I had a thought as I looked through a shelf of books, that once I had adored, now coated in dust: What if I devoted this month to not buying any new books, and instead re-read old ones? Right now, it’s what I used to know - nostalgia - that comforts. The stories where the endings don’t come as a surprise. Maybe as it’s the start of the new year and feels unstable still, I’m looking for some comfort of sorts, so I’m not just going for the tomes I loved once before; I’m also going for the ones, for whatever reason, I was told I’d like, but didn’t the first time around. Was the problem me or them? I decided to start again and find out. Here are the three I’ve been reading again, along with three great new titles I’ve read early copies of. Read on for a selection of old and new titles worth revisiting and pre0rdering…

It took me a while to warm to the adult Vanessa Wye in Kate Elizabeth Russell’s startling My Dark Vanessa but when the chapters go back to her time as a lonely sophomore at Maine’s Browick boarding school, everything changed. The academically gifted 15-year-old is noticed by her 42-year-old English teacher, and before she realises what’s happening, a sexual relationship begins. It’s not until years later when her teacher is publicly accused of inappropriate behaviour towards other underage students, she is forced to see things differently. It’s a heavier topic for sure but a second read opened my eyes to the reason for my frustrations and the subconscious bias any one of us can have when it comes to those victimised. All the pressure tends to be on the female who was abused to seek redemption while the abuser can also put this back on the victim without taking any personal responsibility themselves. A must-read in the era of #MeToo.

Pre-pandemic, I used to very occasionally roll my eyes at romance novels, always going for the grittier options. I still want grit now, but I need something light in between when my head needs a break. This is currently David Nicholls’ One Day. The story takes place during a single day each year for two decades in the lives of Dex and Em. It was made for the big screen, and even with the star-cast adaptation, the book retains a tenderness the film lacks. Dexter is the louche public schoolboy, and Emma, the brainy Yorkshire lass. They meet the day they graduate from university in 1988 and it becomes platonic as they stay in each other's lives for 20 years, even though they are miles apart in personality and temperament. Dex becomes a TV presenter whose life of sex, booze, and drugs spins out of control, while Em dully slogs her way through awful jobs before flourishing as the author of young adult books. They both take other spouses but as in all great romance novels, can't live without each other. I didn’t cry the first time I read it, but I’ve cried the second time around. A lot.

When the Black Lives Matter protest happened, I took a long, hard look at the novels I consumed and resolved to broaden my understanding of the how and the why. To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, deserves to be read at least twice given the times we are in. It details the racial troubles of the American Deep South and centres around dignified lawyer Atticus Finch and his young daughter, Scout, who serves as the first-person narrator throughout the book. Some of the books' most memorable words are still with me and for many of us who studied it in school, it was a gamechanger; the first time we ever really thought or spoke openly about racism. Taking it in as an adult again is one thing, but gifting it to the little impressionable minds in your life now, is perhaps even more important.

Three titles to look forward to…

Luster, by Raven Leinali

Edie is the queen of self-sabotage. She’s a struggling artist, unhappy in her admin job, and sleeps with a succession of men who treat her terribly. Then she meets Eric and moves in with him, his wife and their adopted Black daughter, Akila, who desperately needs the kinship of someone who looks like her. This one is big and bold – expect it to be on many must-read book lists this year.

January 21st 2021

Girl A, by Abigail Dean

Already one of the most-talked-about books of 2021, if you love a thriller, you’ll adore this. The Gracie children are hidden away for the darkest of reasons until Lex, known as Girl A to the press, escapes. Years later, Lex is still struggling to adjust to real life but when her mother dies in prison, she’s forced to go back and finally confront what happened there. It’s dark but beautifully written.

January 21st 2021

The Good Neighbours, by Nina Allan

Cath is a photographer hoping to go freelance, working in a record shop to pay the rent and whiling away her time with the shop’s manager Steve. Her new project then becomes photographing murder houses. It takes her back to the Isle of Bute, where she grew up. The island is embedded in her identity, right back to the memory of her childhood friend Shirley Craigie and the devastating murder of Shirley’s family by her father, John Craigie. An early intriguing proof of this had me hooked. It’s as good as Allan’s must-read debut, The Dollmaker.

June 10th, 2021

Jennifer McShane, January 2021