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.

Mark is reading The Hole by Ãyvind Torseter

I was totally charmed and intrigued by Finnish artist Ãyvind Torseter’s The Hole – a children’s book that really anyone can enjoy.

The central character moves into a new apartment and trips over a hole in the floor (and there really is a hole!) – what’s to be done? There’s quite an issue with holes all around town, apparently.

Justifiably a huge seller in Finland, I hope Australians take to it.

Nina is watching The Good Wife

The Good Wife is one of those rare shows that gets better and better as it goes along. The show’s fifth season has been spectacular, providing me with sheer joy every episode. Until now.

Big spoiler warning

This week, The Good Wife suddenly killed off one of its most beloved leading characters in a random act of violence. This isn’t Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead – people simply don’t die on this show. It was heartbreaking, shocking and completely unexpected. Fans were so disturbed that the hashtag #goodwifesupportgroup immediately popped up on Twitter. The show’s creators wrote a heartfelt letter explaining their decision. The actor recorded a video explaining why they had left the show.

It was all very dramatic, and I immediately did what I always do when a big moment of TV happens – read every think-piece about the show I can possibly find. Which lead me to this funny, delightful and spot-on NY Times column by Delia Ephron about watching the episode (warning: it contains spoilers for various TV shows):

“I was so upset I couldn’t sleep, took half a Valium at 3 a.m., overslept, took the wrong subway the next morning and ended up in Herald Square…When Matthew Crawley’s car crashed on “Downton Abbey,” I didn’t care. He and Lady Mary together were as dry as toast. When they killed off Nicholas Brody on “Homeland,” I was glad, because he and Carrie had zero chemistry. Besides, that show had jumped the shark. “The Good Wife” has never jumped the shark…It only dashed my dreams and broke my heart.”

As well as agreeing with everything Delia had to say, discovering this piece made me realise I had never read anything by Delia Ephron before. Nora Ephron is one of my heroes, so not having read her sister’s work feels like a major oversight. I’m going straight into our Carlton store and buying Delia’s memoir, Sister Mother Husband Dog (etc), today. The silver lining of going through all this TV-related trauma has been finding a lovely new book to read.

Chris is reading French for Everyone by Manu Feildel

Apparently My Kitchen Rules is the number one show on television, with Manu Feildel as the host. To be honest, I’ve never watched the show and really, it’s not my sort of thing – but eating well is and Feildel’s new cookbook, French for Everyone, presents a wonderful series of steps to achieve a ‘Gallic flare’ in your own humble kitchen.

Feildel has said he wrote the book because he reckons the general population feels a little intimidated when faced with the prospect of cooking French food. Certainly this genre of cooking does seem to require a lot of stirring, melting, folding, braising, separating, reducing, coddling and creaming. And there’s also the potential clincher of each recipe requiring lots of cream, butter, wine and garlic. All of this can seem unsuitable for a family night in. But there’s no need to be intimidated with French for Everyone.

Feildel has simplified and cut back (though not on the riches of flavour) and his book is a real melting pot – the French does Australian, so to speak. Take a simple dish like poached eggs. We know it and love it. Now think poached eggs in butter and red wine … The combination makes this regular dish unusual, and impressive enough to serve guests at a sunny Sunday lunch. True, one does reduce, melt and strain the ingredients to achieve the perfect purple eggs, but oh lord, it’s so good! And trust me, so easy.

When Mr Feildel comes to our Hawthorn shop, early next month, I’ll be asking him not about his television, publishing or cooking career, but about what he serves his family on a Sunday morning. I bet it’s eggs…