Our books editor Zoe West’s favourite picks for the month

The best new books you’ll love

Best books… Richard Holmes The biographer chooses five ...

CHRISTMAS AT THE SECOND CHANCE SUPPER CLUB By Caroline Roberts HQ, PB, £9.99 We return to the village’s Supper Club for a festive tale of friendship, community spirit, and the promise of second chance

TLS contributors choose their favourites

by Tony Robinson (£25, HB, Little, Brown Book Group) Labelled a heretic, Father Asser’s days are numbered as he awaits his death in a papal prison in Rome. But in a twist of fate, he is saved by Cardi