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.

Lian Hingee is reading The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

You come across a lot of books being promoted as ‘the next Gone Girl’ – pretty much any new thriller featuring a female protagonist receives this treatment. As someone who falls for it Every Single Time, I’m getting pretty sick of this promise not delivering. For this reason, I put off reading The Girl Before for months.

According to the publishers, JP Delaney is a pseudonym being used by ‘a writer who has previously written bestselling fiction under other names’ and it’s safe to assume that whoever they are – they are not new to this thriller business. The Girl Before is a smart, tense, atmospheric and surprisingly sexy page-turner.

One Folgate Street is the high-tech, ultra-minimalist house designed by architect Edward Monkford (part Steve Jobs, part Frank Lloyd Wright). For Emma, who survived a brutal home invasion, and Jane, who is recovering from a very late term miscarriage, it represents a fresh start. But One Folgate Street has a very sinister history, and the closer its occupants come to uncovering the truth the creepier it becomes. Weaving together psychological drama, ethical conundrums, anxiety about our reliance on technology, and an overarching fear of Big Data, this is a compelling contemporary thriller – and it’s probably the closest thing I’ve read that actually deserves that ‘next Gone Girl’ moniker.

Annie Condon is reading Do not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy

Maile Meloy’s new book has an accurate warning on its inside cover. It reads: ‘Do not start this book after dinner or you will almost certainly be up all night.’

I should have heeded this warning because I started the book last night, and even after two strong coffees, I’m still not fully awake today. What I am though, is incredibly impressed with Meloy’s ability to create both a thriller-type plotline, and diverse characters.

The story is about an extended family on a luxury cruise who lose their children during an onshore activity. What follows is every parent’s nightmare, made worse by language and cultural differences, frustration with the authorities, extensive media coverage, suspicions, recriminations and blame. Meloy writes from the perspectives of each of the parents, four of the children, and other characters who become involved in the saga. The reader is allowed to know where the children are and what is happening to them, while the parents know very little.

A fantastic winter read, also at a great price!

Chris Gordon is reading A New England Affair by Steven Carroll

I’m reading award-winning author Steven Carroll’s forthcoming novel, A New England Affair, which will be launched at the Melbourne Writers Festival next month. Reading it is like being treated to two love stories, all in one. First there is the deep admiration that Carroll clearly has for T.S. Eliot and his work – this is the third novel in his series inspired by Eliot’s Four Quartets. Then there is also the longing that Eliot himself has for his muse, Emily Hale.

I wish more people I knew read Carroll’s novels. I like his stories, his imagined conversations and his descriptions of the times behind us. I can imagine this particular novel as a three-part BBC series coming to us on a Sunday eve.

Nina Kenwood is reading Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

I’ve just started the third and final book of Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. This series is a funny, frothy, whip-smart family drama set in high society in Singapore. It’s a modern social satire populated by billionaires, but it’s also a little bit like Game of Thrones: a huge cast of characters, multiple powerful families, heroes, villains, betrayals, mysterious parentage, and lots and lots of scheming. These books are a go-to recommendation of mine for anyone going on holiday, or looking for a fun and juicy read, and no one has ever been disappointed.