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.

Chris Gordon is reading Love Stories by Trent Dalton

When everything seems a little overwhelming, bleak even at times, I have turned to reading Trent Dalton’s Love Stories. This is a collection of conversations Trent has had with people on the streets of Brisbane about love. Consider it a collection of short stories told with a common theme. I’m enjoying it because I can flip in and out of the lives of everyday people doing the best they can and talking about the love that binds them to a particular place, or a certain person or an ideology that becomes their guiding force.

I’m enjoying it in the same way that I like catching public transport and eavesdropping on conversations or reading all of the available papers over the weekend: it is the stories of everyone and anyone that matter. And other people’s love stories remind me of all of mine. It’s the perfect antidote to this relentless year.

Tye Cattanach is reading Devotion by Hannah Kent

Devotion is without question, the most exquisitely beautiful love story I have ever read. An ethereal masterpiece, the echoes of which will resonate within me for many years to come.

Hannah Kent has transcended my formidable expectations and has firmly cemented herself (for me) as the most gifted writer of our generation. If you read nothing else this year, let Devotion be the book you surrender to.

Mark Rubbo is reading Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

I’m reading Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas. It’s two parallel stories: one about mid-career writer who is questioning his values; he’s tired of politics and the traditional left positions, he wants to write about beauty. The other story is the book the writer is working on, which is about a gay porn star who takes on one last gig.

It’s probably the best thing I’ve read this year!