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.

Jason Austin is reading The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan

I finished reading The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan about a week ago and it’s one of those rare books that I have found myself still pondering. This story about the suicide of its title character and the effect this has on her friends is intriguing and strangely beautiful. Told from the perspective of three of Miwako’s friends, it plays on how secrets can affect our concept of self and the gap that is left when someone close has gone. Goenawan’s novel is a perfect concoction of adolescent and family drama, Japanese ghost story and mystery and is written in a delicate, simple and dreamlike writing style that is humane and thoroughly haunting. Highly recommended.

Lian Hingee is reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Twenty pages in, I thought maybe I’d made a bit of a mistake with The Midnight Library, but I’m glad I persisted because Matt Haig’s philosophical novel is an elegant and well-conceived treatise on hope that makes for perfect reading in These Unprecedented Times.

Protagonist Nora Seed is a lonely, listless woman who has squandered every opportunity handed to her, and the novel begins with her alone, crippled by anxiety, estranged from her family, fired from her job, penniless, and burying her beloved pet cat. She takes a deliberate overdose of anti-depressants, and finds herself in an enormous library where every book is a different incarnation of her life. Offered the chance to find out what would have happened if she’d said ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’, Nora embarks on a multitude of journeys to undo her greatest regrets and find out where exactly her life went off the rails. The Midnight Library offers a fascinating and fantastic premise, but at its heart the novel is a celebration of the mundanities of life, the joy of small pleasures, and the role each person plays in the lives of others.

Bronte Coates is reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik

I recently confided to a workmate that I’d never read a Naomi Novik novel to which they responded: jkaef;dg;dg;jdfzjk'djkl'sdkdj;k;jkldfs Within days I found myself with a copy of Novik’s Nebula award-winning novel, Uprooted, in hand. I cracked the spine just last night and was immediately captivated by the voice of Agnieszka. Together with her dearest friend Kasia, this loyal, awkward and entirely lovable teenager is duty-bound to present herself as an offering to the Dragon – an ageless and brusque wizard who protects their home from the dark enchantments of the woods that lie beyond their boundaries. While everyone expects him to take the beautiful Kasia it instead falls to Agnieszka to leave her life behind and become his companion, with no idea of what this entails. Novik has created a magical world here that feels familiar yet fresh and entirely immersive – if you love seeing fairy tales cracked wide open, this one is for you.