In the race to keep on top of new publications and at the forefront of the book discourse, are we neglecting the backlists and older books? I briefly touched on this idea of authors’ backlists in my last discussion, and I want to build out this idea a little more. Because it isn’t just the backlists we are leaving to collect dust, it is the books we loved not that long ago. I mean seriously, when was the last time you read a book that was published over ten years ago?

If you don’t know what an author’s backlist is, think of it like a musician’s discography. You may discover this person when they start gaining traction, maybe a hit goes viral, or an album gets broad recognition. There are many times when there is a whole plethora of songs and albums to listen to from their earlier works. The same principle applies to authors. You may have heard about them at the start of a fantasy series that has started to gain popularity, or a thriller book that was added to a celebrity book club. While it may not be as vast, most authors will still have earlier works you can read. The reason I bring this up is that in a social media landscape where new is almost all that is talked about, at least it is if you want to stay trending and at the centre of the discourse, the old stuff stays in the past. This is incredibly unfortunate when it comes to the book world.

Yes, I know, there are people out there thinking. But Anna, classics are a popular genre. None of those authors are coming out with new stuff. My reply is simply to look at the classic music stations out there on the radio, the various “classic” music, from the work of Beethoven and Mozart to ACDC and Queen. Not only is there classical music, but there are variations to it, and I see the same in classic literature. Renaissance, Neoclassical, Romantic, Victorian, Modern and Contemporary are only a few of the labels we have for the various ages of literature out there, and those are just the English terms. Don’t forget that we also have works from other countries and ages that span centuries back, even centuries before the Renaissance era. Do you still listen to music from your ten years? From your childhood? Why can’t the same be normalised for books?

Perhaps I am being a little cynical, and there are a lot of people out there who do read the older books on a regular basis. I know more than a handful of New Zealand bookstagrammers who are reading or have recently read old series like Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and older books that came out in the 2010s, 2000s, and yes, even the 20th century. And guess what – they loved it. Not only is it such a great break from the novels of today, but it is a relief to be able to read something “outdated” and still talk about it with friends. But I don’t know if this can be seen across bookish social media as a whole, and I don’t think these older series are in the casual reader’s mind when they walk into a bookstore for something to buy. It is a shame, because I am a firm believer that these incredible series deemed “old” have stood the test of time and proven they are exemplary books to be enjoyed, shared, and talked about to this day.

Perhaps we should make amendments to our reading goals for the year (or read over them again to realign ourselves with them) to include older books. I know I said I was going to be reading popular middle grade series from my childhood, and I have one more to add to that list now – Lockwood and Co. by Jonathon Stroud. I hope you are pround, Nicola. What are your plans for bringing older books back into your life?