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.

Angela Crocombe is reading The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

I am reading The Golden Enclaves, Lesson Three of the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik. I hardly ever read the second or third book in a series, but these books are just so addictive and set in such a fascinating world that I absolutely must know what happens in the nail-biting finale. The first two books are set inside a magical school that trains up young magicians, but rest assured – this is no Hogwarts. They are constantly in fear of losing their young lives to the endless variety of ‘mals’ (monsters to you and me) that feed on their juicy young bodies. The death rate is so high that only one in ten of the children makes it out alive, and these are much better odds than if they weren’t in the Scholomance.

Our heroine, Galadrigal (known as El) is delightfully bad-tempered, sarcastic and so powerful that she could destroy the entire world. Instead, she’s reluctantly trying to save it alongside her boyfriend, Orion, who is so good at killing mals he insisted on sacrificing himself to save everyone else. But now he’s stuck inside one of the worst monsters imaginable and El has to go back and put him out of his misery. And that’s just a small part of the intricate plot. There are umpteen twists and turns, political manipulations and jockeying for power, alongside some brilliant fight scenes and snarky banter. If you like fantasy I have no doubt that, just like me, you’ll become highly addicted to the Scholomance too.

Lian Hingee is reading Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

I'm a sucker for retellings of ancient history and mythology and it's been a good time to be me because there's been an absolute abundance of them published in the past few years. I've just finished Jennifer Saint's most recent, Atalanta, which reimagines the life of the only female Argonaut to join Jason's voyage to win the Golden Fleece. Having read Classical Studies at King's College – where she's now a research Fellow – Saint's books are among the best researched and well written of the genre.

Her previous novels, Elektra and Ariadne, similarly tackled strong female figures, but none quite as arresting as Atalanta who was abandoned as a baby, raised by a bear, was the only mortal who could run as fast as the goddess Artemis, and slew the mythological Caledonian boar. There's rich pickings in Atalanta's story, and Saint does a brilliant job of breathing life into the character.