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.

Our head book buyer Alison Huber has been busy reading for the year ahead while still finding the time to catch up with friends from Middle-earth.

I’m just back to work after three weeks of annual leave. I set myself a pretty challenging reading schedule, and some of that was undermined by a sudden post-2020 need to sit quite still on the couch watching reality TV and all three Lord of the Rings movies back to back, but here are a few of the things I ploughed through - all are forthcoming international releases, so you’ll be hearing about them again in due course.

Lisa Taddeo’s debut novel Animal] (July) is going to be huge: she takes the thematic concerns of Three Women into the stratosphere with the flexibility of fictional writing, and it’s just as compellingly written as her narrative nonfiction. Willy Vlautin is one of my favourite writers, and his new book, The Night Always Comes (July), could just be my favourite of his books. I can confirm that Rachel Cusk is not going to disappoint her fans with her new book, Second Place (May): it’s vintage Cusk. The Other Black Girl (June) is a buzzy US debut novel from former Knopf staffer, Zakiya Dalila Harris, who has written a workplace satirical thriller that exposes the whiteness of publishing: highly entertaining, and couldn’t be more topical.

While I’m writing here, I also wanted to draw attention to two books out this month. You may have already read my gushing review of A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan. I loved New Animal by Ella Baxter just as much (brilliantly reviewed this month by my colleague Izzy White) - it’s completely original and is really exciting new writing from another local debut author.

Tye Cattanach is reading all things Scotland

For reasons that are completely irrelevant here I have fallen down a rather deep rabbit hole of books by Scottish authors and/or books set in Scotland. Can I tell you, I was not expecting that rabbit hole to be so DARK. I began with Iain Banks first published novel, The Wasp Factory. One of the reviews I read stated “makes Stephen King look like Beatrix Potter” Well, they weren’t wrong. A deeply disturbing psychological thriller that literally made my skin crawl, I do not recommend reading this alone at night. Next up was Under the Skin by Michael Faber. (Yup, really doing a number on myself here) I don’t think I will EVER stop thinking about this book. EVER. But what a work of pure genius it is. As much as it terrified me (read: damaged) I could not put it down. I have never read anything like it before and doubt I ever will again.

Right now, I am mid way through Dead Men’s Trousers by Irvine Welsh. A relatively light hearted treat compared to the other two, and very, very funny. There are a few to go on this little reading journey of mine, so stay tuned for further thoughts. In the meantime, I have to wonder…should we be worried about our friends in Scotland?