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 Defender by G.X. Todd

A couple of weeks ago I shared my winter reading stack online, and one my friends messaged me saying: “Move Defender onto your currently reading pile NOW’. Those capital letters are verbatim which is how I knew she was serious. So I took her advice and finally started it over the weekend. I’m already hooked. In the aftermath of a terrible cataclysmic event that has sent most of society spiralling into murderous insanity, 16-year-old Lacey bands together with the mysterious Pilgrim on a road trip across America in search of Lacey’s missing sister. Think The Road meets The Passage via The Stand – and you’ll get a bit of an idea of what’s in store for readers in this brilliant dystopian debut.

And the good news is that because it took me so long to finally get started that when I do I hit that inevitable cliffhanger ending (Defender is the first in a four-part series) I’ll be that much closer to the release of the next book.

Stella Charls is listening to Melodrama by Lorde

This past week, every single morning and every night I’ve found myself listening to Lorde’s sophomore album Melodrama. Some nights, I’ll play the album the whole way through (a breakup and a raucous house party serve as thematic through-lines), then some nights I’ll just play a single track (‘Liability’ and ‘The Louvre’ are favourites) on repeat until whatever I’m trying to get done blurs into the song in my mind. I’ve never known how to quite articulate my feelings about music that I love but the album reviews on SPIN and Pitchfork both resonated with me.

This week I also enthusiastically recommend episodes 1 and 11 of Tavi Genvinson’s Rookie Podcast. Tavi’s conversation with Ella Yelich-O’Connor (aka Lorde) is split over the two episodes, and it’s such a warm, vulnerable conversation about the making of the album. They discuss Yelich-O’Connor’s inspiration and creative process as well as both their shared insecurities about being young women in the world.

Also, hot tip – episode 12 features timely advice from author Roxane Gay on being politically aware without burning out, as well as identifying as a feminist without adhering to labels. Check it out, and then grab yourself a copy of Gay’s incredible memoir, Hunger, also out this week!

Ellen Cregan is reading Roxane Gay and Paula Fox

This week I’ve been juggling two very different books.

The first is Roxane Gay’s stunning memoir, Hunger. Reading this book is an interesting experience. It’s intensely personal but never feels diaristic or private, and Gay’s writing is so pointed and polished that I found it extremely hard to put down. Her sentences are short and to the point, and some of the chapters are just a page long – many of these were the ones that left the biggest emotional impact on me. This book is harrowing and gut-wrenchingly honest. I highly recommend reading Hunger as an exercise in empathy.

The second book I’ve been reading is Paula Fox’s 1970 novel, Desperate Characters. I would normally never choose to read something like this as American fiction is generally a no-go zone for me. (This isn’t for any specific reason, over time I’ve just learned that I don’t typically enjoy it.) I’m reading this novel for a book club that I’ve just recently become a member of – and that is full of extremely clever people who love American fiction. It is the story of a middle-aged, childless couple living in New York in the 1970s. When the wife is bitten by a stray cat, things start to get strange. Fox’s prose is wonderful, but I’m hoping things get stranger before they return to normal.

Bronte Coates is listening to new albums from SZA and Lorde

Like Stella, I’ve been loving Lorde’s new album Melodrama this week. It’s a captivating blend of contradictions – funny, heartbreaking and completely relatable. But perhaps even more so – I’ve been hooked on Ctrl, the debut album from SZA (the stage name of Solána Imani Rowe). I’ve been listening to to her single ‘Drew Barrymore’ on repeat since it was released in January, and eagerly anticipating the full album – which just so happens to be insanely amazing. SZA’s style is a fusion of soul, hip-hop, R&B, teen romances, ethereal elements, art films and more. Her debut is addictive and immersive, intimate and vulnerable, emotionally-rich and again – completely relatable.