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.

Ellen Cregan is reading The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust, Volume 2) by Philip Pullman

I’ve been reading the second installment in Phillip Pullman’s The Book of Dust trilogy, which only came out a couple of weeks ago. I am a huge fan of Pullman’s writing, and was very excited for this book to come out – and for once, I (an extremely excitable reader) am pacing myself with a long-awaited novel! It’s so nice to return to the world of daemons and dust and shady government-related magical mysteries, and even nicer to do so in short bursts every night. I do think that The Secret Commonwealth is a book for those who have grown up loving His Dark Materials, but for those people, this book is a delight and offers up so much.

Bronte Coates is reading Look At Me by Anita Brookner

I’ve been meaning to read an Anita Brookner novel for some years now and last week I finally picked up Look At Me. This is one of Brookner’s earlier books and often cited as a favourite among her fans. I also suspect it’s one of the loneliest novels ever written. Unmarried, recently orphaned, and matter-of-fact about her lonely existence, Frances works in the reference library of a medical research institute. When she is ‘taken up’ by an charismatic couple, she thrills at the opportunity to have a different life – but when she fails to sustain their interest, she is all too easily discarded. This elegant and quietly devastating novel simmers with a dark humour and searing intensity.

Athina Clarke is reading This Taste for Silence by Amanda O'Callaghan

Too many people forgo the pleasures to be found in short stories without ever having sampled the medium. I have to declare up front – I love short stories: the good ones pack a hefty punch with a minimum investment of time and effort and This Taste for Silence was no exception! Each story in the collection was a delicious morsel – nutritious and stimulating, a real treat. Some stories left me with an ominous foreboding, haunting and chilling me to my core. Others, lingered long after I’d finished reading, taunting me with their unanswered questions. What would I do in the same circumstances? How would I react?

O’Callaghan’s stories speak of so many things – love, loss, anguish, dislocation, death, grief, the effects of the choices we make – all seemingly commonplace experiences but imagined and told beautifully. I found myself sharing the stories with friends and family just so I could relive the connection I experienced.

Do yourself a favour and read This Taste for Silence – you won’t be disappointed.