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.

Lian Hingee is reading Two-Week Wait written by Luke and Kelly Jackson, illustrated by Mara Wild

When I was first referred to a fertility specialist to start IVF, it was one of the most isolating moments of my life. I felt like a colossal failure and had no idea what the process entailed (just that there would be needles, and I would be expected to administer them to myself). I know now that while everyone around me appeared to be falling pregnant easily and naturally, that actually those of us who needed a little (or a lot) of science to help us on our journey are astonishingly common. It’s why I’m so glad to see books like Two-Week Wait appearing on our shelves.

This elegant and heartfelt graphic novel about the IVF process was inspired by the real-life experiences of authors Luke and Kelly Jackson. From the first tentative steps towards actively trying for a baby to the gamut of procedures you have to endure before you even get sent home with a freezer bag full of hormones, Two-Week Wait provides an intimate and – for me – excruciatingly familiar account of trying to fall pregnant. Mara Wild’s evocative artwork illustrates the process beautifully; both the procedures and the emotional fallout, and the Jackson’s have captured the highs and lows of IVF treatment perfectly. My journey was considerably longer and more complicated than that portrayed in Two-Week Wait, but simply seeing a sliver of it represented here in such an authentic and accessible medium brings me hope.

Tye Cattanach is reading Animal by Lisa Taddeo

If you plan to visit us at Readings Carlton today, or any day for the rest of the year (because now you can, yayyyy!) Beware the bookseller with a slightly manic gleam in her eyes looking for unsuspecting customers to pounce upon with a copy of Animal by Lisa Taddeo. It will be me and I will literally be gushing incoherently about the incredible reading experience that is THIS BOOK.

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy and have largely had to bite my tongue for months about my MANY thoughts on this masterpiece of female rage. This book is A LOT. Menacing and quietly vicious. Magnificent writing. Absolutely unforgettable and completely original. READ IT. Please read it. I promise you won’t be sorry. You will feel a great many things and you will feel them intensely. You WILL need to talk about it, and when you do, you know where to find me.

Mark Rubbo is reading The Offing by Benjamin Myers

A few weeks ago, just before lockdown, one of our favourite customers urged me to read The Offing by Benjamin Myers. I’m so glad she did.

A young man from an English colliery town, just finished school, decides to explore the countryside before he inevitably follows his father down the mines. After a few weeks of tramping he stumbles upon an overgrown cottage perched on hill overlooking a fishing village and there he encounters a remarkable woman and a remarkable friendship. It’s something to lift your spirits.