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.

Lian Hingee is reading The Road to Winter by Mark Smith

I was one of the first-generation Tomorrow When The War Began fans, so when one of my workmates drew the comparison between that and Mark Smith’s The Road to Winter I was keen to pick up a copy.

Set in a small coastal town in the not-too-distant future this is the story of Finn, one of the very few survivors of a plague that’s wiped out most of the population. With his survival skills and a well-concealed stash of food and fuel Finn has managed to survive for two years, but his solitary life in thrown into disarray when he rescues a young woman who’s on the run from a brutal gang of Wilders. Rose is a ‘Siley’ – a former asylum seeker brought to Australia before the virus and forced into ‘refugee reassignment’ – and Finn quickly discovers that the Wilders aren’t going to let her get away easily.

I read The Road to Winter in one quick gulp; it’s as fast-paced and urgent as a thriller, and the writing is cinematic. More than Tomorrow When the War Began it actually made me think of the most recent Mad Max movie. The book shares similar messages about slavery, survival and the importance of honour.

Chris Somerville is reading Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers

This past week I’ve mostly been reading about American politics on the internet and experiencing something akin to my brain being set on fire. In an effort to quell this I picked up Dave Eggers’ latest book, who is an author I don’t really like but whose work I have read a huge amount of anyway. Heroes of the Frontier is no different. It’s about a woman who drives a Winnebago around Alaska, along with her two children. The kids are the best part of the book – they’re weird, funny and unexpected, but never come across as precocious. The rest of the book glides by, bringing you an incredibly fulfilling sense of enjoyment. Give it a go, instead of jamming your thumbs into your eyes.

Bronte Coates is reading Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit

I’ve been feeling pretty down since the US election last week and haven’t been able to avoid from the surplus of think pieces popping up online. While some articles have been insightful and deeply important, many have been frustrating, reactionary or just flat-out terrifying. I’m not interested in the ‘blame game’, but rather, I’m interested in what comes next and how I can best contribute to fighting against the kinds of beliefs that got Trump elected – beliefs that are just as prevalent in Australia as in other places. Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities is proving a balm to this feeling – not comforting but fortifying.

A while ago, journalist Masha Gessen published an article addressing the frequent comparisons being between Trump and Putin. In it, she reflected on how our lack of imagination is a weakness and pushed us ‘to force ourselves to imagine the unimaginable’. It made an impression on me, and like Gessen, Solnit also urges us to use our imagination in the work ahead. Her argument for hope is compelling and powerful: ‘Your opponents would love you to believe that it’s hopeless, that you have no power, that there’s no reason to act, that you can’t win. Hope is a gift you don’t have to surrender, a power you don’t have to throw away. And though hope can be an act of defiance, defiance isn’t enough reason to hope. But there are good reasons.’

If you’re also feeling despair, anger or exhaustion from the result, I highly recommend this read.