shares small moments of joy found in the back garden, as well as more dramatic encounters with sparrowhawks, hares and otters.

In 1943, German SS officers in charge of Auschwitz-Birkenau ordered that an orchestra should be formed among the female prisoners. While still living amid the most brutal and dehumanising of circumstances, they were also made to give weekly concerts for Nazi officers, and individual members were sometimes summoned to give solo performances of an officer's favourite piece of music. What role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to be forced to provide solace to the perpetrators of a genocide that claimed the lives of their family and friends?

A fascinating feminist retelling of the historical true-crime story of infamous wife-murderer Dr Crippen in Edwardian England, brought to justice by an extraordinary group of music hall women.