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 Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s beloved 2013 novel is one of those books that people recommend to me all the time, but that I never seem to get around to reading – until now!

Americanah is ostensibly a love story: two childhood sweethearts in Nigeria are compelled to seek better futures in America and England, their lives spiralling in different directions. And it is also an immersive and deeply felt exploration of race, class, identity, migration, grief and loneliness. Adichie has crafted a work that is both gripping narrative and incisive dissection of societal attitudes towards race. She writes about blackness with incredible precision, as well as profound empathy, and spans three continents in the process. Americanah is rich with ideas, very smart and funny, and I loved reading it.

Fellow fans might also be happy to learn that a television adaptation of the book – starring and produced by Lupita Nyong'o – is in development right now. I’m genuinely excited for how it might be made.

Leanne Hall is reading The Girl in the Woods by Camilla Läckberg

It’s been two years since Camilla Läckberg’s last book, and I’ve been a little desperate for my next dose of Erica, Patrik and the other residents of the small Swedish village of Fjällbacka. The Girl in the Woods is lengthy, engrossing and highly absorbing. When a four-year-old girl goes missing and is later found murdered, the crime echoes a notorious murder from thirty years ago where two teen girls confessed to the killing of a small child. Coincidentally (or not?) the two women are back together in Fjällbacka for the first time, as the now-famous actress Marie Wall takes on the role of Ingrid Bergman in a film being shot nearby.

All the comforting hallmarks of a Läckberg novel are present: the strengths and quirks of the local police force, Erica’s unconventional journalistic investigations, the endless coffee drinking, the juggling of an all-absorbing case with everyday family life, and a rapidly unspooling case with multiple suspects. For someone as obsessed with this author as me, there are enjoyable glimpses of her real life on the page: references to the Dancing with the Stars-style reality TV show (Läckberg appeared on the Swedish Let’s Dance in 2012) and an old lady who is obsessed with MMA (Läckberg is married to MMA fighter Simon Sköld).

What seemed more present for the first time however in Läckberg’s work, was the commentary on contemporary Swedish life and politics. Swedish attitudes to recently-arrived Syrian refugees, the rise of far right politics and the challenges facing displaced people trying to fit into Swedish society are at the forefront, as is gun control and alienated youth. This gave The Girl in the Woods added depth, and I hope it’s something that will continue in future novels.

Suzanne Steinbruckner is reading The Portrait of Molly Dean by Katherine Kovacic

I’ve just read The Portrait of Molly Dean by Katherine Kovacic – you could say I’ve become obsessed with it! This is a fictional account of the real life murder of Molly Dean in 1930s Melbourne, and sees art dealer Alex Clayton happen upon a small portrait of a woman that she suspects might be by artist, Colin Colahan. After some initial research and hoping to make a quick profit, Alex takes a punt and buys the portrait, but she’s not prepared for the bizarre series of events that follow.

The narrative splits between present-day Melbourne and the past. In 1999, Alex is uncovering the unusual circumstances related to the murder of Molly, while also being pursued by an unknown buyer desperate for the portrait. In 1930, Molly is romantically involved with Colahan, while also chasing a story that she hopes will make her name as a journalist.

I loved the mix of local historical fiction with the suspense and pace of a thriller. We know from the outset that something terrible is going to happen to Molly, but now when or how, and the ride to the ending had me glued to the pages.

I admit to having a soft spot for fictional accounts of the artistic scene in Melbourne’s interwar, and post-war period. I loved The Strays and also Cairo, to name a few, and next on my list will be Gideon Haigh’s A Scandal in Bohemia (due next month). Haigh’s book is a true crime take on the same mystery that inspired Kovacic’s novel – the still unsolved murder of Molly Dean.