Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A sensational sleigh ride; joyous poetry; amazing animals; a sinister seaside town; a deadly forest; a thrilling heist and more

You Are Here by David Nicholls audiobook review – a rain-soaked rural romcom

Narrators Lydia Leonard and Lee Ingleby capture the wit and wisdom at the heart of the One Day author’s story of a hike in the Lake District

Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley review – folk horror spans the centuries

The chill of the supernatural pervades these unsettling tales, following a settlement’s history from the deep past to the near future

Michael Morpurgo’s Pinocchio review – there’s nothing wooden about this magical musical

A stupendous cast, outstanding stagecraft and delightful songs prove how thrilling an old story can become in the right hands

Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser review – what should a novel look like?

The Miles Franklin winner’s most experimental book yet opens as fiction interrupted by a narrator who starts picking apart her life and feelings about writing

Downfall by Nadine Dorries review – wild wild Westminster

The former culture secretary’s ‘real-life political thriller’ takes in sex parties and pasta plotters – but raises more questions than it answers

Augustus the Strong by Tim Blanning review – the king of bling

The extravagant 18th-century king of Poland and patron of the arts brought to life in a vivacious new biography

Duets review – co-written stories that sing

From the horrifying to the hilarious, this collection of collaborative tales is endlessly inventive

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer review – the fruits of labour

The author of Braiding Sweetgrass returns with visions of an ecologically-inspired alternative to consumerism

Stay With Me by Hanne Ørstavik review – looking for love

The acclaimed Norwegian author explores the impact of childhood trauma in this portrait of a life lived in fear

We Who Wrestle With God by Jordan Peterson review – a culture warrior out of his depth

The popular psychologist’s blinkered reading of the Bible does his cause no favours

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller review – light in the darkness

Set during the Big Freeze of 1962-3, this story of two marriages brilliantly evokes the legacy of the second world war

Wicked review – Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are a blast in sugar-rush Wizard of Oz fantasy

Stephen Schwartz’s musical prequel has been brought to the big screen, with Erivo’s charismatic Elphaba exerting a planetary pull over a star-studded cast

Blackbird Singing at Dusk by Wendy Pratt review – the great smells of the north and nature

Grief rubs shoulders with greasy chip pans in a humorous and heartfelt celebration of the coastal working class

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad by Simon Parkin review – the lost heroes of Soviet horticulture

This fascinating history of Nikolai Vavilov and the staff at his plant institute tells a story of almost unbelievable self-sacrifice while under siege during the second world war