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.

Tye Cattanach is reading The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Some books feel more to me like I’m watching a movie rather than reading. This sensation is extremely rare, so I am always delighted when it happens.

The Paper Palace is a complex, enthralling love story that reads more like a psychological thriller than contemporary fiction. As we learn of the multitudes of heartbreaks endured by three generations of women, we the reader are kept endlessly fascinated not only by these stories of the past, but the unfolding romantic tension occurring in the present. Our narrator, happily married to a man she adores finally succumbs to her love (and lust) for her oldest friend, a man who has loved her since he was eight years old, a man who knows all of her secrets.

I was unsurprised to learn that Miranda Cowley Heller spent a decade as the Head of Drama Series at HBO, The Paper Palace unfolds the same way an addictive, binge worthy TV drama would. For those who loved Big Little Lies, Where The Crawdads Sing and Little Fires Everywhere, The Paper Palace is a deeply satisfying read.

Fiona Hardy is listening to the album Long Lost by Lord Huron

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have played this record since we bought it, after desperately waiting for its release as Lord Huron teased it for months. It’s on constant, beloved rotation, and won’t leave that any time soon.

“Mine Forever"—the opening track if you discount the instrumental opening, which you shouldn't—is absolute alt/rock/country perfection, with a guitar twang straight out of a Western movie, a simple hook and the prescient lyrics "In my mind you’re mine forever”, which is accurate because the song is always in my head and I’m always glad for it. It’s also a good time, pandemically speaking, to listen to “What Do It Mean” and repeatedly sing along with Ben Schneider as he asks, “What do it mean if it all means nothing?”, while strings stretch out beautifully behind him; I am always entranced by his voice, and even more so when it duets with the gorgeous Allison Ponthier’s vocals in the softly building ballad “I Lied”. “Long Lost”, the title track, is one of those songs that feels like it’s been in existence as a classic of the crooner genre for decades without feeling even slightly dated.

I could list what I like about every single song—because there is not a bad note on the whole album—but I’ll just end with my delight that the final track is a fourteen-minute atmospheric instrumental masterpiece that can alter your mood so readily the whole record should probably be confiscated at the Australian border. This is Lord Huron, making another perfect album, and one of the best of the year.

Teen Advisory Board member Tahlia Malojer is reading Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Calling all feminist readers—this book is for you.

This highly interesting novel tells the story of a girl whose mother’s feminist influence (her mother spent her own teen years as an active Riot Grrrl) help her to become enlightened to the sexism within her own school in the present day. Mathieu targets prevalent sexist policies and actions in schools, whilst showing how a simple zine can create change.