Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films and TV shows we’re watching, and the music we’re listening to.

Julia Gorman is reading In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

A customer recently came into the kid’s shop and told me that this book is so good that she was buying herself a second copy. Due to this recommendation, and the very appealingly and gorgeous cover, I decided to buy myself a copy.

Elliott is a smart and just a little obnoxious thirteen-year-old human boy who has just discovered that he is one of the few humans who can see over The Wall to the Other Lands. There Elliott discovers that all kinds of non-human beings exist – trolls, dwarves, elves and, to his great pleasure, mermaids. Unfortunately, he also discovers that similar to the human world everyone in the Other Lands has a huge variety of opinions about how the world should be run. What ensures is a hilarious and action packed adventure of Elliott, and his two new best friends Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle and Luke Sunborn, as he tries to navigate this magical world all without the use of a mobile phone.

Tracy Hwang is reading Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff’s cataclysmic techno-thriller will sneak up on you until you can think of nothing else. Wipe away the grime and the grit, and you’ll find a brutally honest sci-fi that makes you question everything that makes us human. Lifel1k3 is raw and ruthless, filled with plot twists and multi-layered characters that evoke every emotion, from admiration to frustration. Kristoff has delivered an eerily plausible world that feels so real; if you haven’t picked it up yet, you’re missing out.

Ed. note: Tracy is a member of our current Readings Teen Advisory Board, and you can read more of her picks for fantasy and sci-fi readers

Chris Gordon is reading Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough

The Readings office is not a quiet place – truly, we are always talking and sharing our love for various novels, authors and food. Our conversations are an endless list of books to read, foods to taste and things to do. It’s a complete joy. This past week, everyone has been talking about the Readings Young Adult Book Prize shortlist and comparing the merits of one particular title to another. I have decided to read the entire shortlist so that I can join in. I have started with the very enchanting Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough which follows two young women taking on their high school. This is a perfect read – fast-paced, delightful, mischievousness and kind. Think of novels by John Green and Judy Blume and how they make you reminisce about your own childhood and ‘angsty’ teenage years, and you may be close to understanding the vibe of this terrific novel.

Dani Solomon is reading The Ugly Five by Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson

There are lots of books about how everyone is beautiful in their own way, which is great, but sometimes I wonder whether everyone needs to be beautiful? What’s wrong with being ugly? All too often, evil characters in kids’ books are described as having ‘ugly’ appearances, and the distinction between their inner and outer selves becomes blurred by a focus on the villain’s physical attributes. So it’s always refreshing to come across a book that demonstrate that ugliness is nothing to be frightened of, or even ashamed of.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have such done a fantastic job of emphasising this idea with their picture book, The Ugly Five. The five unusual (and self-described ugly) animals of this story are contagiously cheerful and proud of their appearances. By the end of the book, it’s clear that you can be one of the ‘good guys’ – and that others will love you – no matter how you look. The Ugly Five shows that ugly doesn’t have to be an ugly word.

Bronte Coates is reading Less by Andrew Sean Greer

When Arthur Less is invited to his ex-lover’s wedding, he does what any almost-50, failed novelist with zero self-respect would do – he accepts a series of half-baked invitations to literary events around the world and flees the country. His ensuing travels are littered with mishaps, misunderstandings and missed chances, both tragic and hilarious, and what first appears to be simply a witty satire of the American abroad, soon reveals itself to be a surprisingly beautiful love story. It feels trite to say that someone writes well about the human heart but oh my gosh, does Andrew Sean Greer write well about the human heart. The struggles of our hopeless hero Arthur Less are all too relatable.

This is the kind of novel that I know I’m going to be recommending for years to come. It’s charming and bewitching, joyful and tenderhearted, and just so, so funny. It’s rare that a book makes me laugh out loud but Less had me snorting on public transport and in bed, as well as reading aloud lines to friends and family – despite their protestations.

Greer won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Less and I’m so glad. His book wasn’t even available in Australia at the time of the announcement (it happily is now) and if it hadn’t received this recognition, would have definitely passed me by, and I would have missed discovering one of my favourite books of the year.