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.

Annie Condon is reading The Long Answer by Anna Hogeland

The Long Answer by Anna Hogeland is a brilliant novel about mothering, not mothering, and all the states in between including wanting a child, losing a child, and bearing witness to other women’s experiences.

The novel begins when the narrator is twelve weeks into her first pregnancy. She yearns for a stronger relationship with her sister who has just miscarried, and her interest in other women’s experiences of pregnancy, birth and loss means that her story at times is the background to other women’s experiences. Hogeland is interested in the long answers, and recognises that nothing about these experiences is black or white, more deserving of being told, or worthy of a short answer.

This book is already in my top three for 2022.

Gabrielle Williams is reading Trust by Hernan Diaz

I’m still reading Trust (it’s a big book!). I’m now at book 3 in this single volume of 4 books, and slowly the layers are being peeled back, helping put the first two books in context.

In the past, Andrew Bevel (financial mogul and architect of the stockmarket crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression) employed a young woman as a ghost writer to pen his official memoir in order to disavow the thinly disguised fictional account of his life (book one in this volume). His wife Mildred has been portrayed as a delicate wife who dabbles in philanthropy as a kind of hobby perhaps, or maybe as a way of keeping out of her husband’s hair. But as the ghost writer revisits what is now the Andrew Bevel museum, she starts researching Mildred’s letters, writings, and financial accounts, and Andrew Bevel’s claims about his wife seem, perhaps, to be more fiction than fact.

Stay tuned for next week’s What We’re Reading, when I hopefully can write my full conclusion about this financially puzzling, skilfully written Booker Prize longlistee.

Lucie Dess is listening to Midnights by Taylor Swift

It’s here! My most anticipated album of the year! And I can wholeheartedly say, I am FAR from disappointed. Taylor Swift has put her all into this album and it had me dancing, laughing, cheering and sobbing, all in 13 incredible tracks. I’ve had it on repeat for a week now!

Midnights is the love child (or sexy baby, one might say) of Swift’s previous albums, Reputation and 1989. Through her lyrics and catchy beats, she weaves stories of reflection, of anger, love and happiness. And in true Swiftie fashion, it’s full of references for her fans to unpack. I just know John Mayer is tossing and turning at night.

Take 45 minutes today to listen to this chaotic, poetic album, you won’t be disappointed.