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.

Leanne Hall is reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I Capture the Castle has been on my radar for many years - ever since I fell in love with Michelle Cooper’s The Montmaray Journals series, and realised how often readers of those books used Smith’s classic novel as a reference point. I Capture the Castle details the everyday life of the penniless Mortmain family, who just happen to live in the wonderfully grand and decaying ruins of an ancient castle in the English countryside. I’m only a few chapters in but I’m already captivated by seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain’s lively voice and the dreamy, wistful atmosphere. I’ve been reading a lot of 1940s and World War II home front books during the pandemic, and I’m finding that they contain a very relatable amount of waiting, passing time, making do and uncertainty - the perfect lockdown comfort read!

Angela Crocombe is reading The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

Set in a coastal English town over a long, lazy summer, the cast is a big, happy family who have the same summer rituals year after year - tennis, horseriding, boating and big family feasts where the teenagers often drink alcohol alongside the adults. This particular summer, however, two teenage sons of an ageing movie star are dumped on them at the last minute. One is all charm and light, the other monosyllabic and withdrawn. Kit Godden has the charisma and the looks of a leading man. He flirts shamelessly with everyone, while his brother watches warily from a distance. Some of the family fall hopelessly in love. Written in the first person, our unnamed narrator is the youngest of the four teenage children, who also falls victim to Godden’s charms. Interestingly, their gender is never revealed.

This is a beautifully written, immensely readable novel of the havoc a manipulative narcissist can wreak. I devoured it in a lazy afternoon. It was fun to watch the destructive dynamic play out from a safe distance, and the summer soaked parties and trysts were a delightful escape from a dreary Melbourne winter.

Chris Gordon is reading State Highway One by Sam Coley (available September)

I’ve just finished reading Sam Coley’s State Highway One and what a ripper of a debut novel this is. Coley won the 2017 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for this book, which takes you on a journey throughout New Zealand, and also on a tour of the protagonist’s mind. Alex has arrived back in New Zealand to deal with the death of his famous parents. His twin sister awaits. They decide to ‘do’ the Highway in the hope that it will lead to some sort of understanding of each other’s lives. Through a grief haze of booze, cigarettes and cheap food, the two slowly learn that home is only ever a state of mind, and losing a family changes everything. There is a rising sense of panic in this novel as Coley skilfully builds the tension, slowly revealing the twin’s desperate need for a sanctuary of sorts. This is a tremendous novel that will keep you on your toes. You’ll start it, and before you know it, the day will have sped right by. A perfect read for right now.