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.

Bronte Coates is reading Camille Perri & Katherine Heiny

It is that time of the year where everyone shares their end-of-year wrap-ups and the internet is flooded with recommendations for approximately one billion books that you missed out on reading this year. After seeing it crop up a few times, I impulsively picked up a copy of Camille Perri’s frothy rom-com, When Katie Met Cassidy, last week. This is a light and quick read that gently touches on bigger issues as Katie and Cassidy’s relationship develops and challenges their pre-conceptions about each other – and themselves.

I’ve also finally, finally gotten around to reading Katherine Heiny’s Standard Deviation, which was recommended to me by several people last year. I’m only a few chapters in but I already adore it and I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner. This is a very funny novel about modern life, exploring parenting, marriages, ageing and more. Heiny perfectly captures what it means to feel immense affection and frustration simultaneously for the people we’re most intimately involved with.

Leanne Hall is reading Neither Here Nor Hair edited by Alisha Jade

I went to Indie Comic Con on the weekend and picked up lots of great small-run publications direct from the creators, on subjects as diverse as radioactive evil snails and neurotic show dogs. One I’ve been wanting to read for a long time is the graphic anthology Neither Here Nor Hair – can you think of a better theme for an anthology than people’s relationship with their own hair? It’s fascinating to see 14 different visual styles in the book, and a wide variety of approaches to the topic, demonstrating how the hair on our heads, bodies and faces can inspire feelings of pride, shame, fear, love, rebellion, sacrifice and more.

The anthology features the work of talented Readings staff member, Ele Jenkins, so naturally I turned to her story ‘Memento’ first. ‘Memento’ starts with the discovery of an old ponytail and spins off into memories and philosophical tidbits about gender, death, language and identity – it’s fabulous. Neither Here Nor Hair also taught me some startling facts about Catherine de Medici’s passion for a particular type of personal grooming, and introduced me to fourteen new graphic novel creators I can get excited about.

Paul Goodman is reading A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor

In anticipation for my summer jaunt to freezing England I have begun to reread Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts. Not only is it the perfect book for hiking up anticipation before a trip but it is the most brilliantly written and expressed travelogue I have ever read.

Between the First and Second World Wars, an eighteen year-old Fermor begins a walk from Amsterdam to Constantinople, recounting his meetings with locals along the way. The book is written by an older Fermor, and there is something special about the way he entwines the immediate thoughts of his younger self with the memories of the man he became. Sleeping wherever he is allowed and living on no more than a few pounds at any one time, he weaves a multi-layered, multi-era Europe for the reader as he goes. His walks bring forth the poetry his younger self was inspired to sing when believing himself to be alone, but also the recollections that a lifetime of hindsight allows.

What makes this the book I recommend whenever anyone is looking for travel writing is his ability to convey the mood of the time. Primarily this is conveyed through its people, and the young Fermor is a charming protagonist. It might just be the story so good that any writer could tell it, but trudging through a Europe now lost to time, relying on the kindness of strangers when war loomed dark on the horizon, it is Fermor that elevates it to something unique.

Chris Gordon is reading Zero F*cks Endless Summer by Yumi Stynes

I reckon Yumi Stynes is a crack-up. She’s funny, super smart and organised, and I’m quite taken with her nifty shortcuts and ability to get to the crux of what’s needed without any fancy airs and graces. Her second cookbook continues her Zero F*cks series and is a perfect pick for mates, as well as yourself. This is a straightforward, no-mucking-around collection of recipes embellished by gorgeous (if annoyingly unrealistic) photos of her home, kids and kitchen. New favourites meals of mine include Udon soups, one-bowl meals and some very cute cupcakes. I know Stynes seems all smiles and fun, and that can make the rest of us a little suspicious at times, but truly there are some great unpretentious recipes here that will give you time and sanity. I’m certain that Endless Summer will remain on my bench over these hot months.