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.

Stella Charls is reading Room by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue’s novel comes with a stack of endorsements. A beloved literary bestseller, shortlisted for both the Man Booker and Orange prize, this summer also sees the release of a critically acclaimed feature film adaption, with a screenplay by Donoghue. Motivated to read the book before seeing the film, I’m finding this story hard to put down.

Room is the disturbing tale of five-year-old Jack, whose entire world is contained in a tiny room that he shares with his Ma. This room is all that he’s ever known, and while the story is told from Jack’s naïve perspective, it soon becomes clear to the reader that Jack and Ma are captives of a predatory man called Old Nick, and have been for a number of years. While inspired by the case of Josef Fritzl, among others, this is not a horrifying novel. Instead, it offers a considered, truthful meditation on parental love. Jack’s narration took me a few pages to get used to but I quickly became invested in him, and I’m anxious to see how his story plays out.

Alan Vaarwerk is reading Marie Kondo and Anna Jones

In the past week I’ve moved house, an exercise which I’ve done six times in the past five years, but every time I’m always shocked at how much stuff I manage to accumulate. After this latest round I’ve begun reading Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, which other Readings staff have raved about for it’s brutal approach to removing clutter from your house and life. I’m not sure how much of the KonMari method I’ll be putting into practice, but it’s certainly a thought-provoking look at our relationships to objects.

As well, keen to try out my new kitchen, I’ve started making some of the recipes from Anna Jones’ A Modern Way to Cook, which my colleague Bronte swears by and is packed with startlingly simple and delicious vegetarian meals for all occasions. My favourite so far has been a one-pot linguine with kale, cherry tomatoes and lemon – it’s outrageously delicious and I can’t wait to try more.

Nina Kenwood is reading Hope Farm by Peggy Frew

I knew I wanted to read Hope Farm the minute I saw that gorgeous cover. I’m annoyed at myself for waiting so long, because this novel is truly wonderful.

Set in Australia in the 1980s, Hope Farm is about a mother and a daughter, and their messy, difficult life, moving from house to house, often living in communes and shared spaces. Hope Farm is one such place, a commune where most of the book is set. Silver, the 13-year-old daughter, is always trying to understand her mother, figure out what’s happening and what’s going to happen in their lives next. Ishtar, her mother, is simply trying to survive in the only ways she knows how. Their fractured relationship is the heart of the book.

The way Frew lays out their stories, and their different points of view, is extremely satisfying and immersive. I’m almost finished, and I highly recommend this beautifully written novel.

Bronte Coates is reading Welcome to Orphancorp by Marlee Jane Ward

Welcome to Orphancorp comes highly recommended. It was one of Seizure’s Viva La Novella Prize winners this year – you can read a great piece on what this project entails (and find out about the other winners) here. The novella has also recently been shortlisted in the Young Adult category of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. I’ll be adding my voice to the chorus of praise now too; I started reading it on the tram this morning and I’m already hooked. Ward’s vision of dystopia Australia is imaginative and dark, and I’m really enjoying the voice of teen protagonist Mirii. She’s dry, gutsy and resourceful with a big heart, and buzzing with energy and verve.

Mike Shuttleworth is reading The London Review of Books: Vol. 37, No. 23, 3 December 2015

The London Review of Books occupies its space on the magazine stand with quiet dignity, but inside there’s a party going on.

A biography of Margaret Thatcher opens the latest airfreight edition. Why her opponents misjudge Maggie so badly, and just how totally botched the poll tax was are but two questions teased out. The reviewer also takes time to sketch what a political biography can achieve, rating political process at least as highly as personality. But the real meat in this issue is Adam Shatz’s long essay ‘Magical Thinking About ISIS’, written a week after the November 13 killings. Shatz explores why France has become the jihadists’ number one target and sets out in painful detail why he believes the French response is likely to make matters worse.

Mary-Kay Wilmers explores the long and curious life of the late American poet Marianne Moore, and sheds light on 50 years of modernist poetry. Moore, championed by TS Eliot, was celebrated late in her life, a life traced with vivid detail and light touch by the LRB editor. In ‘Bland Fanatics’ Pankaj Mishra’s unpicks Western assumptions about the triumph of liberalism in a review of four recent books on political theory. Mishra offers a brief masterclass in post-colonial analysis from the beginnings of Western expansion and taking us to China and today. Might China’s economic liberalism be matched by political liberalism? Shorter Mishra: don’t hold your breath. There’s still time for an eye-popping review of the recent John Le Carre biography and a cheeky but well-informed run through Spectre, Daniel Craig’s swansong as James Bond, and Ian Fleming’s near terminal boredom with his martini swilling hero.

Anyway, I must get back it. Marina Warner has a two-page essay on Medea, John Lanchester updates on the latest in phishing and why I should change home insurance policies, and I may just have time to dip into that review of two books on early Christianity before the next fortnight’s edition hits the shelf. Yes, there’s a party going on at the LRB. Or at least I will be up all night.