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 recommending two LoveOzYA novels

I have just finished a really satisfying reading week with two new Australian YA novels that kept me enthralled and entertained.

Kate O'Donnell’s This One Is Ours follows dreamy and effervescent Australian exchange student Sofie all the way to Paris, where she goes to a very cool art school and has all sorts of mind-expanding experiences. This was such a transporting read; I loved being vicariously overseas, eating delicious food, and thinking about history, politics and activism.

I followed This One Is Ours with Lili Wilkinson’s The Erasure Initiative - which couldn’t be more different in tone, but which kept me captivated from start to finish. I could tell you to imagine Speed crossed with The Good Place, perhaps even a little bit of Survivor thrown in, and I wouldn’t even come close to doing this wholly original novel justice. The Erasure Initiative has morally complex characters placed in a really tense situation, and it magically combines breakneck action, deep ethical issues, and ideas around how we formulate a sense of self, and what biases we carry with us.

Jason Austin is reading The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

I’m a weirdo, I know. My comfort read of choice is in the horror genre. Pretty much because that’s all I read as a teenager, and nostalgia equals comfort. I recently read the unsettling novel The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay and was pretty much blown away by it. A young girl and her two dads are holidaying in a remote cabin with no wi-fi or phone coverage (classic horror trope), when four strangers come calling carrying homemade tools/weapons. These strangers claim that a sacrifice must be made to stop the looming apocalypse. The unnerving thing in this novel is that these people seem to be well-intentioned and sane. Are they members of a cult, mentally unwell, or are they telling the truth? In our age of QAnon and conspiracy theories this novel is a total ride for horror buffs.

Tye Cattanach is reading Vegan With Bite by Shannon Martinez

I have already cooked THREE different recipes in the magnificent new cookbook from the undisputed Queen of vegan cooking, Shannon Martinez. I have also read the entire thing from cover to cover. Vegan With Bite isn’t just jam packed with brilliant, easy, delicious recipes, but it is also a great read. I adore Shannon’s wry and witty commentary and anecdotes in the introductions for each recipe. Martinez is clearly passionate about food being not only planet friendly, but also affordable, and this book guarantees healthy, environmentally sustainable meals that won’t cost the earth. And her recipes are just so darn accessible! I am not vegan, but I tell you honestly, once I have cooked everything in this awesome book, I just might be.