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.

Nina is reading The Girls from Corona Del Mar by Rufi Thorpe

I’m having a really great reading year. I know I’ve done a lot of raving about books in this column, but it’s all justified, I promise. Some of my favourite books are already out (We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Fangirl) and some of them are coming out soon (The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, Friendship, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P).

Anyway, prepare for another rave because I just finished a debut novel that might be my new favourite of the year so far.

The Girls From Corona Del Mar is a novel about two women. Well, more accurately, it’s mostly the story of one woman, Lorrie Ann, told from the perspective of her best friend, Mia. Terrible things happen to Lorrie Ann – things that completely alter her life and her relationship with everyone around her. The novel focuses on Mia’s struggle to understand these events and of how her perspective of Lorrie Ann changes over time. It looks at friendship, parenthood, and what it means to really know someone. This is an intense, brutal book, and it deals with some dark and difficult issues. I read it in a weekend, and I loved it. I immediately wanted someone else to read it too so we could talk about the ending. The book is out in July, so I guess I’ll have to wait a while.

I also wanted to mention The Fault In Our Stars because I saw an advance screening of the movie this week (read about my reaction here). The film made me reflect on the book, and I’m tempted to go back and read it again. The extraordinary fandom around John Green and this book in particular is fascinating, and heartening. I love seeing people get really, really excited about a book. Take a look at the movie’s official page – the collection of fan artwork and pics is pretty amazing.

Bronte is reading The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

My experience reading The Empathy Exams was similar to my experience of reading Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem for the first time. And if you’ve read any of the hype surrounding Leslie Jamison’s stunningly moving essays (find some quotes here) you’ll know I’m not the first person to make comparisons of this nature. The best way I can explain it is that both books resonated with me in the same way, with a breathless sense of recognition.

Jamison explores a diverse set of topics in these essays – Morgellons Disease, ultramarathon, bad break-ups, Medical actors, the West Memphis Three – yet in each one I was reminded of myself in some way, of my own conflicted ideas and questions. Each essay is preoccupied with pain, particularly with Jamison’s attempts to understand the pain – what it is and how it is enacted. Her reflections on the process are astonishing and moving and I’m still recovering a little. (You can read the title essay here.)

Belle is watching Veep

I have been watching Veep, created by Armando Iannucci, who also made The Thick of It. Set in Washington DC, the show trails Vice-President Selina Meyer and her gaggle of cynical aides (I would choose Tony Hale as Gary, Meyer’s bag boy, as my favourite). The fast-paced, crass dialogue delivers the best put-downs in my recent television memory, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Meyer does not miss a single beat. I can understand viewers who were left underwhelmed by the first season, but Veep gets darker, and finds a stronger plot purpose, in the second season, and is the better for it.