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.

George Delaney is reading Look At Me by Anita Brookner

I was intrigued by the premise of Anita Brookner’s Look At Me. It reminded me of Sally Rooney’s brilliant Conversations with Friends – the two books centre on a young woman named Frances who is dazzled and taken in by a married couple for whom friendship is somewhat disposable. Frances’s introspective narration in Brookner’s novel reveals how her naivety is setting her up for a fall, and also how her strange experiences of heartbreak have left her both frosty and vulnerable.

Look At Me is an excellent example of this odd little genre of short novels about unrequited or broken love affairs in your twenties. While an overdose of these stories is not good for you, one every now and then is pretty delectable, and Brookner always supplies these perfectly made confections.

Bronte Coates is reading Reality Is Not What It Seems by Carlo Rovelli

I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Carlo Rovelli’s Reality Is Not What It Seems, and it’s completely enthralling. His explanation of quantum physics and loose overview of some of the key developments in physics throughout history is lyrical, mind-bending and – for an absolute novice like me – occasionally confounding. Rovelli has a knack for explaining scientific principles or concepts in refreshing ways that are surprisingly poetic and beautiful. While there are certain theories I’m still grappling with, this book has sparked a brand-new excitement in me for physics, and offered me a different lens through which to view the world. Highly recommended.

Chris Gordon is reading What the Light Reveals by Mick McCoy

I’ve been fortunate to have been handed an early copy of my mate Mick McCoy’s forthcoming book, What the Light Reveals (due in March). What a treat it was to read during a hot Melbourne summer – this story is chilling!

Set during the hideous Cold War years, an Australian family are compelled to move to Moscow and set up a home there. This novel has a thrilling plot so I won’t give too much away except to say that McCoy has conveyed the desolate environment of poverty and fear in Moscow with authority. Combine this atmosphere with the biblical Cain and Abel story, and the television show The Americans, then throw it all into a high rise apartment set in the middle of Moscow and you may have a smidgen of what this novel is about. What the Light Reveals is filled with heartbreak, suspense and in the end, humanity.

A riveting read that will completely and utterly enthral you.