Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Robbie is reading The Promise by Tony Birch

I am reading Tony Birch’s new story collection, The Promise. It is wonderful: richly characterised, funny and sad. I love that his stories ring true, and each time I finish one I can’t wait to start the next.

It might sound strange to say this about a Miles Franklin-nominated author, but Birch hasn’t reached his potential. It is a tantalising thought that, as good as he is now, there is better to come. Here is a great Australian writer growing before our eyes, and one that I am really excited about.

(Come and hear Tony Birch talk about the book with Robbie on Thursday 15 May!)

Fiona is reading Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon

After hearing some co-workers of mine talking about how life-altering this brick of a book was, I bought it. I spent the next few weeks staring at it in an unsuccessful attempt to make it less large, even after knowing the last quarter of the book is notes. Then, when I finally picked it up, I could barely put it down.

It’s taking me a while to read because instead of speeding through – as I tend to do with other books – I’m taking the time to consider what I’m reading, how it makes me feel and whether or not I should fold over the corner of my page so I can come back later. (The answer is always yes.) Then I have to read parts aloud to my partner. Then we talk about them for a while. Then he borrows it as soon as I get up to make myself a drink. Then I get it back. Then maybe I need to have a little cry for a while, or go find my daughter and give her a hug.

Andrew Solomon talks about the ways in which children can differ from their parents (chapters include children with disabilities, those within the Deaf culture, children of rape, children who commit crimes, and more). While some stories have left me heartbroken, the book itself has filled me with relentless optimism about what the world has to give.

Emily is reading Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

I loved Justine Larbalestier’s Magic or Madness, published in 2005 and now tragically out of print, in which the author first showed her capacity for world-building, exceptional writing and a terrific balance between the high stakes necessary for great fantasy and a tenderness towards her characters. And that’s why I was so keen to get my hands on Larbalestier’s forthcoming novel (due in July).

Razorhurst is set in Sydney in the early 1930s and the sense of time and place is instant. So too is our affection for Kelpie, the youngest of the narrators, who lives on the streets. She witnesses an extremely bloody scene in the first chapter and thereafter lives with the consequences of that, complicated by the fact that she has the ability to see the spirit world – including the ghost of the man from the aforementioned extremely bloody scene! I can’t tell you where the novel is going, only that I feel in such safe hands with Larbalestier on what has really been a fantastic journey so far. This will be an exciting addition to Australian YA.

Nina is reading What Was Left by Eleanor Limprecht & Trouble by Non Pratt

My reading has been (unintentionally) themed this week – both books feature female protagonists who have mixed feelings towards motherhood.

At the moment, I’m about two thirds of the way through Eleanor Limprecht’s gripping debut novel, What Was Left. An emotionally wrenching story about a woman who leaves her six-month-old baby, What Was Left has held my attention from the very first page.

Before What Was Left, I read the YA novel Trouble, about a fifteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant, and the sixteen-year-old boy who agrees to pretend to be the baby’s father. Told from alternating viewpoints, the author does a great job of capturing each character’s distinct voice and personality. I realised in the first chapter that I haven’t read much contemporary YA from the UK, and it was utterly refreshing. Also, for those interested in book cover design, here are a series of fascinating posts from the designer about how the book’s cover was created.