The Firework-Maker’s Daughter review – Philip Pullman’s fairytale is explosive fun

This spellbinding adaptation uses a bulging dramatic toolbox of clever effects and manages to be both epic and intimate

Primitive War review – it’s Green Berets vs dinosaurs in cheerfully cheesy Vietnam war gorefest

Set to an on-the-nose soundtrack of Creedence Clearwater, an elite squad of soldiers are suitably unprepared for their large-toothed assailants in this jungle thriller

Holbein: Renaissance Master by Elizabeth Goldring review – a magnificent portrait of the artist

The first scholarly biography in more than 100 years of the man who immortalised the Tudor court does not disappoint

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

The return of Charlie and Lola; the second lives of trees; the dangers of time travel; a YA Bluebeard retelling and more

Things That Disappear by Jenny Erpenbeck review – a kaleidoscopic study of transience

A collection of columns by the German Booker winner reveals a keen eye for the details that mark the passing of time

Liars by Sarah Manguso audiobook review – livid tale of marriage gone awry

Rebecca Lowman narrates a superb, claustrophobia-inducing plunge into a relationship descending from bad to worse

The Hiding Place by Kate Mildenhall review – an edge-of-your-seat thriller that skewers the middle class

A group of friends buy an abandoned mining town in this satisfying crime novel with a satirical twist

The Scouse Christmas Carol review – knockabout comedy with a potty mouth

Paul Duckworth’s sweary Scrooge has romantic history with Marley’s widow in a pun-heavy festive show

Jeeves Again review – new Jeeves and Wooster stories by celebrity fans

This collection of new short stories about Bertie and his valet pays homage to the genius of PG Wodehouse – just in time for Christmas

The Thing With Feathers review – well-intentioned adaptation of Max Porter novella about grief

Benedict Cumberbatch gives an honest performance, but this is too self-conscious to challenge or work through loss with same power as the book

The Dinner Party by Viola van de Sandt review – a formidable debut

An intimate soiree builds to a horrific climax in this visceral novel about a young woman tasked with hosting a meal for her fiance

The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco review – a masterclass in visual reportage

The author of Palestine turns his attention to the legacies of Indian partition in this brilliant portrait of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

The Wax Child by Olga Ravn review – a visceral tale of witchcraft

The author of The Employees goes back to 17th-century Denmark for an intensely poetic portrait of everyday sorcery and female solidarity

Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu review – life with borderline personality disorder

A student navigates troubled relationships at age 19 and 25, as he comes to terms with mental health difficulties

John Updike: A Life in Letters review – the man incapable of writing a bad sentence

Friends, enemies and lovers animate more than 60 years of the author’s remarkable correspondence