It's time: these are the books you'll want to re-read now, right now

With new adaptations hitting the screens and sequels drawing attention to the original novel, we've compiled our list of books to re-read now.

Remember that showstopping read that you loved at the time, and now everyone's talking about it? Or maybe it's been just long enough and you just want to relive the magic? 

Whether because of starry new film or TV adaptations or long-awaited sequels, these are the titles we think everyone is going to be reaching for this year. From much-loved historical novels, to witty classics and gripping thrillers, these are the books to turn back to now . . .

Luckiest Girl Alive

by Jessica Knoll

Book cover for Luckiest Girl Alive

It's a perfect life: Ani FaNelli has a glam job, a designer wardrobe and a wealthy, handsome fiancé. But her life is a lie, and behind the facade lies a grim past. When a documentary producer invites Ani to tell her side of the violent incident that marked her teenage years, Ani confidently also invites the production company to film her lavish wedding. But as she tells her story, Ani's veneer begins to crack, and her whole carefully crafted life is thrown into question. The new Netflix adaption of the story stars Mila Kunis as the luckiest girl alive.

The Wonder

by Emma Donoghue

Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s and inspired by true events, this is the eerie story of the 'fasting girls' – those who stopped eating and claimed they could survive on manna from heaven. Spencer director Sebastián Lelio is adapting this searing historical drama for Netflix; it stars Florence Pugh, who has already gripped and chilled viewers in the 2017 adaptation of Lady Macbeth.

The Miniaturist

by Jessie Burton

Book cover for The Miniaturist

Set in the golden city of Amsterdam, The Miniaturist is a historical novel with a strange secret at its heart. Nella is the new wife of famed trader Johannes Brandt, who presents her with a remarkable wedding gift: a cabinet-sized reproduction of their home. The miniaturist who is furnishing the house seems to know more of their past and future than is comfortable, and his tiny creations strike fear into Nella. The eagerly awaited sequel to this page-turning read, The House of Fortune, publishes this July making now the perfect time to re-read this modern classic.

The End We Start From

by Megan Hunter

Book cover for The End We Start From

This critically acclaimed 2017 novel is a startlingly beautiful story of a family's survival; a haunting but hopeful dystopian vision of a familiar world made dangerous and unstable. As apocalyptic floods submerge London, a woman gives birth to her first child. Soon the family are forced to flee in search of safety, moving from place to place on a journey of fear and wonder, as the baby grows and thrives against the odds. Megan Hunter's beautiful, spare prose paints an imagined future which is terrifying in its realism.

The End We Start From is now set to become a film starring Jodie Comer, from director Mahalia Belo and executive producer Benedict Cumberbatch, who called the novel ‘a stunning tale of motherhood’.

Blood Meridian

by Cormac McCarthy

Book cover for Blood Meridian

With news announced earlier this year that Cormac McCarthy will be releasing two new titles this autumn (the first since his Pulitzer win 15 years ago), now is the perfect time to refamiliarize yourself with this literary great. Written in 1985, Blood Meridian is set in the anarchic world opened up by America’s westward expansion. Through the hostile landscape of the Texas–Mexico border wanders the Kid, a fourteen year-old Tennessean who is quickly swept up in the relentless tide of blood. But the apparent chaos is not without its order: while Americans hunt Indians – collecting scalps as their bloody trophies – they too are stalked as prey. Powerful, mesmerizing and savagely beautiful, Blood Meridian is considered one of the most important works in American fiction of the last century.

Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

by Alexandra Potter

Life hasn't quite worked out for Nell. While all her friends seem to be living the Insta-perfect dream, Nell is feeling distinctly washed-up and lonesome. But then she starts a clandestine podcast and forges an unusual friendship with eighty-something widow Cricket, and things don't seem quite so bad. Laughs, a few tears, and a reminder that we are all in it together.

Titled Not Dead Yet on ABC, this TV adaptation will have Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez playing Nell.

Under The Banner of Heaven

Book cover for Under The Banner of Heaven

In July 1984, Dan and Ron Lafferty entered the home of their brother Allen and killed Allen’s wife and daughter. They insisted they were commanded to kill by God. Examining the origins of the Mormon faith, along with the events that led the brothers to kill, Jon Krakauer raises provocative questions about faith-based violence.

Now a major new series on Disney+ starring Andrew Garfield.

Sanditon, Lady Susan, & The History of England

by Jane Austen

This is a neat and engaging demonstration of the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen, composed of her hilarious History of England, illustrated by favourite sister Cassandra, and the unfinished Sanditon, the novel which she was working at her death, aged forty-two, as well as other shorter works. Series 3 of the daringly frank BBC adaptation of Sanditon is due to air in early 2023.

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

Persuasion is the engaging story of Anne Elliott, who as a teenager was engaged to her ideal man, Frederick Wentworth. Giving in to persuasion from her friend Lady Russell that he is too poor to marry, Anne ends their engagement. When they meet again eight years later, Frederick is making a triumphant return from the Napoleonic War, while Anne feels lost and alone. Will their past prevent them from finding future happiness? A new Netflix adaptation coming this summer starring Dakota Johnson promises a fresh and modern take on this touching tale.

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

by Judy Blume

Book cover for Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

Margaret has moved away from her childhood home, she's at a new school, she's finding new friends – and she is very sure she is not normal. For starters she hasn't a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. And, worst of all, she just knows that all her friends will need a bra before she does. Paralysed with embarrassment she talks to God instead of her parents – and waits for some answers . . .  Abby Ryder Fortson and Rachel McAdams have been cast as Margaret and her mother in an A-list movie adaptation that hits the screens in September.

All The Old Knives

by Olen Steinhauer

Henry and Celia were lovers and colleagues, working in Vienna for the CIA. Then terrorists hijacked a plane at the airport, and the bungled rescue attempt resulted in mass tragedy. The disaster ended the relationship between Henry and Celia, and she left the service for marriage and children in the California suburbs. Six years later, Henry, still a CIA analyst, travels to the US in an attempt to figure out what went wrong, and who compromised their work. And perhaps to discover if he and Celia still have that old spark. A classy adaption of the story, starring starring Thandiwe Newton, Chris Pine, Laurence Fishburne and Jonathan Pryce, is out now on Prime Video.

Bad Blood

Book cover for Bad Blood

Bad Blood is the inside story of the astounding rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, a multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes. Brilliant Stanford dropout Holmes created a startup which promised to transform the medical industry. The company was valued at more than $9 billion, making Holmes herself a billionaire. But there was just one problem: the technology didn't work. This gripping true-life tale of corporate fraud has been made into an HBO series already this year, The Dropout starring Amanda Seyfried, and will later be adapted for the big screen starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes.

Find out everything you need to know about the Theranos scandal, here.