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.

Ellen Cregan has just returned from Sydney Writers’ Festival

I attended Sydney Writer’s Festival on the weekend, and I spent a large part of Saturday listening to excellent authors discussing their books and the ideas they each delve into.

The first session of the day was Jamila Rizvi and Angela Saini discussing Saini’s book, Inferior. I am not normally a science person but I’d booked tickets to this event because my partner, who came with me, is a scientist – in the end I think I enjoyed the session more than he did. Saini’s book has shot up to the top of my to-be-read list.

Following this, I saw Gabriel Tallent in conversation with crime author Michael Robotham. I loved Tallent’s book, My Absolute Darling. When it came out last year it certainly created a lot of controversy, and it was fascinating hearing the author talk about this in-depth.

The last session of the day was one on intersectional feminism, and it had an amazing line-up – Jenny Zhang, Nakkiah Lui, Zinzi Clemmens and Aminatou Sow, again with Rizvi as moderator. This event was one of the most respectful, informative and engaging panel discussions I’ve ever been to, and I feel so lucky that I was able to be there.

Lian Hingee is reading The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

I have this friend who I always call on when I’m struggling to find a new book to read or a new TV show to watch. I don’t know if it’s just that we have similar tastes, or if she just knows me really well, but her recommendations are almost always impeccable (her baffling dedication to The 100 notwithstanding). On Twitter a couple of weeks ago she was raving about a debut verse novel from slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X, so when I saw it in the shop on Monday I snapped a copy up immediately.

I’d barely cracked the cover before deciding it was probably the best YA book that I’ve read for several years. Xiomara is the only member of her Dominican family not to be given a biblical name. Her mother, confused, thinking it a saint’s name, has given her daughter a name that means ‘One who is ready for war’, and Xiomara has spent her whole life living up to it. Growing up in the neighbourhood of Harlem, where children run wild, and the older generation of immigrants live cheek-by-jowl with drug dealers, Xiomara is fighting for her place in the world.

The Poet X is visceral, immediate, powerful, and full of passages that make me catch my breath. I’m tearing through the book so quickly that I’ve had to consciously slow myself down and savour it. Highly recommended.

Chris Gordon is reading Three Decades On: Lake House and Daylesford by Alla Wolf-Tasker

Ahead of me is an Autumn day in which I’ll be driving up to Daylesford for a truly romantic weekend with my beloved. There will be long walks, soft bedding and delicious food. And I know it will be exactly how I dream it because I plan to stay at the glorious Lake House boutique hotel.

Alla Wolf-Tasker is the genius behind this glorious establishment and has created a menu for the restaurant that is a tribute to Victorian produce and creativity. Three Decades On: Lake House and Daylesford is her new cookbook, and it’s a gorgeous acknowledgement of her vision. I am partial to cookbooks that record history and places, as well as providing taste and inspiration, and so naturally, I love this book.

Three Decades On has truly stunning photography that chronicles the development of the building, the grounds and the wonderful recipes – most of which feature bright produce from the gardens! This is the perfect book to flick through as you dream about how you can create your own Lake House moment in your busy home. It might also be the perfect gift to hint that you’re in need of a mini-getaway yourself. Daylesford is only a couple of hours away after all.

As added incentive to buy this beautiful book, Readings is offering the chance to win one night’s accommodation in a Waterfront Suite at Lake House. Find all the details here.

Bronte Coates is reading Kids Like Us by Hilary Reyl

A colleague recently recommended I read this YA novel. Kids Like Us is the story of teenager Martin, who spends a summer in France while his famous mother shoots and directs her next film. Martin is on the autism spectrum and while in France, he attends a local school to expand his boundaries. It’s a challenging experience, not least because he finds himself falling in love with Alice – a classmate he originally mistakes as being a character in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. This is a beautiful and heartwarming story that’s perfect for fans of John Green, or anyone looking for an offbeat love story. Author Hilary Reyl has a daughter who is somewhere on the autism spectrum and has spoken of how she was partially inspired by her own life in writing this novel.

I’ve also just started reading Ally Carter’s latest YA novel, Not If I Save You First, a funny, charming, heart-racing romance-action mash-up. Maddie wants to forget all about Logan, her supposed childhood best friend who also happens to be the President’s son. The two were inseparable until a disastrous incident in the White House, which saw Maddie’s Secret Service father injured in action. Maddie and her father disappeared into an isolated existence in Alsaka and Logan never contacted her again – despite her constant letters. When he reappears six years later she’s furious, and even more so when a mysterious assailant kidnaps him. If anyone’s going to kill Logan it’s Maddie, and so shes off on a desperate chase across the Alaskan wildernress.