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.

Alan Vaarwerk is reading Couch Tag by Jesse Reklaw

I’m trying to read more graphic novels at the moment, and I’m currently in the middle of Jesse Reklaw’s Couch Tag, a collection of memoir pieces about growing up in California in the 1980s. The first few pieces are told through motifs such as recounting all the cats his family has ever owned, or his favourite childhood toys, which lend themselves to darkly funny and affecting vignettes that explore Jesse’s complex relationship with his family, childhood friendships, his burgeoning knowledge of sex and the various neighbourhoods he lives in. The art style is simple and warm, although a later piece that explores Jesse’s experiences with acid is depicted in vivid, grotesque colour.

Elke Power is reading The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop (out this July)

I’m three-quarters of the way through Stephanie Bishop’s forthcoming novel, The Other Side of the World. It wasn’t long after I began reading it that I started sticking flags on passages that seemed exceptionally true to life, or particularly beautiful and original. I have now flagged outstanding passages so frequently that the flags appear to be a companion set of pages alongside the book itself – in truth, I could be rid of them all because the entire book should be flagged. The Other Side of the World is impossibly beautiful and sublime. I can’t wait to get back to it tonight.

Ed. note: Come and hear Stephanie Bishop speak about the book at our Carlton shop on Tuesday 7 July. Find out more

Bronte Coates is reading Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

I’ve been reading Atticus Lish’s award-winning debut novel Preparation for the Next Life, and have been doing so for quite a while now. I’ve been taking ‘other-book-breaks’ from it which is unusual for me. I tend to rush through books as I quite enjoy the heady rush of dropping out of the real world and being engulfed by the narrative. But, this time, I’m not at all willing to be deeply immersed in Lish’s world.

A colleague recently described the novel as ‘an amazing reading experience that is tough and emotionally draining’. It most certainly is. While describing prose as 'stunning’ may sound like hyperbole, it’s a spot-on phrase here. Lish’s sentences are exquisitely crafted. However, I’m also finding this book extremely upsetting. The story of a developing relationship between Zou Lei, an Chinese immigrant living illegal in New York, and Brad, a recently returned Iraq War veteran, is devastating me and I keep having to retreat into safe territory.

This weekend, my chosen retreat is a classic crime novel: Agatha Christie’s Hallowe'en Party. I’ve never read an Agatha Christie before and so asked a friend (who’s a fan) to suggest one for me start with. She described this one as scary fun, which sounds suitably distracting.

Nina Kenwood is reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (out in October)

I’m half-way through an advance copy of Elizabeth Gilbert’s forthcoming book on creativity called Big Magic. So far, it’s cheerfully inspirational and surprisingly funny (there’s a section in one of the early chapters that made me laugh out loud). Gilbert doesn’t take herself or her work too seriously, but at the same time, she also happily admits to never actively perusing any other career but writing. She knew from early on that it would be her life’s vocation and she was determined to doggedly keep at it for as long as she possibly could.

I like her approach to writing and creativity. She believes in living a creative life and in doing something simply because you like doing it – not because you want to be published, or because you want to change the world, or because you believe you have wisdom to impart on the masses, or because you’re a tortured genius. Her philosophy is to find a creative outlet you enjoy and just do it, for the rest of your life. If it happens to bring you professional or personal success, all the better for it.

Big Magic is due for release in October, and I already highly recommend it.