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.

Mark Rubbo is reading Olga by Bernhard Schlink (translated by Charlotte Collins)

I’m been reading Olga by Bernhard Schlink. This is the first book of Schlink’s I’ve read since The Reader in 2017, and I’m very much enjoying it. I particularly love the European sensibility of the story. Olga and Herbert are childhood sweethearts but their relationship is opposed by his aristocratic parents – which presents problems of course! I’m not sure what’s going to happen but I can’t wait to find out.

Chris Gordon is reading Heartburn by Nora Ephron

My friend, the novelist Toni Jordan recently told me to read Nora Ephron’s Heartburn – she was flabbergasted that I had not read this ‘memoir of sorts’ before. It’s a completely delicious read. It’s funny. It’s bittersweet. It’s kind of like Ephron’s movies but also more than that. It holds between the covers – secrets of anger and disappointment. While it’s not a long novel, it’s certainly long enough to dissect and analyse the lives of married women and men. The perfect length to read over a weekend, this witty, kind book is one you to pass on to your best friend. You could then talk about Meg Ryan and New York and Heartburn while enjoying a spritz and a bowl of olives together. It really would be quite the perfect afternoon.

Tye Cattanach is reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama

I would argue there were few Australians as excited as I was for the publication of Barack Obama’s first volume of his post-presidential memoir, A Promised Land. I have long admired Obama’s writing style, and was undaunted at the prospect of investing the time required to read all 700+ pages of this hefty hardback.

I have not been even remotely disappointed. A Promised Land is a beautifully penned account of Obama’s path to the presidency and his time serving in the highest office of the Western World. Filled with his trademark forthrightness, honesty, wry sense of humour and careful self-reflection, this book is far from the stereotype of a dry, boring political memoir. The memoir delivers the reader fascinating insight into the motivations and ambitions of a man who chose to devote every ounce of energy he had into attempting to create the America he believed was possible – the United States of America he still believes is achievable. An inspiring and hopeful read, I highly recommend risking the possible neck and shoulder injuries that may occur during reading.