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 is reading Sally Rooney and Jesmyn Ward

I’ve just returned from a two week holiday, and I read so many great books while I was there. Out of the books I read, though, there were two stand-out favourites.

The first is Sally Rooney’s excellent debut, Conversations with Friends. The book tells the story of Frances and her best friend/ex-girlfriend Bobbi, two uni students who befriend an older, married couple, Nick and Melissa. The title can be taken pretty literally in this case – a lot of the novel details conversations between these four characters. This might sound tedious, but these conversations are so well fleshed out. This novel has a similar feeling to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, but is much more lighthearted. It balances salaciousness with intellect and the serious with the silly very, very well. It’s one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

The second book is Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing. I inhaled this book – I read it over the course of about four hours, sitting in the same position, unable to get up for fear of interrupting Ward’s incredible storytelling. The plot of this novel is simple: Jojo, a young teenager, lives with his grandparents, baby sister Kayla, and absent mother Leonie. When his father is released from jail, Jojo’s mother takes him and his sister across the state to go collect him. Ward’s vivid prose is some of the best I’ve read in a long time. It brings this story to life, and will leave you with imagery that sticks for weeks after you’ve finished reading. This book is especially a must-read for anybody who counts Toni Morrison’s Beloved as one of their favourites.

Chris Gordon is reading The Zanzibar Wife by Deborah Rodriguez

The Zanzibar Wife follows a recognisable formula – women come together to ward off adversity, and in doing so, discover friendship and hope – but the location is anything but formulaic. This story is set in Oman, a nation on the Arabian Peninsula which has terrain encompassing desert, riverbed oases and long coastlines on the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. It’s a long way from home as we know it, and Deborah Rodriguez magically transports us there in this novel.

Rodriguez has plenty of experience to draw from in writing about this setting. She lived in Kabul for years, during which time she set up a coffee shop and hairdresser salon for women to come together and share their stories. (If you want to read more about this generous woman’s life and work, you can visit her website here). Her latest novel aims to entertain and inform. She creates a vivid picture of the land and culture through the eyes of Western women, and delivers a rollicking good story along the way.

The Zanzibar Wife is perfect for taking you away from your everyday world of work and grocery shopping. An ideal read for those of us who – like the author – have itchy feet.

Suzanne Steinbruckner is dreaming of Japan

I’ve been eagerly revisiting Tokyo Precincts and Kyoto Pocket Precincts in the past few weeks. Steve Wide and Michelle MacKintosh’s fun and inspiring guides to the best cultural, shopping, eating and everything-in-between experiences to be had in and around Tokyo and Kyoto are a great resource if you are planning a trip to Japan, but also an excellent read if you are just dreaming of all things Japanese.

Each guide gives you a general overview of the region and then hones in on particular neighbourhoods of interest. Full of gorgeous photographs that have you wishing you were being nudged by friendly deers in Nara; walking through a lush garden in Tokyo; devouring every type of Japanese delicacy (there are so many highlighted that you’ll struggle not to drool all over these books); sussing out which neighbourhoods to hit up for the best coffee fix; or losing hours exploring the artisans, museums or craft haunts Steve and Michelle introduce you to. My copies are full of page markers to keep track of all the amazing places I can’t wait to visit in real life!

Bronte Coates is reading Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

A recent trend in YA books that I’m loving right now is seeing teen feminists pull of grand stunts that reject (crush, trample, tear down) misogynistic and sexists practices in their schools.

I was charmed by the funny and life-affirming Piglettes: three girls are voted the ugliest girls in their school and instead of crying about it all summer, become friends and decide to cycle to Paris for the Bastille Day Celebrations, creating a media sensation along the way. I adored Take Three Girls: a trio of unlikely teens become friends, eventually uniting to take down a a truly awful gossip website.

And most recently, I picked up a copy of Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie which my colleague Leanne Hall aptly describes as: ‘A rousing example of smart, brave girls using creativity and activism to make their own personal revolution.’ You can read her rave review here.

Vivian Carter is one of the ‘nice girls’ so she’s more surprised than anyone when, angered by a spate of sexist behaviour and inspired by her mother’s own Riot Grrrl past, she creates Moxie – a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She thinks she’s just blowing off steam but when other girls respond to the zine, both positively and negatively, it turns out she might have unknowingly started a revolution. Moxie is such a brilliant read – refreshing and invigorating in all the best ways.

If all these books sound right up your alley, you should also look out for Erin Gough’s second novel early next year, Amelia Westlake, in which two very different teenage girls come up with a grand feminist hoax to bring down their elite school – and somehow end up falling for each other… Um, I can’t wait!