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.

Jemima Bucknell is reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I have begun reading an old film tie-in edition of Anna Karenina that I found on the shelf. Surprised at how a text of such daunting length and repute should be so easy to read, I mentioned this to some people who advise that I probably have the wrong translation!

I was reading Rosemary Edmonds’s translation, but have now ordered Constance Barnett’s as it appears that is what the critics favour. What I did love about the book, before pausing for the different translation, is with what economy Tolstoy employs his characters at gossiping about one other, before we meet them. I’m curious as to any other translations that readers prefer to Barnett – when it comes to something as mammoth as Anna Karenina, we want the fullest experience that this language can manage.

Fiona Hardy is reading Quota by Jock Serong

This is the kind of crime book that is instantly recognisable as beautifully-written and addictive. My advice is to put it down at page two to get a cup of tea so you don’t have to get up again. Quota follows lawyer Charlie as he tries to recover his reputation after a courtroom tantrum in front of a judge. Send down the coast to snuffle out the true story of a recent murder far away from the spotlight – and his ex-girlfriend – he has to ingratiate himself in a town that doesn’t like outsiders and doesn’t particularly care about hiding it. This is an arresting book (crime puns, sorry) and superbly Victorian.

Isobel Moore is reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I’ve been meaning to read The Master and Margarita for years, ever since it’s inclusion in a promotion at a London bookshop I used to work in. For the promotion, all of the staff members were asked to name their ‘literary crush’ for a Valentine’s Day promo, and two thirds of the staff wanted to claim Margarita for theirs! Who is this woman and what webs of magic does she weave? I literally just started reading it, so I haven’t met Margarita yet, but I await the moment with anticipation.

My literary crush, by the way, was Sirius Black. Obviously.