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.

Nina Kenwood is reading Life Drawing by Robin Black

Life Drawing might be the best novel I’ve read this year (and I’ve read a lot of good ones). It’s not showy or flashy. It doesn’t have an attention-grabbing hook. I haven’t read that much about it, in terms of buzz. But I am here to tell you – Life Drawing is so, so good.

I found it through my colleague Annie’s recommendation (read her thoughts here). Life Drawing is the story of a marriage, essentially. Or what can happen to a marriage when a third person becomes involved. The novel is beautifully written and expertly paced, and just the right length. Robin Black is a master storyteller, and I trusted her from the moment I started the first chapter. I encourage you all to read it.

Fiona Hardy is reading Springtime: A Ghost Story by Michelle de Kretser

Frances regularly walks her dog Rod in Sydney (she’s lived in this city for a few years but the place still sits uncomfortably with her) and during these walks, she begins to notice a bulldog accompanying a pale woman dressed in old-fashioned clothing, though she can’t remember exactly which backyard they were in. As Frances looks for firm ground to stand on in Sydney – meeting new people and settling awkwardly into life with a partner that has given up more than everything for her – this pale woman and her dog infuse Frances’ existence with doubt.

This glorious and unnerving little book haunted me from the first page and I finished it in one short afternoon, sitting out in the sun.

Chris Somerville is reading Tom Hanks’ short story in the New Yorker

Tom Hanks has a story in the New Yorker. It doesn’t really matter if it’s good or bad and you don’t even have to finish it. Just say to people: ‘Tom Hanks has a story in the New Yorker.’ Let it sink in. Let them think about how he wrote it. Was it fresh or was it sitting in a drawer somewhere, and then Tom Hanks pulled it out, looked it over with a Tom Hanks-like gaze, and thought, ‘this thing ain’t half-bad’?

It’s easy to picture this because you know what Tom Hanks looks like, you can even hear what his thoughts would sound like because they’d sound like Tom Hanks.

Recently Tom Hanks has admitted that he’s writing a short-story collection about typewriters, which he’s been obsessively collecting ‘for no particular reason’ since 1978. The New Yorker story is not about typewriters, it’s about astronauts and it mentions Home Depot and throwing hammers around the moon. To be honest I am excited to see Tom Hanks join a special place on our bookshelves, next to the novels of Ethan Hawke, Molly Ringwald’s short-story collection, and the terrible work of James Franco.