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A Century of Reading: The 10 Books That Defined the 1980s

This list is, like, totally bitchin'.

Some books are flashes in the pan, read for entertainment and then left on a bus seat for the next lucky person to pick up and enjoy, forgotten by most after their season has passed. Others stick around, are read and re-read, are taught and discussed. sometimes due to great artistry, sometimes due to luck, and sometimes because they manage to recognize and capture some element of the culture of the time.

In the moment, you often can’t tell which books are which.  The Great Gatsby  wasn’t a bestseller upon its release, but we now see it as emblematic of a certain American sensibility in the 1920s. Of course, hindsight can also distort the senses; the canon looms and obscures. Still, over the next weeks, we’ll be publishing a list a day, each one attempting to define a discrete decade,  starting with the 1900s  (as you’ve no doubt guessed by now) and counting down until we get to the (nearly complete) 2010s.

Though the books on these lists need not be American in origin, I am looking for books that evoke some aspect of American life, actual or intellectual, in each decade—a global lens would require a much longer list. And of course, varied and complex as it is, there’s no list that could truly define American life over ten or any number of years, so I do not make any claim on exhaustiveness. I’ve simply selected books that, if read together, would give a fair picture of the landscape of literary culture for that decade—both as it was and as it is remembered. Finally, two process notes: I’ve limited myself to one book for author over the entire 12-part list, so you may see certain works skipped over in favor of others, even if both are important (for instance, I ignored  Dubliners  in the 1910s so I could include  Ulysses  in the 1920s), and in the case of translated work, I’ll be using the date of the English translation, for obvious reasons.

For our ninth installment, below you’ll find 10 books that defined the 1980s. (Head here for the  1910s ,  20s ,  30s , 40s ,  50s ,  60s , and 70s ).

Raymond Carver has a fair bid for being the most iconic and influential American short story writer ever—but he’s certainly the most iconic and influential American short story writer of the 1980s, due to this collection (just think of how many times you’ve seen the title construction parodied and reused) as well as Cathedral  (1983) and  Where I’m Calling From  (1988). “Carver stands squarely in the line of descent of American realism,” Marilynne Robinson wrote in a 1988 review of the latter.

His weaknesses are for sentimentality and sensationalism. His great gift is for writing stories that create meaning through their form. Much attention has been paid to his prose, and to his preoccupation with very ordinary lives and with disruption, divorce, displacement, sadness, the thankless business of cadging income from small and unlikable jobs. He should be famous for the conceptual beauty of his best stories, and disburdened of his worst, which could then pass into relative neglect. The narrative foreground in Mr. Carver’s fiction is typically muted or flattened. The stories have in common a sort of bafflement, justified in the best ones by the fact that their burdens are truly mysterious. Anecdotes – for want of a better word – looming and untranslatable like remembered dreams (which they sometimes are) figure so largely in these stories as to suggest that they are analogues to fiction itself, and also to consciousness, specifically to consciousness as it is shared, collective or bonding. It has been usual for a long time to lament the absence of myth in modern life, as if intuitions of the primordial and essential were the products of culture and would be dispelled with the loss of certain images and illusions, as if the forces myth describes were not real or powerful enough to impose themselves on our attention all unbidden. The bafflement in the best of these stories does not render an absence of meaning but awkwardness in the face of meaning, a very different thing.

His work sold exceptionally well ( for short stories ) in his lifetime and is still a staple of contemporary literary culture, taught widely at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and copied everywhere. Even whispers that his editor Gordon Lish had too much of a hand in his stories have not much tarnished his legacy—or appeal.

Walker’s most famous novel was a critical hit upon its release, winning the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer (she was the first black woman ever to win it). It was a groundbreaking work and remains an essential womanist text, hailed for its literary excellence as well as its frank portrayal of impoverished black women, domestic abuse, and lesbian relationships. The 1985 film adaptation made it a full-blown sensation, for all Americans, but particularly for black women. As Victoria Bond put it in The New Republic , “ The Color Purple lingers as perhaps the  cultural touchstone for black women in America, a kind of lingua franca of familiarity and friendship.” As far as the controversy , she goes on:

Spike Lee said that the Steven Spielberg–produced film was “done with hate,” and that the Mr.— character was a “one-note animal.” The Coalition Against Black Exploitation protested The Color Purple ’s 1985 Los Angeles premiere for its depiction of black men abusing black women. The novelist Ishmael Reed called The Color Purple  “a Nazi conspiracy,” and even suggested that both the novel and the film were critically acclaimed expressly because they slam black men.

Reed was wrong then and he’s wrong now. The popularity of The Color Purple has very little to do with besmirching black men. Instead, it has everything to do with black women’s rejection of respectability politics: from the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug, Mr.—’s ex-lover; to the representation of traditional Christianity as small-minded and stifling; to the narrative’s assertion that domestic violence arises from patriarchal hysteria about women’s strength, not our weakness.

Black women turned out in droves to see the film. We continue to reference it today because it breaks a certain cultural silence about abuse. Respectability politics imperil black women by demanding we stay mute; they insist that black people are a monolith whose reputation must be protected and preserved, whatever the cost. This extends to art, which appears only to be acceptable if black characters are struggling to “get better,” to put checkered pasts firmly in the past. But the truth is obvious. We aren’t interested in stories about the perfect; we’re interested in stories about the real.

“There is no way to overstate how radical Gibson’s first and best novel was when it first appeared,” Lev Grossman wrote in TIME . “Violent, visceral and visionary (there’s no other word for it), Neuromancer proved, not for the first or last time, that science fiction is more than a mass-market paperback genre, it’s a crucial tool by which an age shaped by and obsessed with technology can understand itself.”

The book, Cory Doctrow told  The Guardian , “remains a vividly imagined allegory for the world of the 1980s, when the first seeds of massive, globalised wealth-disparity were planted, and when the inchoate rumblings of technological rebellion were first felt.”

A generation later, we’re living in a future that is both nothing like the Gibson future and instantly recognisable as its less stylish, less romantic cousin. Instead of zaibatsus [large conglomerates] run by faceless salarymen, we have doctrinaire thrusting young neocons and neoliberals who want to treat everything from schools to hospitals as businesses.”

In it, Gibson popularized the term “cyberspace” (this is the 80s, remember) and predicted the internet, that “consensual hallucination” that we’re all now plugged into at all hours. He also more or less invented “cyberpunk,” an aesthetic system that has had untold influence on all the SF and fantasy since. It was, after all, the first novel to win the “holy trinity of science fiction”: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award, and it is still read and lionized today.

A coming-of-age classic, a staple of middle and high school reading curriculums, and a classic of Chicano literature that by 2002 had sold two million copies in 11 languages , “making Ms. Cisneros one of the best-selling Hispanic authors in the United States.” Critic Lorna L. Pérez called the novel “perhaps the most widely read and taught text in Latina literature” and highlighted its “striking revision of the Western literary and theoretical canon.”

Her appropriation of the form, style, and philosophical complications of her literary predecessors reveals profound and entrenched assumptions about subjectivity, class, and ethnicity, categories that historically and contemporarily marginalize individuals like her protagonist Esperanza Cordero. In engaging—both explicitly and implicitly—the literary predecessors that haunt the house on Mango Street, Cisneros is able to alleviate what Harold Bloom calls the “anxiety of influence” not by attempting to overshadow or destroy her predecessors, but by revealing the ideological constructs that lay in the foundations of their writing, thereby redefining the grounds of subjectivity and revealing the unhomely—or that which remains hidden—in the work. By engaging her literary influences in this way, Cisneros offers a revision to their assumptions, and as such lays the foundation for a radical literature that can encompass positions that have been relegated to the margins.

This last, of course, being something we gratefully see more and more every day.

There was considerable dissent in the Literary Hub office over this book—or, to be precise, over whether we should replace it with Cormac McCarthy’s  Blood Meridian , which is also a western published in 1985, and which most of our staff (yours included) prefer, as a novel. But Cormac McCarthy, for me, is on the whole more a writer of the 90s and 00s, and unlike  Blood Meridian ,  Lonesome Dove  was loved and appreciated in its time as well as afterwards. And honestly, the literary 1980s was all about Lonesome Dove . It was a stupendously reviewed bestseller, and went on to win the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The  New York Times   called it the first “Great Cowboy Novel” and the LA Times called it “Larry McMurtry’s loftiest novel, a wondrous work, drowned in love, melancholy, and yet, ultimately, exultant.” Then, of course, there was the miniseries, which premiered in 1989, and as with  Roots , cemented the legacy of its source material (not to mention brought back the miniseries  format, which had been considered increasingly unprofitable). It is now a canonical pillar of the American western, perhaps the most uniquely American of all genres—and no more so than in Texas, where it ranks with the Bible and the Warren Commission Report.

This is an essential novel of 1980s America not only because it was written then, and not only because it was popular and acclaimed then (it won the National Book Award), but because it hacks directly at the culture of that time. “ White Noise finds its greatest distinction in its understanding and perception of America’s soundtrack,” Jayne Anne Phillips wrote in The New York Times .

White noise includes the ever-present sound of expressway traffic, ”a remote and steady murmur around our sleep, as of dead souls babbling at the edge of a dream.” Television is ”the primal force in the American home, sealed-off, self-contained, self-referring . . . a wealth of data concealed in the grid, in the bright packaging, the jingles, the slice-of-life commercials, the products hurtling out of darkness, the coded messages . . . like chants. . . . Coke is it, Coke is it, Coke is it.” Television, Murray Siskind asserts, ”practically overflows with sacred formulas.” White noise includes the bold print of tabloids, those amalgams of American magic and dread, with their comforting ”mechanism of offering a hopeful twist to apocalyptic events.” Fast food and quad cinemas contribute to the melody, as do automated teller machines. Nowhere is Mr. DeLillo’s take on the endlessly distorted, religious underside of American consumerism better illustrated than in the passage on supermarkets.

As Lev Grossman put it in TIME : “Though it’s pitched at a level of absurdity slightly above that of real life,  White Noise  captures the quality of daily existence in media-saturated, hyper-capitalistic postmodern America so precisely, you don’t know whether to laugh or whimper.”

The book was precise about the anxiety, self-absorption, and alienation of the ’80s—which, what do you know, hasn’t exactly let up. “This turning inward was happening across America in 1985,” writes Nathaniel Rich in The Daily Beast .

Exhausted by the paranoia of Watergate era, and the panic of the oil embargo and the Iran hostage crisis, the nation sought the comforts of old-fashioned Hollywood movies, delivered by an old-fashioned Hollywood actor.  White Noise  was published two months after Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration, which followed the most effective marketing campaign in American political history, sounding visceral notes of  hope  (“It’s morning again in America”) and  terror  (“There is a bear in the woods”). In  “ Supermarket ” , the narrator asks Americans to judge the state of the country by the contents of their local supermarket—a tactic, incidentally, followed by DeLillo, who ends  White Noise  with a nightmarish scene inside of one. Walter Mondale, who had tried to make the election about the budget deficit and interest rates, soon realized his mistake, releasing ads with  horror-movie  music and images of  nuclear warheads , but it was too late.

White Noise even eerily presaged the Bhopal gas leak with his airborne toxic event. “In light of the recent Union Carbide disaster in India that killed over 2,000 and injured thousands more,” Phillips notes, “ White Noise seems all the more timely and frightening—precisely because of its totally American concerns, its rendering of a particularly American numbness.”

If you’re reading this space, I probably don’t have to expound on the importance of Toni Morrison to you. But just to cover all our bases, Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988, and was a finalist for the 1987 National Book Award—though lost out to something called Paco’s Story , which rankled   then and rankles now. In 2006, the editors of the  New York Times  asked “a couple hundred” writers, critics, and editors to vote on “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years,” and the winner—by a relatively large margin —was  Beloved . “Any other outcome would have been startling,” wrote A.O. Scott, “since Morrison’s novel has inserted itself into the American canon more completely than any of its potential rivals.

With remarkable speed, Beloved has, less than 20 years after its publication, become a staple of the college literary curriculum, which is to say a classic. This triumph is commensurate with its ambition, since it was Morrison’s intention in writing it precisely to expand the range of classic American literature, to enter, as a living black woman, the company of dead white males like Faulkner, Melville, Hawthorne and Twain. When the book first began to be assigned in college classrooms, during an earlier and in retrospect much tamer phase of the culture wars, its inclusion on syllabuses was taken, by partisans and opponents alike, as a radical gesture. (The conservative canard one heard in those days was that left-wing professors were casting aside Shakespeare in favor of Morrison.) But the political rhetoric of the time obscured the essential conservatism of the novel, which aimed not to displace or overthrow its beloved precursors, but to complete and to some extent correct them.

In Slate , Stephen Metcalf agrees. “Like two other American novels devoted to race, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird , Beloved exists wholly beyond its own artistic merits and demerits,” he writes.

These books have become something more than mere literature; they’re homework, with an afterlife guaranteed by their place (or in the case of Huck Finn , its embattled absence) on the high-school and college syllabus. (“Only Shakespeare rivals her in the number of senior theses devoted to her work,” Harvard English professor Barbara Johnson has said.) Were it simply a matter of social redress, we could all go home now, the Dead White Males having been forced to cocktail with a Living Black Woman. But Beloved isn’t solely a work of protest and advocacy, as Morrison herself has insisted, nor solely a symbol for the progress and virtue of the prestige-granting institutions in American letters. It’s a serious novel and a work of art, and it deserves to be accorded the highest respect. It deserves, in other words, to be asked, Yes, but are you any good?

Reader, it is.

This may be the most 80s of all the 80s books on this 80s list (though it’s a foot race against  White Noise ), which is not a particularly novel point. “So regularly is Tom Wolfe’s brash 1987 tome described as ‘the quintessential novel of the 80s’ that you almost feel the phrase could be slapped on as a subtitle,” Hermoine Hoby wrote in The Guardian . “But the ability to ‘capture the decade’ isn’t the only measure of a writer’s ability, and like a hot-pink puffball dress, this story displays a blithe disregard for nuance.” Indeed—though un-nuanced as it is, it’s a riot, a satirical novel about money, clothes, success, greed, racism, and corruption in New York City, an absolute nonsense whirlwind that turned into a major best-seller.

“Now comes Tom Wolfe, aging enfant terrible, with his first novel, (his first novel!), six hundred and fifty-nine pages of raw energy about New York City and various of its inhabitants—a big, bitter, funny, craftily plotted book that grabs you by the lapels and won’t let go,” Pat Conroy wrote in the New York Times . “As in much of his other work, such as The Right Stuff , Mr. Wolfe’s strategy is to somehow batter the reader into submission, using an incantatory repetition of certain emblematic phrases, (HIS FIRST NOVEL!), detailed description of people’s clothing, hyperbole, interior monologue whenever he feels like it, and various other New Journalism devices he is apparently too fond of to give up. What is amazing is that he gets away with it.” Great, now I have to say “indeed” again.

Again, there was some argument in the Literary Hub office over whether it was more important to include this volume or Carl Sagan’s  Cosmos  (1981), so I’d say that all things being equal, Hawking has had the greater cultural influence. After all, Hawking’s plain-language explanation of the universe has sold more than 10 million copies  since it was first published—spending 147 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and an astonishing 237 weeks on the Times of London bestseller list—and been translated into some 35 languages. It’s more or less the reason why the average American has any idea about space, or black holes, or quantum mechanics, or the theory of relativity—despite the theory that it is “probably the least-read, most-bought book ever.”

Midnight’s Children (1981) is probably the better book, but it was  The Satanic Verses  that kicked off the largest literary controversy of the 1980s. The book, based in part on the life of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad, was vehemently protested by some Muslims, and on February 14th, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa against Rushdie, calling for his assassination. “I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book, which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all those involved in its publication who are aware of its content are sentenced to death,” he announced , and the Iranian government offered $6 million to anyone who killed Rushdie. The author apologized, but to no avail. Bookstores carrying the book in the US and UK were bombed, and so was at least one newspaper that ran an editorial supporting the book. Rushdie’s Japanese translator was murdered, and his Italian and Norwegian translators were attacked and seriously injured. Protests were held all over the world, and Rushdie spent the next nine years in hiding—until September 1998, when the new Iranian President Mohammed Khatami said he would not uphold the fatwa. (Though it is still in effect.)

Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline (1980), Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (1980), J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), Carl Sagan,  Contact (1980), Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler (first English translation, 1981), Angela Davis, Women, Race, and Class (1981), Stephen King,  Cujo  (1981), Donald Barthelme, Sixty Stories (1981), Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1981), Rachel Ingalls, Mrs. Caliban (1982), W. P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (1982), Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s List  (1982), Raymond Carver, Cathedral (1983), Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose (first English translation, 1983), Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 (1983), Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon (1983), Mark Helprin, Winter’s Tale (1983), Susan Hill, The Woman in Black (1983), Stephen King,  Pet Sematary  (1981), Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City  (1984), Primo Levi, The Periodic Table (first English translation, 1984), Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider (1984), Kathy Acker, Blood and Guts in High School  (1984), Martin Amis, Money (1984), Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (first English translation, 1984), Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits (first English translation, 1985), John Irving, The Cider House Rules (1985), Bret Easton Ellis, Less Than Zero (1985), Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985), Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game (1985), Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Laura Numeroff, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985), Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian  (1985), Lorrie Moore, Self-Help (1985), Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985), Richard Ford, The Sportswriter (1986), Brian Jacques, Redwall (1986), Stephen King, It (1986), Art Spiegelman, Maus I (1986), Alan Moore, Watchmen (1986), Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy (1987), James Ellroy, Black Dahlia (1987), Stephen King,  Misery  (1981), Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On (1987), Gary Paulsen, Hatchet  (1987), Mary Gaitskill, Bad Behavior (1988), John Grisham, A Time to Kill (1988), David Markson, Wittgenstein’s Mistress (1988), Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming Pool Library  (1988), Roald Dahl, Matilda (1988), Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera (first English translation, 1988), Martin Amis, London Fields (1989), Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day  (1989), Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life (1989), Katherine Dunn, Geek Love  (1989), Oscar Hijuelos, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989), Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club (1989)

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21 Memorable Books From The ’80s

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Travel back in time with the best and most iconic books from the ’80s sure to spark that nostalgia. This is one of our favorite decades.

It’s no secret that many of TUL’s writers are ’80s babies, and we remember the emergence of Apple MacIntosh computers, Walkmans (technically mid-1979 but we are counting it), and Nintendo.

Whether you were born in the ’80s, watch Stranger Things , or loved MTV , chicken Mcnuggets, and disposable cameras, you know that the 1980s were pretty spectacular.

The decade also featured fantastic ’80s books, many of which were made into cult classic movies.

Other 1980s books approached heavier topics like abortion, corruption in the government, and inequality in our systems.

In fact, many of the popular books in the ’80s still sit on banned book lists and create(d) quite the controversy. Even in the 2020s, we are sadly seeing a reemergence of their themes.

So, what are the best books of the 1980s to read and re-read? Who were the bestselling authors of the time?

Below, find books from the 1980s in all genres, including thrillers, clown murder mysteries, graphic novels, foodie fiction, and translated literature. Let’s get started!

*Please note that while all of these books were published in the 1980s, many of the book covers and links are for newer editions.

Explore all of our decades book lists .

Grab your favorite ’80s books :

• Audible Plus : From Amazon, listen to Amazon Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks. They add new titles every week.
• Book of the Month : Get the month’s hottest new and upcoming titles from Book of the Month. You might snag an early release or debut author. Along with selecting a book a month, find terrific add-ons, both trendy and lesser-known titles.
• Amazon Prime Video – Stream thousands of ad-free movies and TV series on demand with Prime Video.
• Express VPN – Using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allows you to view movies worldwide – and they help keep your information safe. Our writers couldn’t have such diverse film reviews without using a VPN.

Table of Contents

21 Best Books From The ’80s

By Tori Curran

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

Atwood penned one of the most iconic books from the ’80s that still reigns popular today.

Set in future New England, a patriarchal state known as the Republic of Gilead has overthrown the government.

Leaders have selected handmaids, including the main character Offred, to bear the children of the republic’s commanders.

Atwood explores female individuality, religious and military dictatorship, subjugation, and reproductive rights through Offred’s perspective in a tale that is eerily relevant today and one of the best books for deep thinkers . Read The Handmaid’s Tale : Amazon | Goodreads

2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

TW: rape, racism

An epistolary novel set in the South and Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Color Purple is one of our most controversial ’80s books.

It is a frequent target of censorship and is listed as one of the American Library Association’s most banned books .

Celie, a poor, uneducated 14-year-old African American writes letters to God because her father both beats and sexually abuses her.

She is subsequently abused by her own husband and endures countless other bouts of trauma.

Celie’s eventual triumph doesn’t overshadow her past but helps to highlight her solace in female companionship.

Enjoy even more books with colors in the title , and read more about the 2023 movie . Read The Color Purple : Amazon | Goodreads | Read More

3. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1985)

Translated into English by Edith Grossman

Florentino and Fermina fall in love young and begin a secret relationship. When Fermina’s father finds out, they move to a different town.

Fermina meets Urbino, a doctor working to eradicate cholera, and she realizes that he provides the necessary stability she needs.

Florentino, however, promises to still wait for her. Will 50 years be too long?

Sometimes met with the critical reception of being too simple, this is one of the 1980s books that reminds readers that love and passion are often synonymous, and not to be taken for granted.

Find more Gabriel García Márquez books on our 1970s and 1960s book lists . Read Love in the Time of Cholera : Amazon | Goodreads

4. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (1987)

Translated into English by Jay Rubin

TW: suicide

Norwegian Wood is one of our favorite ’80s romance novels that deals with loss, love, mental illness, and sexuality.

Told through his own perspective, Toru Watanabe reflects on his college days and wildly disparate romances with two women: Naoko and Midori.

Following a tragic loss, Toru develops an emotionally intense relationship with the troubled Naoko. Soon after, he develops feelings for the outgoing and confident Midori.

The two women could not be more different, yet Toru is forced to consider who is right for him.

Travel to Japan with these books and authors . Read Norwegian Wood : Amazon | Goodreads

5. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984)

TW: sexual assault, rape

Written as a series of vignettes, The House on Mango Street tells the story of 12-year-old  Esperanza who lives in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago.

As Esperanza matures over the course of a year, she begins to better understand race, identity, sexuality, and gender norms both through the women around her and a number of traumatic circumstances.

The house on mango street, as is true for many of the women in her area, comes to represent the constant feeling of suffocation that comes with being controlled.

Can Esperanza truly ever leave Mango Street?

Uncover even more iconic books from the ’80s (and more!) on our 50 States reading list . Read The House on Mango Street : Amazon | Goodreads

6. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

For a different type of ghost story , pick up Beloved .

Sethe, who was born a slave and escaped to Cincinnati, fears she will never be truly free from the memories.

Now, she and her daughter Denver are haunted by what they believe is the ghost of Sethe’s eldest daughter.

Another Pulitzer Prize Winner, and one of the best books of the 1980s, Beloved spectacularly examines the lasting psychological effects of slavery, along with family relationships, manhood, and trauma.

Morrison marries complex topics with concepts of love and guilt to create one of the most poignant novels of all time.

Beloved is also a great audiobook to listen to .

Explore even more critically-acclaimed novels with haunted spaces . Read Beloved : Amazon | Goodreads | Read More

7. Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984)

For sci-fi books from the 1980s, it doesn’t get any more iconic than Neuromancer . One of the first and most popular cyberpunk novels ever written, Neuromancer has won multiple awards.

Set in a dystopian future in Japan , Henry, who was once a prominent hacker, accepts a job that thrusts him into a world of powerful underground artificial intelligence.

Weaving in modern concepts of cyberspace and super-consciousness, it was way ahead of its time in the early 80s.

Find even more Canadian books to read . Read Neuromancer : Amazon | Goodreads

8. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

Four immigrant Chinese women begin meeting in 1949 to eat dim sum, invest, play mah-jong, and share stories, thus forming the Joy Luck Club.

Forty years later, their own daughters keep the tradition alive. Through their stories, readers learn of secret pasts, familial bonds, and cultural identities.

One of the most popular ’80s books, find The Joy Luck Club featured on our foodie fiction book list and our top books about friendship . Read The Joy Luck Club : Amazon | Goodreads

9. It by Stephen King (1986)

When it comes to iconic ’80s horror books, Stephen King reigns supreme.

It follows seven children who are repeatedly terrorized by “It” who, usually in the form of Pennywise the clown, represents its victims’ fears.

As adults, the group of kids reunites, fulfilling their promise to return if the murders started up again.

It came to be a King staple featuring themes of childhood trauma, loss of innocence, and overcoming evil. The story is also responsible for the perpetual fear of clowns that plagues generations.

Explore even more creepy books . Read It : Amazon | Goodreads

10. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (1988)

The Satanic Verses is a frame narrative and one of the most controversial books from the ’80s.

The story follows two Indian actors who are magically saved when their hijacked plane explodes over the English Channel.

Dreams and visions of one of the actors, including one following the life of Mohammed, are interspersed throughout the novel as the two try to piece their lives back together.

Considered a masterpiece by some, others meet the novel with criticism.

Rushdie’s perceived alienation and disillusionment of Muslim culture, along with his portrayal of Mohammad, led to the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issuing a fatwa order for Muslims to kill Rushdie.

Read The Satanic Verses : Amazon | Goodreads

11. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum (1980)

After an explosion on board a boat, Jason Bourne is rescued by a fisherman, nursed back to health, and soon discovers he has amnesia.

The only information he has about himself ties him to an offshore bank with millions.

On his hunt to uncover his own identity, Bourne must also figure out why secret ops agencies and the US government wish him dead.

If you’re looking for more popular books in the ’80s, Ludlum authored countless Bourne novels, which were then adapted into equally cult classic films . Read The Bourne Identity : Amazon | Goodreads

12. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (1989)

TW: sexual assault

Set against the backdrop of an English civil war, Follett’s epic tells the story of a monk who builds the world’s greatest cathedral

Follett beautifully crafts his characters – from his builder to the gorgeous noblewoman – and meticulously weaves in details of feudal England and the hardships of the 12th century, while hope and faith drive the story forward.

Following the popular TV adaptation, it became even more of a world-renowned masterpiece. Coming in at almost 1,000 pages, it’s one of the longest 1980s books on our list too. Read The Pillars of the Earth : Amazon | Goodreads

13. The Cider House Rules by John Irving (1985)

TW: abortion, sexual assault

Homer Wells grew up in an orphanage run by Dr. Larch, an obstetrician who helped women with unwanted pregnancies re-home their babies.

Dr. Larch took Homer under his wings, loved him as his own son, and trained him to be an obstetrician himself.

Their relationship is complicated, though, especially since Dr. Larch also secretly performs abortions.

Homer feels abortions are morally wrong. However, a number of personal circumstances cause him to see things differently – and value choice.

This is, unsurprisingly, another one of those controversial ’80s books that have resurfaced under the current climate.

Read The Cider House Rules : Amazon | Goodreads

14. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (1980)

Ignacious J. Reilly is well educated but lazy. Living with his mother in New Orleans, he is forced to take on odd jobs to help her pay for a car accident.

The novel follows his colorful and humorous jobs and interactions with other locals, as well as his own eccentricities and setbacks.

In addition to being a beloved cult classic and one of the best books of the 1980s, A Confederacy of Dunces is listed as one of BBC’s 100 most influential novels.

Read A Confederacy of Dunces : Amazon | Goodreads

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15. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver (1981)

Carver beautifully crafts together a collection of short stories dealing with love, marriage, and romantic relationships.

Some are poignant and simple, while others handle alcoholism, infidelity, murder, medical issues, suicide, and abuse.

One of the most timeless and popular books from the ’80s, it is uniquely commonplace. The examination of true love will deeply resonate with fans of Scenes From a Marriage . Read What We Talk About When We Talk About Love : Amazon | Goodreads

16. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (1986)

TW: suicide, rape, domestic abuse

Tom has recently lost his job and learns of his twin sister, Savannah’s, second suicide attempt. He travels to New York City where he begins spending time with Savannah’s therapist.

Through their conversations, both the reader and the therapist are given an inside look at the traumatic childhood of Tom, Savannah, and their brother Luke.

One of the saddest and heaviest books on this list, The Prince of Tides is heartbreakingly moving.

It is clear that many of these heavy books from the ’80s ventured into uncharted territory when it came to trauma, abuse, therapy, and mental health.

Explore more books that are set across New York . Read The Prince of Tides : Amazon | Goodreads

17. Watchmen by Alan Moore (1986)

Illustrated by Dave Gibbons

Watchmen is an American comic book series published by D.C. Comics between 1986 and 1987.

It follows an alternate history in which superheroes from the 1940s and 1960s change the course of history.

In Watchmen , the U.S. is victorious in Vietnam, Watergate is never exposed, and World War III – against the Soviets – is looming.

Where politics marry superheroes, Watchmen is another of our favorite cult classic ’80s books and series. Read Watchmen : Amazon | Goodreads

18. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)

For more sci-fi and popular books in the ’80s, Ender’s Game is considered one of the best of all time.

Set in the future, humans have mastered interplanetary spaceflight – they explore distant galaxies and encounter an insect alien species called Formics.

Preparing for another war with the Formics, Earth’s military space force recruits and trains children, including Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin, to be future commanders.

During training, Ender proves to be a tactical genius. But, there is more to the training exercises than meets the eye.

Ender’s Game is a great book to gift dad on Father’s Day too. Read Ender’s Game : Amazon | Goodreads

19. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson (1985)

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is a coming-of-age novel about a lesbian girl growing up in an English Pentecostal community.

Partially autobiographical, Winterson is gentle with both the themes of same-sex relationships and with religious dedication.

Jeanette – who is also the main character – believes she is destined to become a missionary.

As she grows older and begins exploring love, she develops feelings for another girl. However, her mother and community disapprove.

Will Jeanette find an artful balance between her romantic feelings and religious devotion? And what will become of her relationship with her mother and religious institution?

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is one of the not-to-miss 1980s books by a dazzling and award-winning fiction and nonfiction author. Read Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit : Amazon | Goodreads

20. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving (1981)

With so many of the books from the ’80s featuring coming-of-age stories, it is hard to stand out. But Irving does just that. In fact, he is featured here twice!

John Berry is the son of a perpetual dreamer and bear owner, one of five eccentric siblings, and a permanent resident of a hotel.

Despite funny, sad, traumatic, and outlandish circumstances, the family keeps on dreaming, albeit outlandishly.

Soulful and gentle at times, and at others ridiculous, Irving gently marries humorous relatability with serious issues in this literary masterpiece.

Uncover even more books featuring hotel life . Read The Hotel New Hampshire : Amazon | Goodreads

21. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

A list of iconic ’80s books isn’t complete without Stephen Hawking.

In layman’s terms, Hawking presents an overview of physics and the structure, origin, and potential future of the universe.

He brings concepts of space and time, as well as general relativity and quantum mechanics, from scientists to the simple man.

With this book, Hawking changed how human beings considered their own existence. It is also a bit of a precursor to his Theory of Everything as he touches on a unifying theory. Read A Brief History of Time : Amazon | Goodreads

Save These ’80s Books For Later:

Grab the best books of the 1980s here :

Thank you to TUL contributor, Tori Curran from Explore With Tori

Tori (pronouns: she/her) is a children’s librarian and mom to two boys living in New York. She’s an avid traveler, nature enthusiast, and writer, encouraging families to get outside and start exploring the world. When she’s not hiking or traveling, you can find her lost in a historical fiction book, watching Bravo reruns, or obsessively decluttering her home.

What are your favorite 1980s books?

If you lived during the 1980s, what are your favorite inventions, memories, shows, and mementos?

What do you wish survived past the decade, and what ’80s trends do you hope stay long forgotten?

Lastly, what were the most popular books in the ’80s, and which are your favorites? Are there any ’80s books that missed the mark? Let us know in the comments.

You May Also Enjoy:

Books That Defined The ’90s Top 1950s Books Books For Time Travelers

This reading list is also a part of the 2022 Uncorked Reading Challenge .

Tori Curran

Tori (pronouns: she/her) is a mom to two boys, living in New York but adventuring everywhere, usually with a toddler on her back. She's an avid traveler, nature junkie, and writer, encouraging families to get outside and start exploring the world. When she's not hiking or traveling, you can find her lost in a book, watching Bravo reruns, or obsessively decluttering her home. Tori owns the family and adventure blog, Explore with Tori .

Great list to reflect back on. I remember reading a lot of Bret Easton Ellis. Less Than Zero and American Psycho stand out

Thanks so much for sharing!

I was shocked not to see Flowers In The Attic

Love your 80’s list!

Thanks so much!

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30 Rad Books About the 1980s

Explore the best books about the 1980s, the last decade of the Cold War marked by economic uncertainty and technological advances.

When you think about the 1980s, you think of the mix of uncertainty and hope. The Cold War was on its last legs, creating political and economic upheaval throughout the world. The AIDS epidemic struck new terror across the country. Yet, technological advances introduced the internet and the Atari game system, adding new interests and shifting culture.

You see in this intermix of books set in the 1980s characters hopeful of change yet struggling in a shifting environment.

Today, I’ve put together a list of books about the 1980s. You’ll find something for everyone: fun 1980s historical fiction, nonfiction books about the 1980s, and even a few modern classic 1980s books worth a read.

Don’t Miss a Thing

Best Books About the 1980s

George Orwell

I know it’s about a theoretical version of the 1980s, but you can’t list books about the 1980s without mentioning 1984 . Published in 1949, George Orwell’s terrifying vision of the 1980s is just as important today as when it was written. Telling the story of Winston, a depressed Party worker who longs to join the Resistance, 1984 shows the horror of a totalitarian society continually at war. Commonly referenced in modern culture (i.e., Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime,), 1984 is one of the best dystopian novels of all time and my all-time favorite book.

Publication Date: 8 April 1949 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Great Believers

Rebecca makkai.

In 1985, Yale Tishman is set to acquire a treasure trove of artwork for the Chicago art gallery where he works. When his friend Nico dies of AIDS, Yale watches as all his best friends begin dying, leaving Nico’s sister Fiona as the only friend he has left. Flash forward 30 years, when Fiona is in Paris trying to find her daughter and coming to grips with how the AIDS epidemic has altered her life.

Publication Date: 19 June 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

A Time To Kill

John grisham.

John Grisham’s debut novel didn’t receive much attention until after he published the bestsellers The Firm and The Pelican Brief , but it’s my favorite page turner book of his. After the brutal rape of a 10-year-old girl, her father seeks his own justice and murders the rapists. With the Mississippi town aflame, young attorney Jake Brigance must decide how much he is willing to risk to defend the father. Just be warned, the beginning of the book is horribly graphic and extremely hard to read.

Publication Date: 1989 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Hello Beautiful

Ann napolitano.

After a childhood of being ignored by his family, William Waters finds refuge playing basketball in college. When William meets Julia Padavano, a lively girl extremely close to her parents and three sisters, he quickly becomes a part of the close-knit Padavano family. Although cracks start to appear in the family, William never imagined he’d be the wedge to drive them apart. A homage to Little Women , Hello Beautiful gorgeously describes family and sisterhood, mental health, and forgiveness, in such a way that you will never forget this story.

Publication Date: 14 March 2023 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen chbosky.

In a series of letters, fifteen-year-old Charlie narrates his struggles to adapt to his first year in high school, especially after the suicide of his best friend from middle school and the death of his beloved aunt. He befriends two seniors, Patrick and Sam, and together they navigate a difficult year. One of the best YA books about the 1980s, The Perks of Being a Wallflower hits on the tough topics of abuse and mental health.

Publication Date: 1 February 1999 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

I Must Betray You

Ruta sepetys.

Although communist countries are falling all over Europe, in 1989, Romania is still ruled by the cruel dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. Blackmailed by the secret police, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is forced to become an informer, walking the edge between deceiving the Securitate while still protecting his family. I Must Betray You is exactly what you want from young adult historical fiction books about the 1980s. Sepetys showcases the everyday teenage life in a unique setting with a narrative that is as compelling as it is informative. Publication Date: 1 February 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Save for Later

Book Club Books About the 1980s

Tell the Wolves I’m Home

Carol rifka brunt.

In 1987, fourteen-year-old June feels like she doesn’t fit in. Her only confidant is her uncle Finn. When Finn dies of a mysterious illness (AIDS) that her mother refuses to talk about, June is devastated. At the funeral, she meets Finn’s “friend” Toby, and the two strike up a friendship that will help them both navigate their grief.

Publication Date: 19 June 2012 Amazon | Goodreads

Colson Whitehead

In 1985, Benji Cooper is the only Black student at his elite prep school in Manhattan. In contrast, Benji spends every summer in Sag Harbor, an African American community of artists where the teens are allowed complete freedom most of the time. In this coming of age book, Whitehead uses the hilarity of teenage mortification to underscore Benji’s struggle to find his identity between his all-White and all-Black lives.

Publication Date: 28 April 2009 Amazon | Goodreads

Oona Out of Order

Margarita montimore.

On New Year’s Eve in 1982, Oona Lockhart is faced with a life-changing decision: travel abroad to continue her studies in London or pursue fame as a member of her boyfriend’s rock band. As the clock strikes midnight and Oona turns 19, she faints and wakes up as a fifty-year-old. Thus begins the mixed-up time-travel life of Oona, where every year she gets to randomly experience her life at different stages. One of the best recent books with time travel, Oona Out of Order explores whether or not we can change our destiny while having fun highlighting the differences between the decades.

Publication Date: 25 February 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Silver Sparrow

Tayari jones.

In 1980s Atlanta, James Witherspoon has his perfect middle-class family … and his secret other middle-class family. When his two teenage daughters from different wives meet, only one knows they are sisters. Their budding friendship threatens to expose the bigamy of their father and throw both of their families into chaos.

Publication Date: 24 May 2011 Amazon | Goodreads

Chris Bohjalian

On a snowy winter night in rural Vermont, Sibyl Danforth is an experienced midwife forced to perform an emergency c-section when the mother dies of a stroke. Yet, Sibyl’s assistant insists that the mother wasn’t already dead. Told from Sibyl’s teenage daughter’s point of view, Midwives explores the complex nature of childbirth as Sibyl stands trial for her actions.

Publication Date: 1 April 1997 Amazon | Goodreads 

Bestselling Books on the 1980s

Malibu Rising

Taylor jenkins reid.

In 1983, four famous siblings throw an epic summer party at their Malibu mansion. Secrets come out, the party gets out of control, and a fire will burn it all down by dawn. Malibu Rising is a gorgeous family drama that surpasses a simple beach read. The story of the Riva children abandoned by their famous rockstar father is heartbreakingly sad and yet still hopeful. Bringing the 1980s to life, the characters come alive as each sibling ponders if they can escape their parents’ fates.

Publication Date: 01 June 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Eleanor & Park

Rainbow rowell.

The new girl in town, Eleanor, with her unruly red hair and mismatched clothes, doesn’t fit in at her high school. Park doesn’t fully fit in either and tends to hide behind his books and his headphones. When the two misfits bond over comic books and music, a friendship springs up that reminds you of the transformative power of love in this stunning 1980s historical fiction for teens.

Publication Date: 2012 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

In the Woods

Tana french.

Mysteries can be a great way to experience a different decade and Tana French’s debut thriller is a perfect choice for books about the 1980s. In the summer of 1984, four children go out to the woods to play but only one returns. With no memory of what happened to the other children that day, the lone survivor Rob Roy grows up to become a detective, seeking to right what wrongs he can. When he and his partner investigate a case eerily similar to what happened to him so long ago, Rob’s memories start to return. Will this case lead him to solve his own mystery? Or will his memories blind him to the truth of this case?

Publication Date: 17 May 2007 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

More Than You’ll Ever Know

Katie gutierrez.

In 1985, Lore Rivera is an international banker, frequently traveling between Texas and Mexico City. Although married to Fabian with twin sons, after Lore has an affair with Andres in Mexico, she secretly marries him as well. When her double life is finally exposed, one husband is arrested for murdering the other. Uncovering this sensational story in the modern-day, a true-crime writer uncovers long-hidden secrets when she tracks down Lore to hear Lore’s side of the story.

Publication Date: 7 June 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Sun Down Motel

Simone st. james.

In 1982, Viv Delaney takes a job as a clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York, only to mysteriously disappear. Thirty-five years later, Viv’s niece Carly Kirk returns to the Sun Down Motel to investigate her aunt’s disappearance. You’ll love flipping between Carly and Viv as they try to figure out what is going on at the Sun Down Motel. The perfect combination of spooky, without being too scary, The Sun Down Motel is one of the top thriller books about the 1980s.

Publication Date: 18 February 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Interesting Books Set in the 1980s

Haruki Murakami

If you are craving something a bit different, you might want to try this mind-bending work from famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In 1984, Aomame notices strange discrepancies and finds she has entered a parallel version of her life, 1Q84. Quickly caught up in a religious cult, Aomame wonders what is truly real. Meanwhile, ghostwriter Tengo accepts an assignment to rewrite a book, a decision that changes his whole life and leads him closer to Aomame.

Publication Date: 29 May 2009 Amazon | Goodreads

Girl, Forgotten

Karin slaughter.

While protecting a judge getting death threats, new US Marshal Andrea Oliver can’t resist investigating a cold case. On prom night in 1982, the popular Emily Vaughn is killed. Emily was hiding a secret, but her wealthy family and friends closed ranks after her gruesome murder. Now, Andrea is determined to use her position and resources to find out what happened to Emily.

Publication Date: 23 August 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Passenger

Cormac mccarthy.

In his first book since winning the Pulitzer Prize for The Road sixteen years ago, Cormac McCarthy returns with the first book in a two-part series. In Mississippi in 1980, Bobby Western dives into the ocean to investigate a crashed ocean liner. As he explores the crash site, he is plagued by officials, the ghost of his father, and by his sister who loves him but could also ruin him.

Publication Date: 25 October 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Shoulder Season

Christina clancy.

After the death of her parents in 1981, nineteen-year-old Sherri Taylor decides to leave her sleepy hometown behind and jump full-tilt into an evocative adventure. She becomes a Playboy Bunny at a Wisconsin resort. Living in dorms with other bunnies, Sherri enjoys the sisterhood and the thrill of sex, drugs, and rock and roll until she is caught in a love triangle that will affect her for decades.

Publication Date: 6 July 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Music Shop

Rachel joyce.

In 1988, Frank owns a music shop where he sells vinyls of every genre and has a knack for picking out the perfect song for each customer. One day Ilse Brauchmann walks in and asks Frank to teach her about music. As Ilse and Frank develop a friendship that slowly deepens, past wounds threaten to ruin their relationship.

Publication Date: 13 July 2017 Amazon | Goodreads 

Modern Classics: 1980s Books

The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret atwood.

After the fall of the United States, the theocratic patriarchal society Gilead is now in power. Due to an epidemic of infertility, most of the elite women cannot have children. Instead, they use handmaids, women of the lower caste forced to submit to men to bear children. The Handmaid’s Tale is written as the diary of one such handmaiden, Offred, as she struggles to survive in a brutal society, hoping to one day escape.

Publication Date: August 1985 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Ender’s Game

Orson scott card.

In a future where humanity is at war with an alien enemy determined to destroy life on Earth, Ender Wiggin is a third child in a family of extraordinarily gifted children. Sent off to battle school at only six years of age, Ender – with his perfect mix of compassion and ruthlessness – is forced to become the military genius humanity so desperately needs. Ender’s Game is an amazing novel – not only thrilling enough to intrigue teenage boys who never read- but also so packed with complex themes and deeper meanings that will make you want to read it again and again.

Publication Date: 15 January 1985 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Color Purple

Alice walker.

In this modern classic, poor young Black girl Celie writes letters to God in the early 1900s, begging for help from her father who beats and rapes her. After Celie is married off to an abusive man and helps her sister run away, Celie begins writing letters to her sister. Talking frankly about domestic and sexual abuse and homosexuality, The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

Publication Date: 1 June 1982 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Joy Luck Club

How well do you know your mother? In 1949, four Chinese women, all recent immigrants to San Francisco, gather together weekly to play Mahjong, chat about their pasts, and hope for the future of their daughters. This tale of mothers trying to pass on their wisdom to their American-born daughters who don’t truly understand them will make you want to learn more about your own mother.

Toni Morrison

One of the top books on racism, Toni Morrison’s horror story shows the scars left behind by slavery. Although she escaped slavery by running to Ohio, Sethe is still not a free woman. She can’t seem to get the horrors of Sweet Home out of her mind and is haunted by the ghost of her baby, Beloved. When a teenage girl arrives claiming to be Beloved, Sethe’s past finally catches up to her.

Publication Date: September 1987 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

A Prayer for Owen Meany

John irving.

During a Little League baseball game, Owen Meany hits a foul ball that kills his best friend’s mother. Believing himself to be God’s instrument, Owen seeks to fulfill his own prophecy. Narrated by Owen’s best friend John Wheelwright, A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of the best 1980s books and a beloved modern classic.

Publication Date: March 1989 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Nonfiction Books About the 1980s

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

John berendt.

In 1981, a death at the grandest mansion in Savannah provokes the question: Was it murder or self-defense? The shooting sends a tidal wave through the town that’s effects are still visible a decade later. With a colorful cast of characters, you’ll hardly believe this narrative nonfiction story isn’t a novel.

Publication Date: 13 January 1994 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Truth and Beauty

Ann patchett.

In 1981, Ann Patchett met Lucy Grealy in college, and, after attending a writer’s workshop, a close friendship bloomed that would last decades. As a child, Lucy lost half her jaw to childhood cancer. Through the years of reconstructive surgery, Ann and Lucy’s bond remains strong only to be separated by Lucy’s death at a young age.

Publication Date: 1 May 2004 Amazon | Goodreads 

The Library Book

Susan orlean.

In 1986, a massive fire tore through the Los Angeles Public Library Central Branch, raging for over seven hours and destroying hundreds of thousands of books. Susan Orlean weaves together the tale of the library fire, the history of the Los Angeles Public Library, and a behind the scenes look at the current library to show the importance of libraries to humanity.

Publication Date: 16 October 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

I Forgot to Remember

In 1988, Su Meck, a young mother of two, was struck in the head by a falling ceiling fan leaving her with a traumatic brain injury. After only 3 weeks, she was discharged from the hospital and sent back home to take care of her kids – even though she had lost most of her memories – including, how to do basic functions, like read, add, or tie her shoes. Just thinking about how her doctors failed her and how her terrible husband mistreated her just makes my blood boil. Su Meck’s memoir might not be the best written, but she is certainly a true survivor.

Publication Date: 4 February 2014 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Which Books About the 1980s Are You Most Interested in Reading?

What do you think? Do you enjoy reading books about the 1980s? What 1980s books would you recommend? As always, let me know in the comments!

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Books that shaped the 1980s

Rubik's Cubes, Stephen King and Margaret Thatcher – the Eighties have plenty of cultural touchstones. But where to read about them? From Toni Morrison to Tom Wolfe, Alan Hollinghurst to Alice Walker, here are some of the writers who captured the decade best. 

Hold your boombox in the air for the 1980s... surely the most photogenic decade in history.

It was the decade 24-hour news was born and the Cold War died. The decade Diana became a princess, Prince Rogers Nelson became just Prince; greed got good (for a while) and poverty got worse. There was a Very Important war over an island somewhere near Argentina, and a pop concert to relieve a famine in Africa.

How could anyone forget Top Gun , The Smiths, Dallas , MTV, yuppies, powersuits, IBM and Rubik's Cubes? It was the decade Millenials were born, just as Mr. T pitied his first fool. 

History has not forgotten Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev or Michael Jackson, either. Nor the AIDS crisis and the rampant, structural homophobia that it spawned. 

A lot happened in the 1980s: a decade of massive social, political and cultural change the influence of which has dripped through every decade since. And, as usual, there were plenty of writers itching to make sense of it all. Here are 20 of the most significant.

“The Color Purple lingers as perhaps the cultural touchstone for black women in America"

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

This is the book that made Alice Walker the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. And two years later, Steven Spielberg adapted it into a film that featured the screen acting debuts of Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.

A heart-puncturing tale of one woman's spiritual awakening in the Deep South, it tells the story of Celie and her struggles to escape the cycle of brutality and humiliation meted out on her by men – raped by her father and married off to an abusive husband until she finds love in the arms of a vivacious female blues singer named Shug Avery.

But there's so much more to it than that. So much, in fact, that – as Victoria Bond wrote in The New Republic , " The Color Purple lingers as perhaps the cultural touchstone for black women in America, a kind of lingua franca of familiarity and friendship."

“It captures the quality of daily existence in media-saturated, hyper-capitalistic postmodern America so precisely"

White Noise by Don DeLillo (1985)

In its review of Don DeLillo  White Noise, the New York Times called the novel: "timely and frightening – precisely because of its totally American concerns, its rendering of a particularly American numbness."

That numbness, in DeLillo's mind, was a result the soul-ossifying impact of mass-media and consumerism on contemporary America that was eating society alive.

It follows a university professor of Hitler studies, who grows angry, paranoid and terminally obsessed with his own mortality after a toxic spill near his home. So when he discovers his wife has been taking an experimental drug to combat the fear of death, he vows to get his hands on the drug at any cost in this lucid reflection of the anxiety, self-absorption, and alienation of the 1980s.

"White Noise,"  wrote Lev Grossman in TIME , "captures the quality of daily existence in media-saturated, hyper-capitalistic postmodern America so precisely, you don’t know whether to laugh or whimper."

“No other living American novelist, not even Pynchon, has given us a book as strong and memorable as Blood Meridian”

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (1985)

"I venture that no other living American novelist, not even Pynchon, has given us a book as strong and memorable as Blood Meridian ," wrote the powerhouse American critic Harold Bloom in 2019. "It is the ultimate Western, not to be surpassed."

It follows the experiences of a boy, known as The Kid, with the Glanton gang (led by the blood-boilingly satanic The Judge), a historical band of scalp hunters who slaughtered native Americans and others along the Texas–Mexico borderlands in the 1840s for bounty, pleasure, and eventually just habit.

It is a story soaked in menace, and awash with nuance, and with blood festooned across almost every page. And yet, McCarthy's primary-colour prose lifts it from the realm of camp horror into a genuine devastation of the senses – a story so troubling, fearsome and intense that it has never lost its relevance. One of the greatest American novels of all time.

Did a fear of clowns exist before Stephen King wrote IT?

IT by Steven King (1986)

Did coulrophobia (the irrational fear of clowns) exist before Stephen King wrote IT , about a psychotic dream clown who murders children and feeds on their fear? It had to, because, in King's own words , “Clowns are scary … I mean, if I were a sick kid and I saw a f***ing clown coming, all the red lines would go off on my gear, because I'd be scared to death!”

Anyway, you can't talk about books of the 1980s without a shout out to Stephen King. It was the decade he wrote Cujo , The Running Man , Christine , Pet Sematery , Misery , The Tommyknockers ... take your pick.

But for sheer impact on popular horror, IT was the book that made clowns definitively scary for a whole generation. And the fact that Pennywise is still paying King's bills 30 years later with the recent double-movie adaptation starring Bill Skarsgård as the homicidal harlequin of Hell is testament to its timeless appeal.

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

It's quiet. It's subtle. It's agonisingly English. Kazuo Ishiguro 's Booker-winning novel about the life and private tortures of an ageing butler with an upper lip as stiff as his starched collar was the heartbreaker Britain seemed to need in 1989.

Set between the wars, but published as the Berlin Wall was coming down, Y2K was looming, and Britain stood at the edge of a cultural cliff, maybe it was the nostalgia for a forgotten time when “things were always better left unsaid” that resonated.

Whatever it was, this haunting tale of lost causes and lost love rang a bell that echoed through the collective imagination from London to Los Angeles and all the way to Stockholm where, 18 years later, Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize for his ability to reveal “the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

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Make Lists, Not War

The meta-lists website, best books of the 1980s.

I collected over 10 lists of the best literature of the 1980s from various sources and combined them into one meta-list.  The results are below, every book on at least two of the 10+ lists, organized by rank (that is, with the books on the most lists at the top).  Note: These are not my personal opinions and I have not read all these books.  If I have read the book, I have included my 1-5 star rating.

On 10 lists THE NAME OF THE ROSE  (1980, Italy). By Umberto Eco. Translated by William Weaver [fiction: novel] (3) THE COLOR PURPLE  (1982, US). By Alice Walker [fiction: novel] (4)

On 9 lists MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN  (1981, India/UK). By Salman Rushdie [fiction: novel] (5) BELOVED  (1987, US). By Toni Morrison [fiction: novel] (4)

On 8 lists BLOOD MERIDIAN  (1985, US). By Cormac McCarthy [fiction: novel] THE HANDMAID’S TALE  (1985, Canada). By Margaret Atwood [fiction: novel] THE JOY LUCK CLUB  (1989, US). By Amy Tan [fiction: novel]

On 7 lists A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES (1980, US). By John Kennedy Toole [fiction: novel] (4) HOUSEKEEPING  (1981, US). By Marilynne Robinson [fiction: novel] THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES  (1987, US). By Tom Wolfe [fiction: novel] THE SATANIC VERSES  (1988, India/UK). By Salman Rushdie [fiction: novel] A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME: From the Big Bang to Black Holes  (1988, UK). By Stephen Hawking [nonfiction: science] (4) THE REMAINS OF THE DAY  (1989, UK). By Kazuo Ishiguro [fiction: novel] (4)

On 6 lists THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS  (1982, Chile). By Isabel Allende. Translated by Magda Bogin [fiction: novel] MONEY: A Suicide Note  (1984, UK). By Martin Amis [fiction: novel] (5) LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA  (1985, Colombia). By Gabriel García Márquez. Translated by Edith Grossman [fiction: novel] (4) WHITE NOISE  (1985, US). By Don DeLillo [fiction: novel] (5) MAUS: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleed’s History  (1986, US). By Art Spiegelman [fiction/nonfiction: graphic memoir] (5)

On 5 lists IT  (1986, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] MISERY  (1987, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING  (1984, Czechoslovakia). By Milan Kundera. Translated by Michael Henry Heim [fiction: novel] (4) WATCHMEN (1987, UK). By Alan Moore [fiction: graphic novel] THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (1987, US). By Allan Bloom [nonfiction] BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: The Civil War Era  (1988, US). By James M. McPherson [nonfiction: history] (5) On 4 lists SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW (1980, US). By William Maxwell [fiction: novel] (5) EARTHLY POWERS  (1980, UK). By Anthony Burgess [fiction: novel] COSMOS  (1980, US). By Carl Sagan [nonfiction: science] RABBIT IS RICH  (1981, US). By John Updike [fiction: novel] (4) LONESOME DOVE (1985, US). By Larry McMurtry [fiction: novel] ENDER’S GAME  (1985, US). By Orson Scott Card [fiction: novel] THE PRINCE OF TIDES (1986, US). By Pat Conroy [fiction: novel] THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB  (1987, US). By Richard Rhodes [nonfiction: history/science] (5) THE ALCHEMIST  (1988, Brazil). By Paulo Coelho. Translated by Alan R. Clarke [fiction: novel] MATILDA  (1988, UK). By Roald Dahl [fiction: children’s literature] A BRIGHT SHINING LIE: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam  (1988, US). By Neil Sheehan [nonfiction: history/biography]

On 3 lists WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS  (1980, South Africa). By J. M. Coetzee [fiction: novel] A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES  (1980, US). By Howard Zinn [nonfiction: history] (5) WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE (1981, US). By Raymond Carver [fiction: stories] (5) A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC  (1981, US). By Shel Silverstein [poetry; children’s literature] THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL (1981, UK). By James Herriot [nonfiction: memoir] AFTER VIRTUE: A Study in Moral Theory (1981, UK). By Alasdair MacIntyre [nonfiction: philosophy] THE MISMEASURE OF MAN (1981, US). By Stephen Jay Gould [nonfiction: science] (4) WEALTH AND POVERTY (1981, US). By George Gilder [nonfiction] SCHINDLER’S LIST  (1982, Australia). By Thomas Keneally [fiction: novel] (4) DIFFERENT SEASONS  (1982, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novellas] THE BFG  (1982, UK). By Roald Dahl [fiction: children’s literature] THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895-1980 (1982, US). By Jonathan D. Spence [nonfiction: history] IRONWEED  (1983, US). By William Kennedy [fiction: novel] (4) THE WITCHES  (1983, UK). By Roald Dahl [fiction: children’s literature] CATHEDRAL  (1983, US). By Raymond Carver [fiction: stories] THE LOVER  (1984, France). By Marguerite Duras. Translated by Barbara Bray [fiction: novel] (4) NEUROMANCER (1984, US/Canada). By William Gibson [fiction: novel] (3) CONTACT  (1985, US). By Carl Sagan [fiction: novel] THE VAMPIRE LESTAT (1985, US). By Anne Rice [fiction: novel] CADILLAC DESERT: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (1986, US). By Marc Reisner [nonfiction] PRESUMED INNOCENT  (1987, US). By Scott Turow [fiction: novel] OSCAR AND LUCINDA (1988, Australia). By Peter Carey [fiction: novel] (5) A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY (1989, US). By John Irving [fiction: novel] (4) THIS BOY’S LIFE (1989, US). By Tobias Wolff [nonfiction: memoir] On 2 lists THE TRANSIT OF VENUS (1980, Australia). By Shirley Hazzard [fiction: novel] THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE (1980, UK). By Douglas Adams [fiction: novel] THE COLLECTED STORIES OF EUDORA WELTY (1980, US). By Eudora Welty [fiction: stories] (5) THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG  (1980, US). By Norman Mailer [fiction: novel/nonfiction] TRUE WEST (1980, US). By Sam Shepard [play] (5) FREE TO CHOOSE: A Personal Statement (1980, US). By Milton and Rose D. Friedman [nonfiction] THE THIRD WAVE (1980, US). By Alvin Toffler [nonfiction] LANARK: A Life in Four Books (1981, UK). By Alisdair Gray [fiction: novel] THE WAR OF THE END OF THE WORLD  (1981, Peru). By Mario Vargas Llosa. Translated by Helen Lane [fiction: novel] THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE  (1981, US). By John Irving [fiction: novel] (3) GORKY PARK (1981, US). By Martin Cruz Smith [fiction: novel] SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK  (1981, US). By Alvin Schwartz [fiction: children’s literature] THE GUNSLINGER  (1982, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] ‘MASTER HAROLD’ … AND THE BOYS (1982, South Africa). By Athol Fugard [play] (4) THE REAL THING  (1982, UK). By Tom Stoppard [play] TOP GIRLS  (1982, UK). By Caryl Churchill [play] NOISES OFF  (1982, UK). By Michael Frayn [play] THE MISTS OF AVALON  (1983, US). By Marion Zimmer Bradley [fiction: novel] CHRISTINE  (1983, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] WINTER’S TALE  (1983, US). By Mark Helprin [fiction: novel] PET SEMATARY  (1983, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] THE COLOR OF MAGIC  (1983, UK). By Terry Pratchett [fiction: novel] THE COMPLETE POEMS: 1927-1979  (1983, US). By Elizabeth Bishop [poetry] EMPIRE OF THE SUN  (1984, UK). By J.G. Ballard [fiction: novel] BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY  (1984, US). By Jay McInerney [fiction: novel] (3) COLD SASSY TREE (1984, US). By Olive Ann Burns [fiction: novel] THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET  (1984, US). By Sandra Cisneros [fiction: novel] GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS  (1984, US). By David Mamet [play] ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT (1985, UK). By Jeanette Winterson [fiction: novel] THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (1985, US). By Anne Tyler [fiction: novel] (4) THE CIDER HOUSE RULES  (1985, US). By John Irving [fiction: novel] THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS (1985, US). By Jean M. Auel [fiction: novel] SELF-HELP (1985, US). By Lorrie Moore [fiction: stories] COMMON GROUND: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families  (1985, US). By J. Anthony Lukas [nonfiction: journalism] (5) THE NEW YORK TRILOGY (1985-1986, US). By Paul Auster [fiction: novels] (5) NORWEGIAN WOOD  (1987, Japan). By Hakuri Murakami. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum [fiction: novel] THE EYES OF THE DRAGON  (1987, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] THE SHELL SEEKERS (1987, UK). By Rosamunde Pilcher [fiction: novel] HATCHET  (1987, US). By Gary Paulsen [fiction: novel] MORT (1987, UK). By Terry Pratchett [fiction: novel] FENCES (1987, US). By August Wilson [play] (4) AND THE BAND PLAYED ON: Politics, People, and the Aids Epidemic  (1987, US). By Randy Shilts [nonfiction: journalism] (5) THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1988, US). By Thomas Harris [fiction: novel] WHERE I’M CALLING FROM  (1988, US). By Raymond Carver [fiction: stories] (5) BAD BEHAVIOR (1988, US). By Mary Gaitskill [fiction: stories] M BUTTERFLY  (1988, US). By David Henry Hwang [play] LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE  (1989, Mexico). By Laura Esquivel. Translated by Carol and Thomas Christensen [fiction: novel] HYPERION  (1989, US). By Dan Simmons [fiction: novel] A TIME TO KILL  (1989, US). By John Grisham [fiction: novel] NUMBER THE STARS  (1989, US). By Lois Lowry [fiction: novel] GUARDS! GUARDS!  (1989, UK). By Terry Pratchett [fiction: novel] CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1989, US). By Tom Clancy [fiction: novel]

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12 Totally Rad Reads That Will Stoke Your 80s Nostalgia

The decade of acid wash jeans, exaggerated shoulder pads, and hair that would make one a foot taller (looking at you, Steve Harrington) will never truly die. Shows like Stranger Things and films like It are determined to keep us in a constant state of 80s nostalgia. To feed this insatiable 80s binge (we’ve thankfully tracked down a pair of Moon Shoes), we’re adding some books to the mix. Some set in the 80s, some transporting us back to that time, these righteous novels are a must for those who lived through the best decade in history and for those who’ve longed to experience it.

Want to take a trip back to the 1980s art scene in New York City? Molly Prentiss’s novel is a supernostalgic read for fans of A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD and THE INTERESTINGS. In TUESDAY NIGHTS IN 1980 the lives of an art critic, a mysterious orphan, an exiled Argentinean painter, and his muse are forever entwined after a tragic event. Teeming with fond memories of the 80s and art, this novel is a must-read for the nostalgic and art lovers alike.

Welcome to SoHo at the onset of the eighties: a haven—and heaven—for artists and writers looking to make it big. Among them is James Bennett, an art critic for The New York Times who has synesthesia, a condition that enables him to see and describe things in incredible ways. When he meets Raul Englaes, an exiled Argentinian painter, both of their lives change.

MENTIONED IN:

By Off the Shelf Staff | August 27, 2019

9 Novels Illuminating the Art World As Seen By Women

By Nikki Barnhart | August 29, 2018

I Heart the 80s: 12 Radical Reads About Everyone’s Favorite Decade

By Julianna Haubner | October 27, 2016

If you’ve ever glanced down the science-fiction aisle of your favorite bookstore or library, chances are you’ve seen the name Philip K. Dick. You might recognize some of his books even if you haven’t read them, such as THE MINORITY REPORT, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and of course, DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? You might recognize the last book by its popular 80s movie title, Blade Runner . The film is full of 80s nostalgia in a disturbing futuristic sense that quickly gained a cult following. DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? tells the same story of Deckard as he hunts down and “retires” any androids he finds. Of course, that’s not so simple when the androids look like humans. Like many of my favorite science-fiction books, Philip K. Dick calls into question what it really means to be human and how far one would go in order to survive.

After the World War destroyed most life on earth and most humans have emigrated to Mars, companies begin building incredibly human-like artificial intelligence. It’s so realistic that most people can’t even tell the difference between a “real” human and a “fake.” The relationships and loves that ensue are sure to please fans of science fiction and romance alike.

11 Unconventional Love Stories to Set Your Heart Pitter-Pattering

By Erica Nelson | February 11, 2016

In the vein of the film Lady Bird and perfect for fans of Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s big-hearted debut THE NEST, LAURA & EMMA follows Laura as she raises her daughter, Emma, as a single mother in 1980s New York City. Born into old money, Laura is awarded many privileges but burdened with many expectations. Featuring a cast of quirky and effervescent characters, LAURA & EMMA takes on topics like class, single motherhood, and privilege.

“Masterly deftness, funny sentence by funny sentence...a moving and intricately braided story of two mothers.” — JONATHAN FRANZEN, The Guardian

This “beguiling, addictive read” ( People, Book of the Week) and Belletrist Book Club pick about a blue-blooded single mother raising her daughter in rarefied New York City is a “carefully observed family story [that] rings true to life” ( The New York Times Book Review ).

Laura hails from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, born into old money, drifting aimlessly into her early thirties. One weekend in 1981 she meets a man. The two sleep together. He vanishes. And Laura realizes she’s pregnant.

Enter: Emma.

“Unputdownable” ( Library Journal ) and “wryly observed” ( Vogue ), Laura & Emma follows Laura as she raises Emma in New York City over the next fifteen years. With wit and compassion, Kate Greathead explores the many flaws and quirks that make us human. Laura’s story hosts a cast of effervescent and original characters, including her eccentric mother, who informs her society friends and Emma herself that she was fathered by a Swedish sperm donor; her brother, whose childhood stutter reappears in the presence of their forbidding father; an exceptionally kind male pediatrician; and her overbearing best friend, whose life has followed the Park Avenue script in every way except for childbearing.

“Kate Greathead’s debut novel gamely takes on class conflict, single motherhood, and the discreet pretension of the 1980s Upper East Side” ( New York magazine) and is a “layered story about mothers and daughters and identity” ( Entertainment Weekly ). Told in vignettes whose every “restrained and understated sentence has been polished to glittering brightness” ( Vox ), Laura & Emma is “an incisive comedy of manners about class divides and the ‘burdens’ of being born privileged” ( Esquire ) and “a thoughtful novel of trying to find oneself despite an assigned place in the world” ( Publishers Weekly ).

6 Fantastic Books New in Paperback This March

By Off the Shelf Staff | March 11, 2019

A decade rife with coming-of-age stories, Luiza Sauma's debut is just one of the many that paints a portrait of restless growing pains against the backdrop of the 1980s. FLESH AND BONE AND WATER begins in 1985 Rio de Janeiro with 16 year old André’s who has lost his mother in a car accident. Living in a new city and his father working to support the family, André befriends Luana, the beautiful daughter of the family's maid. When André unexpectedly receives a letter from Luana decades later, a different side of the story reveals itself—filled with desire, meditations on race and class, and power.

8 Under-the-Radar Reads That Deserve All the Love

By Chris Gaudio | June 16, 2021

Do you ever have those days where you wish you could go back to simpler times and spend hours trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube or watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off while playing hooky from school? If so, then you need to pick up a copy of READY PLAYER ONE. This is a fun, nostalgia-packed book for all those self-proclaimed video game and pop-culture nerds of the day. And the best part is, it’s set in the future where everyone does everything in a virtual reality world called the OASIS. This story follows Wade Watts on his quest to solve the greatest puzzle within the OASIS in hopes of winning and saving the world’s virtual safe haven from the power hungry IOI corporation. At its heart, this book is a treasure hunt sure to take readers on an epic quest reminiscent of their favorite 80s video games

Read the full review of READY PLAYER ONE .

The Best Books to Read Based on the Broadway Shows Leaving Us This Year

By Amy Cardoza | September 2, 2019

9 Film Adaptations Nominated for Oscars This Year

By Tolani Osan | February 20, 2019

8 Riveting Sci-Fi Reads for People Who Don’t Like Sci-Fi

By Leora Bernstein | January 14, 2019

12 Books You Must Read Before Seeing the Movies this Spring

By Tolani Osan | February 1, 2018

Pass the Popcorn: 10 Books to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen

By Julianna Haubner | August 11, 2016

This one screams 80s nostalgia in a similar way as Stranger Things, including the story and everything! Charlie is not your average kid. As a result of a government experiment, she has the gift of pyrokinesis (she can start fires with her freaking mind). She finds herself running from the people who gifted her these powers, using her gift to keep her alive. If this isn’t the hottest 80s read out there, then we don’t know what is.

Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic #1 New York Times bestseller—soon to be a major motion picture!

Andy McGee and Vicky Tomlinson were once college students looking to make some extra cash, volunteering as test subjects for an experiment orchestrated by the clandestine government organization known as The Shop. But the outcome unlocked exceptional latent psychic talents for the two of them—manifesting in even more terrifying ways when they fell in love and had a child. Their daughter, Charlie, has been gifted with the most extraordinary and uncontrollable power ever seen—pyrokinesis, the ability to create fire with her mind. Now the merciless agents of The Shop are in hot pursuit to apprehend this unexpected genetic anomaly for their own diabolical ends by any means necessary...including violent actions that may well ignite the entire world around them as Charlie retaliates with a fury of her own...

If you’re obsessed with the 1988 cult-classic film The Princess Bride , it is 100 percent worth reading the book, which is just sweet and funny. Do you remember the first time you watched the movie and felt the joy that accompanied it? Well, reading the book was like experiencing the story for the first time all over again, and there are few things as wonderful as experiencing the new and the old together. Reading the book gives the phrase “As You Wish” even more magical power than just watching the movie.

If Your Favorite Character is Dustin Henderson

In the mind of “Toothless,” his best friend didn’t almost die. His comrade was captured by a monster, thus his band of merry adventurers went on a quest to rescue him. For more eccentric goofballs in perilous situations, try the book that preceded the classic movie “The Princess Bride.”

Book Soulmates: 6 Stories That Reached Us On a Whole Other Level

By Off the Shelf Staff | May 13, 2021

Bookish Treasure: 9 Hidden Gems We Proudly Display on Our Shelves

By Off the Shelf Staff | November 17, 2020

14 Books You Wish You Could Read for the First Time Again

By Off the Shelf Staff | July 31, 2019

In Memoriam: 16 Authors We Lost Too Soon in 2018

By Sarah Jane Abbott | December 28, 2018

11 Books You Should Read Based On Your Favorite “Stranger Things” Character

By Glommable | May 29, 2017

The premise of Tayari Jones’s SILVER SPARROW is like something out of your favorite 80s soap opera—but delivered with Jones’s trademark language and authenticity. In a story that will leave you devastated and turning page after page, two teenage girls form a friendship in 80s Atlanta. But only one of the girls knows their bond runs blood-deep as the girls are caught in the middle of their bigamist father’s sins. With a secret family and the sins of the previous generations roiling beneath the surface, it’s only a matter of time before their lives are irreversibly changed.

8 Books About the Heartbreak of Everyday

By Chris Gaudio | September 25, 2023

11 Books That Are Guaranteed Page-Turners

By Alice Martin | October 21, 2019

12 Perfectly Bodied Book-and-Wine Pairings

By Sarah Jane Abbott | May 23, 2019

Steeped to Perfection: 11 Divine Book and Tea Pairings

By Sarah Jane Abbott | January 7, 2019

Excited for the Hot New Books of Spring? Read These 12 Favorite Novels First!

By Taylor Noel | February 16, 2018

In this incredibly heartfelt story, two misfit teens find first love amid the backdrop of Omaha, Nebraska, in the mid-80s. Living in poverty with an abusive stepfather, Eleanor finds even more abuse at school from relentless bullies. Then she meets Park, a sweet teen from a good family, and the two find escape within each other, entering into a romantic relationship that they fight against all odds to keep. Unflinching, gorgeously written, and with characters who are so vibrant and complex, it’s pretty much impossible not to get emotionally invested. Plus the 80s vibes are alive and well throughout this story. We’re talking comics. We’re talking mix tapes. It’s all there and it’s all fantastic! Rainbow Rowell taps into something raw and relentless about first love and it’s easily one of the best YA books out today.

If your favorite character is Mike Wheeler

This young adult novel is also set in the 1980s and deals with first love between two outsiders. Except in Rainbow Rowell’s book, the kids are older and the monster isn’t a tulip-headed child-eater but an abusive stepfather.

8 Novels About First Love So Moving Our Hearts Might Burst

By Carrie Cabral | July 3, 2020

9 Literary Characters Keeping Us Company While We’re Social Distancing

By Holly Claytor | April 1, 2020

15 Great Books for Your Favorite Young Readers

By Sarah Jane Abbott | December 22, 2015

It is 1980s New York City, and twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes is in search of a new adventure. The recent death of her father is the catalyst behind her life-changing move to the Big Apple, where she can finally confront Ivan, the older man who has traumatically wronged her. Arm in arm with her best friend, Carmen, Phoebe sinks into the haunted artists’ underworld of the East Village. After a combination of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads to some bad decisions, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe descends further into the darkness. The only way to save herself, and her best friend, is to confront the shadows Phoebe’s been running from.

Read more of Book Club Picks: 9 Irresistible Books I Flew Through This Spring

This “vivid portrait of a seedy, edgy, artsy, and seething New York City that will never exist again” (Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author)— the glittering, decadent downtown club scene of the 1980s—follows a smart, vulnerable young woman as she takes a deep dive into her dark side. Essential reading for fans of Sweetbitter , Fleabag , and books by Patti Smith.

New York, 1984: Twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes is a young woman in search of excitement and adventure. But the recent death of her father has so devastated her that her mother wants her to remain home in Baltimore to recover. Phoebe wants to return to New York, not only to chase the glamorous life she so desperately craves but also to confront Ivan, the older man who wronged her.

With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan. When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness.

“A new wave coming-of-age story, Astrid Sees All is a blast from the past” (Stewart O’Nan, author of The Speed Queen ) about female friendship, sex, romance, and what it’s like to be a young woman searching for an identity.

10 February Paperbacks We’re Crushing On

By Alice Martin | February 7, 2022

If you were raised on  Sixteen Candles  and  Pretty in Pink , love throwback music marathons, or just started binge-watching  Stranger Things , this novel’s for you. Set in small-town New Jersey in 1987 ,  THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTRESS is a funny and sweet coming-of-age tale starring Billy Marvin, a 14-year-old boy who spends his time biking around town with his friends, watching a ton of television, and planning a top-secret mission to obtain the newest issue of  Playboy  magazine, featuring Vanna White as the centerfold. Then he meets Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes.

Read more of Julianna's review!

A love letter to the 1980s and to nerds everywhere— The Impossible Fortress will make you remember what it feels like to love someone—or something—for the first time.

Billy Marvin’s first love was his computer.

Then he met Mary Zelinsky.

Do you remember your first love?

It’s May 1987. Fourteen-year-old Billy Marvin of Wetbridge, New Jersey, is a nerd, but a decidedly happy nerd. Afternoons are spent with his buddies, watching copious amounts of television, gorging on Pop-Tarts, debating who would win in a brawl (Rocky Balboa or Freddy Krueger? Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel? Magnum P.I. or T.J. Hooker?), and programming video games on his Commodore 64 late into the night. Then Playboy magazine publishes photos of their idol, Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White, Billy meets expert computer programmer Mary Zelinsky, and everything changes.

“A sweet and surprising story about young love” ( A.V. Club ), and a “quirky, endearing, full embrace of the late eighties” ( USA TODAY ), The Impossible Fortress will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you remember in exquisite detail what it feels like to love for the very first time. Heralded as one of the most anticipated novels of 2017 by Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, and InStyle.com, The Impossible Fortress is a surefire “unexpected retro delight” ( Booklist , starred review).

This absorbing graphic adventure is like Stranger Things meets Back to the Future , starring four spunky, strong, smart paper girls! Mac, Tiffany, KJ, and Erin are out in the wee hours of the morning delivering newspapers on Halloween when they spot three strange-looking figures, discover something that looks like a spaceship, and are pulled into an adventure that will send them careening through time. The girls are from the 80s and the series is full of nostalgic references and elements. Walkie-talkies! Walkmans! Old-school video game consoles!

In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four twelve-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

14 Books to Read in Between Episodes of Your Favorite TV Shows

By Tolani Osan | November 3, 2017

15 Books for Literally Every Reader in Your Life

By Erica Nelson | November 28, 2016

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10 Kids’ Movies You Didn’t Know Were Based On Books, Ranked According To IMDb

10 children's fantasy books that deserve tv shows after percy jackson, why eamonn walker's boden left chicago fire & what it means for season 13.

• Dear Mr. Henshaw offers a unique twist on kids' books with a diary-style narrative and poignant themes of divorce and longing.
• Wayside School Is Falling Down is a clever, absurd book with sly humor and deeper messages hidden beneath the wacky stories.
• Hatchet teaches resilience and growing up through the story of a stranded 13-year-old in the Canadian wilderness, tackling tough emotions.

Despite hitting the height of their popularity decades ago, there are a number of classic kids' books from the 1980s that are still well worth reading today. Kids' books and TV shows are often erroneously dismissed as being frivolous and fluffy, full of easy stories of colorful characters. While that's certainly true, the best kids' books – whether for young kids or for teenagers – mix messages with deep meaning among the elements geared for a younger audience.

The very best weave stories that last for generations, both resonant and relevant no matter the era. The 1980s, in particular, were a great decade for classic children's books and teen books that still withstand the test of time. From coming-of-age tales of the pangs of first love, to the horrors of the Holocaust, to survivalist stories in the northern wilderness, the books on this list are timeless. Each one is still well worth reading today, with powerful messages and inventive stories that still hold up.

Shrek, Bambi, Zenon: Girl Of The 21st Century, and more, check out these kids' movies that were actually inspired by books!

9 Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983)

Author: beverly clearly.

Beverly Cleary is one of the most renowned names in children's books, thanks to her Ramona Quimby books, Henry Huggins, and Ralph S. Mouse. Even among those, Dear Mr. Henshaw stands out for its elevated ideas and arrangement. The story is a uniquely woven epistolary tapestry of the diary entries of 11-year-old Leigh and letters to his favorite author detailing his feelings about his parents' divorce. Children's books are rarely bold enough to be structured around that higher-level conceit, but Beverly Cleary has never spoken down to her audience.

Dear Mr. Henshaw may not be as well known as some of Cleary's bigger hits, but it has a lasting sweetness and poignance that the others lack. Cleary does a remarkable job of capturing the voice of a young boy full of urgent conflict over a tumultuous time in his life, and the yearning as he looks to his favorite author for a stabilizing force. It's easily the most complex and rich of Cleary's children's books.

8 Wayside School Is Falling Down (1989)

Author: louis sachar.

Louis Sachar's Wayside School is Falling Down may not be the deepest of books on this list, but it may be the cleverest. As the second book in Sachar's absurdist, darkly comedic Wayside School series, Wayside School is Falling Down sees the Holes author really hitting his wacky stride. Each chapter is devoted to a new story at the wrongly built, skyscraper Wayside School, with strange teachers, mysterious men, classrooms that don't exist, and rats that come back to life.

Children are smarter than they're often given credit for, able to catch onto sly humor, and Sachar's book has that in spades. The madcap, stories and absurdism of the book's tone belie that under the wacky stories, there are some more serious messages worth pondering. Likewise, Sachar plays around with literary convention; to step into the pages of Wayside School is Falling Down is to step into a world of the ridiculous. And there's nothing better to a kid than well-written ridiculousness.

7 Hatchet (1987)

Author: gary paulsen.

The middle to later decades of the last century saw a cottage industry in the form of stories of nature and the outdoors. Like Jack London in the century before them, they revolved around the man vs. nature archetype, repackaging them for young adult readers. Of these, Gary Paulsen's Hatchet was the most well-known and most well-lauded. Though it was just the first in a series, it was undoubtedly the best, being nominated for the Newbery Medal in 1984.

Hatchet 's story revolves around 13-year-old Brian Robeson, who, thanks to an unfortunate chain of events, finds himself stranded in the middle of a vast, Northern Canadian forest. Alone and desperate, Brian teaches himself to survive in the wilderness, surviving and even thriving for months until he's rescued. It's a story of resilience and growing up, but not just physically – as Brian teaches himself to make fire, set snares, and build shelter, he uses the time alone to untangle his feelings about his mother's affair , which he has kept from his father. The story embraces and teaches resilience, a lesson that any kid growing up can use.

6 Jacob Have I Loved (1980)

Author: katherine paterson.

Most people's minds jump to Bridge to Terabithia when thinking of Katherine Paterson, but that was actually published in the 70s. In the 80s, the most meaningful of Paterson's books was the Newbery Award-winning Jacob Have I Loved . The title comes from the Bible, alluding to the bitter sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau. It's fitting; the story explores young Sarah Louise's complex feelings of love and resentment for her twin sister Caroline, the "perfect," more feminine, adored sister.

Emotions between siblings can be fraught and intense, and Paterson illustrates this beautifully. Sarah Louise's simmering resentment is all tangled up in her affection, and her desire to be free tangled up with her familial duty. Kids navigating equally fraught relationships with their siblings can find much to relate to in the story. Along the way, Jacob Have I Loved also explores themes of family expectations, gender roles, first love, and acceptance. It all makes for a resonant story that quietly leaves an impact.

5 Annie On My Mind (1982)

Author: nancy garden.

LGBTQ+ children's books are still all too rare, and nearly non-existent in the 1980s, which makes Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind all the more miraculous – and important. The story follows the thoughts and primarily the viewpoint of 17-year-old Liza Winthrop, a private school teenager from a wealthy family and who is desperate to get into MIT as an architect. She meets 17-year-old Annie Kenyon, the daughter of Italian immigrants; Annie attends the public school in a low-income neighborhood. Despite their different backgrounds, Liza and Annie fall in love. Yet, their romance is thwarted by the conservative and close-minded attitude of the parents and teachers around them.

Annie on My Mind has been included in the School Library Journal's list of top 100 most influential books of the 20th century and with good reason. It tackles themes of queer discovery and sexual awakening in a thoughtful, heartfelt way that is still relevant today. It's a genuinely touching love story that adds layers to the Romeo and Juliet, "wrong side of the tracks" trope. For any teens questioning themselves and looking to explore their identity, Annie on My Mind is a fitting guide.

4 Howl's Moving Castle (1986)

Author: diana wynne jones.

Thanks to the wildly successful Studio Ghibli adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki, most audiences have no idea that Howl's Moving Castle started out as a book – and if they do, most assume it was a manga or perhaps a Japanese light novel first. Instead, it was the first book in a series by British author Diana Wynne Jones. Even though the movie is a masterpiece unto itself, the original book is still well worth a read, truly a captivating delight all on its own.

Howl's Moving Castle tells the story of 18-year-old Sophie, who is turned into an old hag by the Witch of the Waste. To undo the curse, she must break the contract between the wizard, Howl, and Howl's ensnared fire demon, Calcifer. Howl's Moving Castle explores broad themes of self-determinism vs. destiny, aging and youth, love and duty. While the story appears to be a simple fantasy, it upends numerous tropes of the fairy tale genre in inventive and clever ways. It also doesn't dumb itself down, making numerous references to other literary works and trusting the audience to get it, elevating itself in so many ways.

Disney+'s Percy Jackson & The Olympians TV show has done exceedingly well, giving hope to 10 great YA book series that they could be adapted next.

3 A Ring of Endless Light (1980)

Author: madeleine l'engle.

The fourth book in Madeleine L'Engle's Austins series, A Ring of Endless Light , is arguably the best and the best-known of the six-book series. Like many on this list, A Ring of Endless Light was named the Newbery Honor Book of 1981; while the other books about the Austin family were great, none are more beloved than this one . It tells the story of teen Vicky Austin as she struggles to understand the concept of mortality and her place in the universe as she grapples with accepting the impending death of her beloved grandfather. At the same time, she finds herself in her real love for the first time.

The story does not pander or gloss over the extremes of life. Vicky's grief is as sharp as the pangs of new love. As she loses her grandfather, she gains romantic love, and the contrast and juxtaposition make each all the more intense and important. Death stares directly at her and other characters as each encounter it in different ways; the message is that no one can run from it, but it must be faced. Faith also plays a part – regardless of what form that faith takes, it's needed to get humans through their darkest times, as Vicky learns. Kids grappling with losing a beloved grandparent or relative can find comfort and, ultimately, catharsis in the pages of A Ring of Endless Light .

2 Maus (1980-1991)

Author: art spiegelman.

Art Spiegelman's Maus is the only story on this list that is not a book, but a serialized graphic novel. It ran for 11 years, winning countless awards. In fact, it was the first graphic novel ever to win the Pulitzer – and is still only one of two to ever win the prestigious honor (the other being Jake Halpern's Welcome to the New World in 2018). Parents should beware, though: of all the books on this list, Maus is by far the most adult; this is not a book for young children, but for teenagers, and even young adults, who are emotionally mature enough to grapple with the heavy themes.

The story slowly unfolds the story of Spiegelman's father recounting his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor; Spiegelman's mother died by suicide when the author was 20 and his father burned her memoirs of Auschwitz. Maus is Spiegelman's attempt to understand his parents and what they endured. Characters are represented by animals, with Jews being depicted as anthropomorphized mice, other Polish people as pigs, and Germans as cats. It's a heavy work; Maus deals with the Holocaust, but also themes of memory, generational guilt and trauma, and racism and genocide. His mixing of styles and postmodern approach make Maus almost impossible to classify , but as a singularly influential work, Maus stands alone.

1 Number the Stars (1989)

Author: lois lowry.

Lois Lowry never wrote down to children, trusting them enough to not shy away from complex topics of dystopia, depression, political oppression, and others. That she's often on banned or restricted books lists shows just how unafraid her books are at challenging perceptions and being honest with young readers . Her WWII-era book Number the Stars is no different. The story revolves around 10-year-old Danish girl Annemarie, who, in 1943, risk it all to help their Jewish friends escape Nazi occupation.

Number the Stars was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1990, and with good reason. It's a remarkable work by Lowry. She never lets the young reader absorb the full horror of what is happening, choosing to buffer it just a bit, just as Annemarie herself doesn't fully understand the impact of the events unfolding around her. Still, Lowry lets just enough of it creep through to make a young reader sit up and pay attention . It's a deft bit of work that tells a serious story without ever crushing Annemarie's or the reader's spirit, ultimately ending on a note of hope.

60+ Best Children’s Books From the 80s and 90s

As a long time children’s book fan, I must admit that many of my all-time favorites even today were published in the 1980s and 1990s! Which inspired me to put together this fabulous list of over sixty of the Best Children’s Books from the 80s and 90s .

Who can even believe that some of these classic 80s and 90s children’s books are forty years old! The list includes many award winning titles, beloved and respected authors and books that have been read over and over again by subsequent generations of children from the same family – I loved sharing many of these with my own children.

Want to go further back? For books published prior to the 1980s, check out our list of 50 Classic Picture Books and 20 Classic Chapter Books to Read Aloud With 5-8 Year Olds .

As with all of the lists in our Best Books for Kids collection, each title in this list links to an Amazon (these are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you) where you can find more information and reviews for titles you might not be personally familiar with.

Best Children’s Books from the 80s

From Spot the dog to Franklin the turtle, there are so many beloved characters in this collection of 1980s children’s books ready to discover with a whole new generation of readers.

Mrs Honey’s Hat by Pam Adams Why is everyone staring at Mrs Honey’s fabulous hat? First published in 1980.

Funnybones by Janet & Allan Ahlberg This frightfully funny Halloween classic tells the story of three skeletons – a big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton – who venture out one night to find someone to scare, only to discover that everyone is in bed! Whatever will they do now? First published in 1980.

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill A fabulous lift-the-flap adventure for toddlers, Spot the Dog has long been a much loved classic. First published in 1980.

Peace at Last by Jill Murphy With a snoring Mrs Bear, an excitable Baby Bear and a house full of tapping and dripping and ticking, peace is hard to come by – will Mr Bear ever get a decent night’s sleep? First published in 1980.

Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake A witty, rhyming picture book about Mr Magnolia who has a full and happy life except for one serious omission – a boot! How on earth can Mr Magnolia splash in the puddles with everyone else? First published in 1980.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch This bestselling classic features a brave princess who rescues a very snooty and rather ungrateful prince! First published in 1981.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell Can the zoo help one find the perfect pet? It’s certainly not a monkey, a lion, or even an elephant! A wonderful lift-the-flap book for toddlers and preschoolers. First published in 1982.

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton This classic bedtime story is just right for winding down the day as a joyful, silly group of animals scrub in the tub, brush and brush their teeth, and finally rock and rock and rock to sleep. First published in 1982.

But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton A sweet, short rhyming tale of a shy hippoptamus who looks on as the animals play and is delighted when they welcome him into their fun. First published in 1982.

Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy (in fact, the entire Hairy Maclary series ) was loved by both my kids when they were preschool/kindergarten age. The cumulative rhyming prose is perfect for inviting pre-readers to join in and who wouldn’t love such a fabulous bunch of puppies! First published in 1983.

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood This fun story shares the antics of little mouse who will do anything to save his red, ripe strawberry from the big, hungry bear. It brings a smile to the face of every preschooler I’ve ever read it to. First published in 1984.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle Early one morning a little spider begins to spin her web on a fence post in this fabulous sensory treat from the beloved Eric Carle. First published in 1984.

Koala Lou by Mem Fox A young koala competes for her mother’s heart when a new sibling is on the way–only to discover that families come in all shapes and sizes, and that there is no second place when it comes to love. First published in 1984.

The Magic School Bus At the Waterworks by Joanna Cole Ms. Frizzle and her students follow the trail of water, from its sky-high source to the school bathroom sink on a rather wet and wild fieldtrip.The classic title that started the award-winning series! First published in 1985.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff If a hungry little mouse shows up on your doorstep, you might want to give him a cookie. And if you give him a cookie, he’ll ask for a glass of milk….but beware as this is not all he may ask for! First published in 1985.

How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz Ever wonder just what a million of something means? How about a billion? Or a trillion? A fun and funny way to help children understand complex numbers. First published in 1985.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg A young boy is welcomed aboard a magical train to the North Pole. The Polar Express makes its way to the city atop the world, where the boy will make his Christmas wish. One for all who believe in the spirit of Christmas. First published in 1985.

Franklin in the Dark by Paulette Bourgeois Franklin is afraid of the dark…including that within his own shell!! Bravely he sets out to seek help in this first book of the hugely popular series. First published in 1986.

The Jolly Postman by Janet & Allen Ahlberg This fun, interactive story includes letters, notes, comics, puzzles and more as the Jolly Postman delivers mail to a series of familiar fairy tale characters. First published in 1986.

Animalia by Graeme Base A wonderfully clever adventure through the alphabet. There is so much to see on each page as you look for all the things starting with that letter. First published in 1986..

Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox I can see a nose and two eyes in the bushes! cries Hattie. Hattie tries to warn her friends of impending danger but none of them listen. Until it may be too late! First published in 1986.

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw   “Beep! Beep! Sheep in a jeep on a hill that’s steep.” When five foolish sheep take a drive in a jeep, the results are a hilarious rhyming story perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners. First published in 1986.

The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins The wind blew, and blew, and blew! It blew so hard, it took everything with it – Mr. White’s umbrella, Priscilla’s balloon, the twins’ scarves, even the wig on the judge’s head. But just when the wind was about to carry everything out to sea, it changes its mind. First published in 1986.

Can’t You Sleep Little Bear? by Martin Waddell Big Bear sets out with all his patience and understanding to show a scared and sleepless Little Bear that the dark is nothing to be afraid of. First published in 1987.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen   Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird. But there is no answer. First published in 1987.

Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert What would you like to grow today? Is it green beans, or peas? Corn or carrots? A wonderful picture book about growing vegetables. First published in 1987.

I Went Walking by Sue Williams A young boy strolls through the countryside seeing a black cat, then a brown horse, then a red cow, and so on, in catchy verse. First published in 1989.

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh One day three white mice discover three jars of paint – red, blue, and yellow. But what happens when they splash in the colors, mixing the red and blue? Or dance in the blue and yellow? First published in 1989.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka The Big Bad Wolf gives his own version of what really happened when he tangled with the three little pigs…but is it truthful? First published in 1989.

The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery by Graeme Base As the guests gather for Horace the elephant’s eleventh birthday party, a curious mystery is revealed in the form of a puzzle featuring picture clues and a rhyming text. An awesome picture book for older children. First published in 1989.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jnr This beloved alphabet chant about the letters racing up a coconut tree has been a popular choice for generations of children. First published in 1989.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen This classic chant follows a family’s fun romp through long grass, a splishy splashy river and squelchy mud in search of a bear. What a surprise awaits them in the cave on the other side of the dark forest! First published in 1989.

Best Children’s Books from the 90s

It’s impossible for us to choose a favorite from this list of children’s books from the 90s!

Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell A hardworking duck lives with a lazy farmer, doing all of the chores while the farmer sleeps. Until the day the other animals of the farm decide to take action with a simple, but heroic, plan. First published in 1991.

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman When her school decides to perform Peter Pan, Grace is longing to play Peter but her friends say that Peter was a boy, and he wasn’t black. But Grace’s Ma and Nana tell her she can be anything she wants if she puts her mind to it. First published in 1991.

Possum Magic by Mem Fox Grandma Poss uses her bush magic to make Hush invisible but when Hush wishes to see herself again, the two possums make their way across Australia to find the magic food that will make Hush visible once more.. First published in 1991.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes Chrysanthemum, adores her name. Why wouldn’t she? Her parents chose it especially for her. When she finally gets to go to school though, the experience isn’t all that she’d hoped for. Her peers are teasing her because of her beautiful and unique name. How will she handle this unexpected problem? First published in 1991.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell Three baby owls wake up one night in their hole in a tree to find that their mother has gone. So they sit on a branch and wait. Will their mother return? First published in 1992.

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister The Rainbow Fish, with his shimmering scales, is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. But he is proud and vain and none of the other fish want to be his friend. How can the Rainbow Fish find a friend? First published in 1992.

The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble Jimmy’s pet boa constrictor wreaks havoc on the class trip to a farm! First published 1992.

Where’s My Teddy? by Jez Alborough Eddie’s in for the surprise of his life when he discovers that his teddy bear has grown much too big to cuddle… but is this teddy really his??? First published 1992.

Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley A wonderful, interactive book for helping children face that all too common childhood fear – monsters! First published 1992.

Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch A lighthearted tale about being yourself, and the dangers of following others instead of having your own mind. First published 1992.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London   Froggy wakes up in the middle of the winter, when he should still be hibernating. Despite his mother’s insistence that he go back to bed, he decides to get dressed to go out and play in the snow he sees outside his window. Unfortunately, he keeps forgetting various articles of clothing in his rush to get ready! First published in 1992.

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn Chester Raccoon does not want to start school until his mother introduces him to the Kissing Hand to reassure him of her love. First published 1993.

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon An adorable baby fruit bat is adopted by the occupants of a birds nest and adapts to their peculiar bird habits. First published in 1993.

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney The most beautiful story of the extent of love that exists between a parent and a child. First published in 1994.

Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann   A mischievous Gorilla isn’t quite ready to go to sleep so he follows the zookeeper on his rounds, letting all of the other animals out of their cages! First published in 1994.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins Ma has made delicious cookies and their are plenty to share but then the doorbell rings… and rings … and rings! First published in 1995.

Jamberry by Bruce Degan A small boy and a big friendly bear embark on a berry-picking extravaganza, looking for blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. First published in 1995.

Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen The delightful story of five animal friends who decide to go for a row on the bay. Do you know who sank the boat? First published in 1996.

Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae A wonderful rhyming safari through the jungle with poems playing homage to each animal. First published in 1996.

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher. But when she fails to follow Mr Slinger’s rules, Lilly learns an important lesson in making amends. First published in 1996.

I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt A reassuring tale of the love and affection of a parent for a child whatever the circumstances. First published in 1997.

Edwina The Emu by Sheena Knowles When Edward and Edwina Emu find themselves expecting ten little emus, Edwina tries her feathers at a variety of jobs to support the growing family, from chimney sweep to ballet dancer! First published in 1997.

Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells It’s Grandma’s birthday and Max wants to make her an icky, worm-infested cake. But Ruby intends to make an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing. Will they both become bunnies who bake? First published in 1997.

One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book by Phyllis Root   When one poor duck gets stuck in the muck, who will rescue him? Will it be two fish, tails going swish? Or three moose, munching on spruce? A silly counting book first published in 1998.

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon A wonderful story for older children exploring the theme of worrying less about what others think of you, and staying true to yourself. First published in 1998.

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough Duck’s truck is stuck in the muck, but luckily help is at hand in the form of a frog. When Frog and Duck fail to release the truck t sheep comes to help, and then goat. Who will finally sets the truck free?!! First published in 1999.

Maisy’s Bedtime by Lucy Cousins The simple stories of Maisy are beloved classics for toddlers and preschoolers with Maisy’s Bedtime the first in the series. First published in 1999.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson A clever mouse outwit a series of forest animals who rather fancy him for their tea, with the story of a terrible gruffalo! First published in 1999.

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae Gerald the giraffe would love to join in the Jungle Dance but everyone knows that giraffes can’t dance…or can they? First published in 1999.

Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale   A fun twist on the traditional rhyme, Ten In The Bed. A little one shares the bed with nine cuddly toys but as they ‘roll over’ each cuddly toy falls out the bed, one by one, and getting up to all sorts of mischief throughout the house, shared through clever illustrations. First published in 1988.

Keep reading with these popular lists of children’s books;

Classic Children’s Books

Best Read Aloud Picture Books

Best Picture Books From Around the World

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

66 Comments

Hello, This is incredibly far fetched, but I am not having much luck, I am searching for a children’s picture book. It is a book that means a lot to a friend of mine. I don’t have the title, so it is finding itself incredibly difficult to locate. Do you know of any sites or sources that would be helpful in locating a book where I have some plot history, but no author or title?

The book is a green hard cover, I think the name of the book is the name of the main character. The story is about a boy who is raised by bears, in one scene he is living weights with the bears, I think it takes place in a sort of industrial time. The reading level is probably around 6 or 7?

Thank you, Candice

I don’t know it, sorry Candice, but this site offers some great suggestions for finding books – http://www.oldchildrensbooks.com/looking-for-a-book?page=3

Abebooks has a book search forum, I have found books through those wonderful people that I have looked for for over 60 years. I have also told them 8 seconds of a movie my son wanted and in short order I knew the name and where to buy it. These people are all over the world and book freaks who are totally brilliant. If it can be found, they will find it for you. Good Luck, Grandmajia

Ha, I remember Koala Lou. The real question is, does anyone remember the Sweet Pickles books? But I think those might’ve been from the late 70s.

Pickle Things by Marc Brown.

i would definitely add stellaluna, pub. i think 1992-3, to this list! loved it as a child.

A great suggestion!

Such a good book!

Hi looking for a book called James and I are not friends anymore

Is it “What James Said” by Liz Rosenberg?

“James used to be my friend. But today he is my enemy.” from Janice May Udry’s book, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, “Let’s Be Enemies” Could this be what you are looking for? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHEhfeDDA0g

Can anyone remember these two books:

One about kittens that come to life at night that in the day ,I’ve on a pussy willow Tree?

One about a boy with rabbit (?) called Pacca. He sleeps in the flower bed by the greenhouse when he feels unloved.

I’ve looked everywhere. Both were published in the 1990’s.

Looking for a toddler book talking about animal tails that I read to my kids. I believe last page says “hey, I don’t have a tail!” Does anyone know the name of this book? It’s not “Tails”

Cherie- it is called A Tale of Tails. I loved it as a kid and my kids loved it too. Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Tails-Little-Golden-Book/dp/0385378637

This isnt the book but thank you. I believe the book i’m talking about was a flip book too, dont think it was a Golden Book. Still searching…

Hello there! I’m looking for a children’s book about a dog who, after getting groomed, starts to put on airs. The dog starts to ignore her owner – she won’t sit with him, she won’t play with him. She becomes quite naughty. She then invites all of the neighbourhood dogs to party at her house. There was such a ruckus that the police are called and the pound paddy wagon comes and collects all of the dogs, even “naughty dog”. Eventually her human comes to ‘bail’ her out of the pound. After that she stops taking her human for granted. Sorry for recanting pretty much the entire story! Any ideas?

I know this book! It’s Mrs. Murphy’s Dog. I loved it as a kid, too.

I am looking for a book that my mum used to read to me when I was a child, in the 90s. She is desperate to find it!

The story was about yawning and on almost every page said ‘and he gave out a great big yawn’.

It made us yawn the whole way through the book until we fell asleep.

Any help in finding the name/author of this book would be greatly appreciated.

Is it Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley?

After I commented I realized that you said it was from the 90’s…the only book I can find with yawning around that time is Barney Saltzberg’s book from 1985 “The Yawn.” I wish you luck!

Do you know an adventure series where you have to identify types of trees as part of an overall mission?

Looking for a book about a cat that I believe is looking for a “better house” and walk around the neighborhood. He passes a house with a bunch of fish and a few other nice homes. Finally he comes to his own house and decides it is best.

Can anyone help me find a picture book my daughter loved (mid 90s) about a boy who goes to a restaurant with his parents and everyone is a monster / vampire? but he is the only one who can see them. Thanks

Hi there! Looking for an old children’s book about a lady with a blue hat and flowers on it. She went to the market and it also includes a child. Sorry, can’t remember much of it now, besides that.

I think maybe it’s Mrs Honeys hat? That was one of my favourites!

Great list! I’m hoping someone here might be able to help, I’m trying to remember a book from the late 80s/early 90s which had a teddy and a toy duck (I think) who were in a toy shop and broken, a little girl would come in and not pick them so they went on a mission in the snow to be fixed and then they were adopted?

It kind of sounds like a book called Corduroy.

I’m looking for a book that had many short stories. One that I can kind of remember was about a little girl who went to visit her grandmother. I think the book had a chicken on it. I dont remember really

Searching for a children’s book in the early 80s about a young girl who is tasked by her mother to get a few items, so she decides in order to remember to tie a red string to her finger. I can’t remember the title of this book & I would love to get it for my daughter.

I remember with pleasure these books: The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack, Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. Millions of Cats is the oldest American picture book still in print!

Im looking for a book my mom read to me all the time i thought it was called goodnight moon but thats not it. It wad a mom and her daughter and a moon and doing activities before bed i think there were pancakes involved and pigs i could be wrong but the moon was a big part of it. I am dying to find the name, i had the book my original and it seems to be gone. Any answers would be helpful thank you!

I’m looking for the nonfiction children’s science book that came out in the 80’s all I can remember is the cover art….kind of lol. I seem to remember the illustrations looked almost like kid house rock but not quite. Can anybody help me?m

We have been trying to find a picture book from his childhood. It’s probably from the 80s and is about a boy who has to remember a shopping list for his grandma but along the way lost of things happen (i.e. a burglary) and he changes the list to remember it wrongly.

I am looking for a picture book with a mauIn character of a young snake that keeps having hissy fits . I read it to my preschool kids between 1996 and 2000

I’m looking for a book, it’s about a little girl hiding from her mom in different areas of the house, and her mom keeps getting more angry with her, she cries at one point, but you never actually see the little girl, she is is just eyes in the book. I think it might be about going to bed.

Hi hope you can help. I’m trying to find a book about two pigs that dress up as a knight and a princess and the knight pig tries to slay a dragon that turns out to be a pile of rubbish and the princess pig saves him? I loved it as a child and would love to read it to my little one.

I’m looking for a children’s book about a kitten whose mother has to leave to shopping. The babysitter is a wise older lady cat who keeps him entertained until his mother returns.

I’m a kindergarten teacher. Not that this matters in my question but I’m looking for a book that had a Japanese theme, it was a story about a warrior who is sent a quest or something and he encounters elements like fire, ice, water, earth, lighting, sun. Something like this… I don’t remember the the title of the book or the plot for that matter. I could be totally off base but I remember reading this book around 1992-1995 when I was in grade school.

The book is definitely a picture book the colors used om certain pages were dark and color specific to the elements previously mentioned. I this maybe a long shot but maybe someone out there might have an idea of what I am taking about. I want to say the character was samurai or shogun.

Hello I’m hoping someone can help. I’m looking for a book I used to read to my children in the late 1980s/early 1990s and think it was called ‘Doodletown Zoo’ and featured animals with names like ‘Joe Kangraoodle’. It was a part story, part rhyming and part tongue twister. I have been searching for this book high and low but cannot find anywhere that sells it (wish I hadn’t got rid of the copy we had now). Does anyone know where I can purchase another copy, who published it or the author? I am hoping that someone out there knows what book I am referring to or can help me. Many thanks in anticipation.

It’s a long shot but maybe someone will know it here. I used to read this book in the late 80s/maybe early 90s when I was a kid. It was about a little girl who did not want to go to bed, because she felt like she was going to miss something… I’m pretty sure that was a line in the book. Her mom, dad, older brother and sister got to stay up and were downstairs. Then she drifted into dreamland, the illustrations were beautiful, pretty sure it was watercolor. This has been racking my brain for at least a decade trying to remember the title of this book. Now I’m a mother myself and would love to read this book to my son – any help would be appreciated, thank you!

I am looking for a book from the 80’s maybe from New Zealand. I read this to my girls. From memory it was called Alfie and the Dark. It was about a little boy who talked to the Dark when he went to bed. The dark was a friendy character who also talked teliing the boy about where he went when the light came. i would love to find it again for my grandchildren.

It is called Alfi and the Dark. You can still purchase it on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Alfi-Dark-S-Miles/dp/0877015279

I am looking for a book that I used to read to my children late 80s- 90s. It had a plastic dial on the cover , which I think was blue and it was about pigs. It was possible to use the dial as if you were calling someone- it may have had a ring too. I can’t remember exactly. I would like to buy it for my grandson.

I am looking for a book that when you scrolled it would scroll black and white or color, depending on if you put your fingers from the top, bottom or middle of the outside of the books pages.

Hi there, I see that a few posts here go unanswered (I known it would hard to address them all) but I will try anyway. One of my hobbies is trying to track down my old classroom books (1980s/1990s – Australia) for my kids. I have managed to find some! I remember a short-story picture book which basically revolved around a boy at school. I remember the illustrations being very “new-age” and had what I can only describe as a “graffiti-hip-hop” style of illustration. I can’t remember the plot entirely but it focuses on the boy trying to perform a magic trick where a school tie is cut up and placed in a brown paper-bag and then the tie is meant to be pulled out intact. I think – the boy decides he can’t master the trick and decides to just do an act at the school talent quest where the trick doesn’t work – as a comedy act. But a member of the crowd pushes-in in place of the planned volunteer and expects the trick to work, along with the rest of the audience. Miraculously, the tie comes out of the bag whole! Is it ringing any bells for anyone? Much thanks

Hello everyone The book I’m searching for (it’s haunting me really) is from the 70’s-80’s and is about a dragon (remember the dragon as being fierce, black and “chinese” looking with long red tendrils) that wants to eat some humans, but instead they befriend it by making a huge cake..! -Does anybody have a clue..?

Hey I’m looking for an old potty training book. Sometime between early 90s and 2000s.

It had a soft cover with a little girl on it sitting on a toilet. She had black hair bob with bangs. No shirt. The book was small in size. Every page was about why this animal can’t use toilets. Ex: “Elephants cant use the toilet cause they would crush it, Goats can’t use the toilet cause they would eat all the toilet paper, snakes can’t use the toilet cause they would curl up inside of it”. The end of the book is the little girl sitting on the toilet and it reads something like “ toilets are made for little girls like you”.

I am looking for a book that had a bunch of animal songs in it. It had a cassette tape to with all the songs. There was one with an elephant Stomp and the last song and Pages were the owl. Does anyone have any idea what that book would be called or who wrote it?

I’m trying to track down a book from the late 70s onwards.it was a child’s picture reading book.not a long book.it was basically about a boy who see’s a hand puppet fox in a shop.the boy buys the fox and at nightime under moonlight the fox would come alive and enjoy having legs.i believe it was called Peter and the magic fox but could be wrong.on the front cover were woods.ivy.brick wall.snakes.the fox.the cover also continued on the back as one.

Hello, Anyone remember a book about a boy who makes a wish for ice cream and the Machine keeps making it and making it and he can’t make it stop?

Just wondering if anyone knows of a children’s book (or books) of bedtime stories. It’s not 365 Bedtime Stories. I don’t know if it was strictly local in BC, Canada, or if it came from elsewhere. It was maybe between ’88 and 92 that I received them as Christmas gifts.

The book itself was white on the outside, with a thick dark pink/purple border. The title I believe was in thick black letters.

One had a story about a toy elephant getting a howdah for the first time. His name was Rajah I believe, and all of the toys came to life at night. They were all excited when Rajah got his howdah. He had to escort a fairy queen/king/princess (one of them) one day because she didn’t have a ride, and he was pleased to be able to do it. She gave him a special jewel or something like it that made him feel special after, and all the other toys wanted to ride too.

Another story (maybe in this book) was about a monkey named Mitsy/Misty I think, or Mischief. She likes playing tricks on all of the toys. One day they notice all of their valuables going missing, and because she’s a trickster, they blame her for her. (or him, but I think it was a her) She keeps swearing she didn’t take it, but because they know she likes to play tricks, they keep blaming her. She is banished from playing with them, and feels alone. She’s sitting up by the window one day and she looks out and sees a crows nest (or ravens) and sees something shiny, that’s when she realizes that all of their treasures are there.

Another book was sort of a blue-ish color, the cover was a hardcover, and fairly big. It had a story of the musicians from Bremen at the end of the book. That’s the clearest detail. The cover itself looked almost hand drawn, like pencil crayon scribbles.

In this book (or one from the same publisher) there was a story of a girl, similar to Cinderella. The faces were almost illustrated like the “Precious memories” children. More bold colors though. She was treated badly by her step-mother and step-sister. One day she was sent out to make bread in an old style outdoor brick oven. She was being punished for something, and the step-mother made her hang the laundry out to dry but it was raining. Because it wouldn’t dry, she was punished again. I don’t remember how, but she was outside and wishing that something nice would fall from the sky instead of rain. Because she was such a good girl all the time, and didn’t complain about how she was treated, it started raining gold coins. The step-sister watched from the side, and went out after the Cinderella girl left, and wished for something nice to fall on her too. Instead of coins, treacle, or chocolate fell on her, and ruined her hair and clothes.

Possibly from this same book there was a story of a hair dresser who came across three scraggly looking animals. She gave them makeovers. She curled their hair, and I think the bunny was worried that she’d cut his ear, but she calmed him down and promised that she wouldn’t hurt him. They felt so nice after that they felt bad when they were dressed and styled so pretty, but she looked like a mess. So they gave her a makeover, and she ended up going on a date because of them.

(again, possibly from this book) There was a story of a man who was having a really bad day. He was driving a large keg wagon of some sort when he hit a ditch or something, and the wooden wheel broke, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t have a spare to fix it, and wished that he could at least take a drink of the ale/wine, (sounds so inappropriate for a children’s book) or whatever it was he had in his large keg. Cider maybe? A fairy came and fixed his wheel for him, and gave him a really beautiful flower that she turned into a glass. The art for it was beautiful, she had really pretty eyes, and he was in love with her. It was like a fairy glass, or a maiden’s glass, maiden’s tea-cup, I don’t exactly remember the title of the story.

I know one of these books had sort of an orange sunset cover over the whole book, and the other had a blue-ish cover.

They came out possibly around the same time as the Rose Petal Place stories. I’d gotten them all for that same Christmas, I was between 6 and 10 at the time, and would really love to have them again, or at least see them for nostalgia’s sake.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Hello, my sister and I and trying to remember the name of a book we read when we were growing up in the 90’s.Neither of us can remember the name or many details of the book. It was based in Japan and there was a little girl drawing pictures with chalk, something about drawing train tracks…. I know it’s probably a long shot but any help is much appreciated 🙂 Thanks!

Hi My niece now aged 26 is looking for a childhood book about a little girl who moves house with her family. She put butter on her cats paws to make him stay put. cant remember the name of the book. she thinks it was part of a series

Hi, I’m looking a book from the 80s about a Mum who would like help around the house but her family is too busy… the Dad is watching tv, the son is doing his hair the daughter is making doll clothes, the last time she asks them to help her pick apples from the tree in the garden and they help her make a pie and sit down as a family to eat it. Brightly illustrated can’t remember author or title, Thank you

I’ve been trying to find a book i loved as a child late 80 early 90s, orange hard back book about a dachshund. I don’t remember anything about this book, just that i checked it out every week.

I used to read a picture book to my son in 1980 to 82. I was about a little boy who took one item, maybe a teddy bear to bed. Then it progressed with 2 of something and on up to 10 things and it ended with the child saying and sometimes there isn’t room for me!” I’d love to find it for a gift.

Was it Ten In the Bed by Penny Dale?

Trying to find a children’s book from the 90s. It was about foxes who had a fight with red paint, and I think it may have had something to do with Easter. HELP!

I am searching for a children’s book for ages 2 to 5 or 6. Few words and the book was larger in size. The child in the book was a curly headed child. The mom on one page was getting up from a nap I believe and putting on her sweater. Her hair was red with soft curls. A little messed up! I read it to my son in the early to mid 90’s. Thanks for any help. I believe the book had a light blue background on the cover.

I am trying to find a book I read as a child. It was about a cute spider. From the 70’s or 80’s. I thought I had bought it from one of those book selling weeks. It is not lucas but the spider did have a name and it was a fun story. I remember it only being one of those small books with “hard” cover.

I’m trying to remember the name of a children’s book about a little boy worrying that his mom has gone to the basement and there’s a monster down there. She’s really gone to the garden but he finds her glasses and thinks the monster has got her. He challenges the monster with a broom.

Looking for a book about a boy who runs away from home and stops in to visit with the people in his neighborhood who all offer help in one way or another . The example I remember is the butcher gives him a salami to take on his journey. He eventually returns home. This book is not new … probably from 90’s or even earlier.

Looking for a book I read to my daughter in the 1990s. It was about a tea party. Various animals gather together for a tea party around a big table. I think there were 13 seats. One by one the animals join the table. The 13th seat is for the reader. I think tiger tiger was one of them. Help it’s driving me crazy I can’t remember anything more. It was a brilliant book and she loved it!

I’m Looking for the Hard Cover Book I read to my Kids in the 80’s but can’t remember the Title. It’s about a little boy who runs away and comes across this run down house, with a picket fence and the Gate wide open. From the Street he can hear music and smell bacon coming from the house. All the lights are on and in the lower window there’s a Jolly, Round Faced Woman with Black wiry hair, wearing an apron and using a Spatula as a microphone singing out loud. She spots the little boy and goes to the door to invite him in, saying, ” Come on in Lovey and asks if he’s hungry” inside there was another child, nothing on, jumping Seaty. and that’s all I got but boy would I love to find this book.

Hi everyone. I’ve been searching for years for a Faerie Tales book I loved as a child. The illustrations were beautiful and it told classic tales like Beauty and the Beast and The Frog Prince. I think Rumpelstiltskin and The Princess and the Pea was in it too. The cover was green with Faerie Tales written in gold (maybe foiled) lettering at the top with a big illustration from one of the stories – the woman has long blondish hair in braids and is standing next to a table with a single candle on it – on the front. I am a child of the 1980s, so I think it was from that time. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

hello! I have been searching for this book for years, I think its from the 70s to early 90s maybe. My grana used to read it to me and my sister when we were small, and it got given away from my papas place. Its got a red cover, the illustrations are black and white. Its about a little girl in a black or polka dot dress I think? her hair is stick like. I think there is more than one book. She hangs clothes on a line outside at one point and does dishes but makes to much suds at another point. I think she has a cat. Its soft cover. I dont remember anything much other than the pictures, it was sort of a scribble like style? I’ve been trying to find it for so long and only recently discovered it was thrown out by accident from storage. Anyone I’ve asked always tell me it sounds familiar but has no idea what its called.

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Wealth of Geeks

24 Incredible Movie Adaptations of Legendary Books From the 80s

Posted: May 26, 2024 | Last updated: May 26, 2024

The 1980s was a decade known for the birth of the last of Generation X and big-hair bands. It also produced some of the best reading material of the last 40 years.

Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, Alvin Schwartz, Robert Ludlum, and Carl Sagan turned these stunning literary works into movies or shows. Some authors even have several titles pulled for the big or small screen.

But as any word nerd knows, a book is almost always better than its film, even if we like them both. There are some great book-film crossovers you might recognize, even if you’ve never read the book.

Warning: this article contains spoilers.

1. The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a horrifying story about the rigors of life as a handmaid in the imaginary Republic of Gilead. You’ll follow the realities of Offred, a human baby machine. Valued for her ability to carry a child, she exists in limbo, caught effectively between the horror of her reality and the life she knew before coming to live with the Commander and his wife.

The eponymous novel inspired the television series, which began in 2017 and streamed on Hulu for five seasons, with a sixth and final season premiering in 2025. Based on the book, a film starring Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, and Natasha Richardson was also made in 1990. Given its intense subject matter, the 1980s gave The Handmaid’s Tale the perfect setting to approach the issues of women’s rights, social and population control, and climate change.

2. Ender’s Game (1985)

This novel by Orson Scott Card is a fast-paced, alien apocalypse, doomsday adventure you’ll stay up to read. If you want the big screen experience, you’ll enjoy meeting “Ender,” the last commander humankind will ever need.

Ender’s Game emerged in 2013 and stars Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield as Ender. Mostly filmed from Ender’s point of view, you’ll get to experience the desperate attempt to save humanity. Ender, who thinks he’s taking his last test in Command School, is actually fighting the final battle in the Third Invasion.

While this book indeed centers on space with a science fiction flair, its military angle is so well-written that it’s considered suggested reading for many militaries around the globe, including the United States Marine Corps.

3. The Color Purple (1982)

Alice Walker had an epic year in the early 1980s. She published a book that would go on to see not one but two screen adaptations.

The 1985 film starred Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover, while Taraji P. Henson and Fantasia Barrino starred in the 2023 remake. “Sisters are forever.”

If there was ever a book that gave a voice to women of color, The Color Purple is that book. It is a defining read that brings women together in their fight for equality and empowerment. It also received praise for its well-written use of Black English vernacular.

4. Matilda (1988)

A master at writing children’s fiction, Roald Dahl penned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG , but his 1988 hit Matilda helped define children’s literature in the 80s.

The book became a film in 1996 that starred Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, and Embeth Davidtz. This film is perfect for your children when you want peace and quiet on a rainy afternoon.

More than just a fun read for children, this book is one of the first to make reading and a love of books cool. Book nerds no longer have to stay confined to the library.

5. It (1986)

When Stephen King published Carrie in 1974, he began his journey to becoming known as “The King of Horror.” His horror-clown story, likely his most notable, was adapted into a mini-series in 1990, a film in 2017, and a second-chapter film in 2019.

While Charles Dickens is credited with creating the “scary clown,” Stephen King turned Pennywise (his creepy clown) into a money-making machine. With more than 300,000 copies sold, the book that inspired the highest-grossing film of King’s career is worth a read — unless you’re afraid of clowns.

While It is supremely horrifying in a way only King can manage in the written word, it has themes that every adult can relate to: the age-old loss of innocence, relatable events that make children grow up too fast, and childhood trauma. It also embodies that timeless, sometimes generational fear of clowns.

6. The Joy Luck Club (1989)

Penned by Amy Tan in 1989, this beautiful portrayal of the bond between mothers and their daughters became a smash hit on the big screen in 1993, grossing three times its budget in box-office payout.

The novel follows four women who leave their homeland to offer a better future to their daughters in America. While each girl grows up believing her mother doesn’t understand her, they discover more in common with their matriarchal counterparts than they bargained for.

Sometimes, it’s what the author doesn’t put in their book that makes it exceptional. While The Joy Luck Club has notes that are autobiographical for Tan, her ability to laugh at herself and her book makes it all the more endearing and explains why a book such as this is required reading in many U.S. high schools.

7. Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

How long would you wait for love? A young couple answers this question as time and circumstance test their love repeatedly. Written by Gabriel García Márquez in 1985, this epic love story has elements of real-life decisions we make for all the right and wrong reasons.

Meet Florentino and Fermina. When Fermina chooses to marry to please her family, Florentino must wait fifty-one years, nine months, and four days to love her again. It’s one of the greatest love stories ever to be put to paper or film. The 2007 movie adaptation stars Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, and Benjamin Bratt.

Love in the Time of Cholera takes a heartwarming look at the depths people will go through to find fulfillment. In this beautiful tale, Márquez examines human elements like love, longing, fulfillment, and death with a flair of experience that shines through on the page.

8. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1980-1984)

Douglas Adams wrote like a crazy man in the 80s, publishing three novels in his hilarious and entertaining The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, named after the first book in the six-book set. Books two, three, and four all came out by 1984, and it was one of the best space-adventure stories ever to grace the big screen.

The series turned into The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy film in 2005, in which you meet Arthur, a stranded Earthling, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and a depressed robot named Marvin.

Noted for its easy humor and cast of unique characters, these three installments of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy were the bulk of Adams’s work on the series. He added Mostly Harmless in 1992 before his untimely death in 2001. The last book, And Another Thing , was authored by Eoin Colfer, author of the notable Artemis Fowl (2009).

9. Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)

Published in 1986 by British author Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle is the first in a trilogy of tales about a mystical wizard and his moving castle, Calcifer.

You’ll meet Sophie, a young woman whose only hope lies in finding Howl’s moving castle and the Witch of Waste, who destines Sophie to a miserable curse that only Howl can help her heal. The Japanese studio, Studio Ghibli, animated the story for all to enjoy in 2004.

While the movie and book are vastly different in many ways, the bones of each — those masterful story arcs — remain intact. In each telling, Howl learns to stand in the face of his biggest fears, and Sophie gains the confidence to be herself, no matter who she turns out to be. These lessons resonate and reach each reader where they are.

10. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1987)

Adapted into the film Fried Green Tomatoes in 1991, the novel by author Fannie Flagg, first published in 1987, is an endearing story of love, loss, and the power of friendship.

Starring Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Jessica Tandy, and Cicely Tyson, the story will stay long after you turn the last page.

While many Gen Xers and millennials may have seen the film, reading the book is a different tale altogether. In the movie, the director and producer shied away from explicitly calling Ruth and Idgie (the main characters) lesbians or inferring that they were in a romantic relationship. However, the book doesn’t avoid the distinction. For many who might rewatch the movie or pick up a copy of the book, it is an affirmation that came well before its time and speaks to the beautiful way LGBTQ+ community support shone through before a community existed.

11. Misery (1987)

Another Kathy Bates special, Misery  comes to us from the King of Horror himself, Stephen King. Published in 1987, Misery follows the recovery of author Paul Sheldon as Annie Wilkes cares for him after an automobile accident. Wilkes, who is self-described as Sheldon’s number one fan, demonstrates why changing the ending to his signature novel would undoubtedly be in his best interest. The master of fright wrote several memorable titles in the 80s we still love today. Misery is just one of them. It was adapted into a film in 1990 and remains a favorite for fans of King’s work.

During the 80s, Stephen King struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction, and for him, the main character in his Misery novel exhibited that addiction. “Annie was my drug problem, and she was my number one fan. God, she never wanted to leave,” King told The Paris Review . His drug issue also caused him to have almost no memory of another of his famous works, Cujo . In his memoir On Writing , he says it’s a novel, “I barely remember writing at all.” The struggle was intense for King, requiring intervention from his family and friends. However, in the late 80s, he was able to get clean and stay sober.

Seeing Annie Wilkes in relation to King’s addiction gives a new angle to this must-read for new and old King fans and lends itself to opening a window into how King created such a disturbed woman as Annie Wilkes.

12. Lonesome Dove (1985)

Published in 1985 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for literature, Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove was turned into one of the most memorable mini-series to hit television in recent history. An all-star cast including Robert Duvall, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Ricky Schroder, D.B. Sweeney, Danny Glover, and Robert Urich made the story as memorable onscreen as it is in paperback.

If you could experience the breadth of human emotion in one telling, it’d be Lonesome Dove . One review praises, “Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.”

13. The Silence of the Lambs (1988)

Thomas Harris wrote one of the creepiest characters to ever grace the written page when he published The Silence of the Lambs in 1988. Psychologically riveting, Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter fill the time as Clarice tries to catch a serial killer by getting to know one with a penchant for eating his victims.

The film adaptation was released in 1991 and starred Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. To this day, it is one of the most-watched psychological horror thrillers and one you should add to your must-watch list.

Only one book has ever been the basis of a horror film that won an Oscar for Best Picture; shockingly, it isn’t one of Stephen King’s works. The Silence of the Lambs won the Oscar in 1992 and delivered Best Actor Oscars to both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Imagine how much better the book is if the film grabbed three Oscar nods.

14. The Cider House Rules (1985)

First drafted by John Irving, the novel The Cider House Rules was published in 1985. Inside its pages, you’ll meet Homer Wells, a bright, searching soul with a tender heart and a seeking mind.

When allowed to travel with a young couple, he jumps to see what’s beyond the orphanage where he grew up and discovers a life he never imagined. The film, released in 1999, starred Charlize Theron, Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine, and Paul Rudd.

In a man vs. himself internal conflict, The Cider House Rules explores the nature of humanity’s disposition in a world fallen from grace and the consequences that follow. It touches on innocence, adventure, finding oneself, and coming full circle to end up where you started.

15. Pet Sematary (1983)

They don’t call Stephen King The King of Horror because he writes about daisies. His stories are powerfully moving and poignantly creepy and stay with you long after you’ve finished the book. Drawn from a real-life experience involving his son, Owen, King wouldn’t publish the book for several months because he found it too disturbing.

To this day, it is one of his nastiest books. Two adaptations of the original tale have been seen, one in 1989 and the other in 2019, with a sequel titled Pet Sematary 2 .

While death is a topic many authors steer clear of, King embraces it in all its horror. Despite King’s reluctance to publish Pet Sematary , this all-too-real tale of mystery, intrigue, unbearable grief, and exploring what happens after we die remains a must-read for horror fans and anyone who likes examining spiritual matters.

16. V for Vendetta (1990)

Alan Moore penned a dystopian future where the rule of law rules all. Its 2005 movie adaptation gives a sense of fullness to Moore’s story. “Remember, remember the 5th of November…” echoes through the pages as a renegade vigilante, appropriately named V, encourages citizens to revolt by joining him. V’s last message to Creedy is the simple truth, “Ideas are bulletproof.” Will you join the revolution?

Sometimes, it’s a second or third reading of a book that cements the author’s work in a reader’s heart or mind. V for Vendetta explores themes of freedom in a hyper-controlled world and, while certainly not the first or last to do so, reaches readers for its stark contrast between V and the entities that seek to squeeze freedom until it surrenders. Like 1984 by George Orwell, it offers a look at what the world might look like without innate freedoms like those the Constitution protects in America.

17. A Time to Kill (1989)

In a time when race still segregates and justice is anything but blind, a lawyer seeks grace and mercy for the father of a young girl who is assaulted, beaten, and left in a river. When the man hears that the two men who hurt his daughter may walk on their charges, he takes justice into his own hands, inadvertently injuring a deputy in the process.

Through the power of imagination, the lawyer helps an all-white jury understand the depths of a father’s love for his child without color getting in the way. After an acquittal, the father and the lawyer celebrate a successful result. The 1996 film based on the novel stars heavy hitters like Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, and Brenda Fricker.

Because of the heavy adult-centered scenarios in this book, John Grisham saw several rejections before a publisher gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing. However, it led to other bestsellers like The Firm , The Pelican Brief , and The Client , which some libraries banned for objections over their content. Law-based thrillers that discuss real-life issues are some of the best reads, and while A Time to Kill isn’t Grisham’s breakout novel, it is still an excellent read. This is largely because of Grisham’s time as a lawyer before he became a published author. After the success of his other novels, A Time to Kill also became a bestseller.

18. The Hunt for Red October (1984)

Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October went to print in 1984 and became one of the best pieces of fiction concerning military might ever to become a novel. When a Soviet commander starts charging west with a state-of-the-art sub loaded with missiles, Washington goes on high alert. America wants that sub, and Russia wants it back, but only the commander knows his true intentions. The film came out in 1990, starring the likes of Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill.

When The Hunt for Red October hit shelves, it well outperformed the expectations of Naval Institute Press, its publisher. It also cemented Tom Clancy as an author who knows how to depict war-time strategy and all the feelings that go with it. To this day, it’s considered one of the best depictions of Cold War era feelings and is a must-read for anyone interested in naval warfare, war-time strategy, or Clancy fans who haven’t read the book yet.

19. Contact (1985)

In 1985, Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan penned a beautiful tale of communication between extraterrestrial beings and Ellie Arroway, a young astronomer. When Ellie joins the “Argus” space-listening program, she’s keen to pick up any abnormal signal and eventually finds a message that ignites a firestorm of military and government secrecy.

After discovering plans for a vehicle that seemingly allows people to travel into space, she’s given clearance to contact the beings who sent the message. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jodie Foster, James Woods, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, and Angela Bassett, the 1997 film brings Sagan’s story to life for the big screen.

Contact is a must-read for science nerds, novices, and anyone interested in extraterrestrial occurrences. Carl Sagan does a masterful job of building a believable encounter between Ellie and beings beyond our world. Her experience is one you can completely understand and envision for yourself. It’s emotional, hopeful, and bittersweet all at once.

20. The Bourne Identity (1980)

If there were ever a case of dangerous amnesia, Jason Bourne’s issue in The Bourne Identity would be it. Written by Robert Ludlum in 1980, this action-packed story takes you into the mind of a trained assassin and never lets you go. The 2002 movie, based on the novel, stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first adaptation of the novel. In 1988, Richard Chamberlain played Jason Bourne, although the film is a bit different, considering Chamberlain was 54 years old at the time. Even though plenty of actors went through the selection process, Bourne came alive in Matt Damon’s action-packed performance.

Fast-paced, high-energy, and just plain fun, The Bourne Identity gives you a new appreciation for the job professional assassins acquire when trained and hired by world governments. Whether or not they exist in real life is a guess. Imagine waking up without a memory of who you are, where you are, or what you did just 24 hours before. Now add in expert-level martial arts knowledge, knowing how and where to find specific information, and trained killers on your trail and you can imagine the adrenaline rush you’d feel. The movie is excellent; the book is even better.

21. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981)

Everyone loves a good haunted house on Halloween, but you’d better know what you’re doing when you take something home. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark came out in 1981 from Alvin Schwartz and crept onto big screens in 2019. The story follows a young woman named Sarah Bellows, whose family tortured into believing horrid things about herself.

Her revenge was writing scary stories about those who tormented her. When a girl takes the book from Sarah’s home and asks Sarah to tell her a story, the girl’s friends start to disappear one by one. I saw this film recently, and you can pick your poison, but my money’s on the sickly smile of the dough girl who slowly makes her way to you and hugs you until her pasty flesh engulfs you.

While some horror stories grip you by the collar and don’t let go until the end, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark slowly immerses you into a world filled with horrifically fantastic stories. It sends you down the rabbit hole with little hope of ever coming back up for air. For horror fans who want something a little slower-paced or a story you can chop up into bits for slower digestion, this book will fulfill all your slow-simmering horror needs.

22. Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985)

First released in 1985, Sarah, Plain and Tall is a story about the pain of loss and the beauty of love as a man cares for his two children after his wife’s death. Knowing his children need a mother, he advertises for a wife, and Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton answers his call.

While not expecting love, Sarah keeps pushing the man and his children to mourn for the wife and mother they lost and overcome all obstacles, finally finding her place in this beautifully broken family. The adaptation of Patricia MacLachlan’s tale stars Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.

This beautiful story embraces the unknown by showing the reader that love can grow anywhere, even when the soil is hard, rocky, and dry from being unattended. When Sarah first appears, Anna and Caleb, who are motherless, can’t help but wonder what she’ll be like. Through the eyes of a child, you’ll experience the slow blossoming of love that chases away all those childhood fears, soothes tiny souls, and embraces the hope and possibility of the future.

23. The Polar Express (1985)

From the author of Jumanji (1981) comes a tale of a mysterious train and a boy who wonders if it’s still worth believing in Christmas. When the boy arrives at the North Pole, Santa grants him one gift: a bell from the harness on the reindeer.

On Christmas morning, his mother laments that the bell doesn’t make a sound, but the boy realizes that only true believers can hear the sound. The 2004 animated film stars Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen.

As all children do, we grow up, and the magic of believing in Santa Claus gets lost to adult aspirations. For one boy on the cusp of that change, a ride on the Polar Express offers a choice to continue believing in the magic and spirit of Christmas. Fun, engaging, and delivering that same whimsical choice to every reader, the book is an invitation to re-embrace that playful, fun-loving spirit that goes beyond Christmas to touch every season of life.

24. Firestarter (1980)

1980 saw another brilliant turnout from Stephen King. Firestarter tells the tale of a young girl named Charlie McGee who can start fires with just her mind. Unfortunately, that makes her a target for many people with many different motives.

Charlie wants to be like everyone else, but her ability doesn’t allow normalcy. The book’s first successful 1984 film version stars a young Drew Barrymore as Charlie. The newer adaptation in 2022 takes a twist on the tale as Charlie’s parents (Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon) try to help her control her ability.

In 1980, interest in paranormal activities and abilities surged. With books like Firestarter that explored what a world government might do to weaponize someone with the ability to start fires with their mind, the paranormal became accessible in ways it hadn’t been before. Even with the 1984 movie adaptation, the book remains a worthwhile read, especially for fans of King’s work.

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Every Kid Had The Same School-Issued Planner. But…Why?

Kelly Jensen

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen .

View All posts by Kelly Jensen

If you were a student in American or Canadian schools in the ’90s or ’00s, this one image might bring back a host of visceral memories:

This specific student planner periodically makes the rounds of nostalgia-focused social media . Without a doubt, it conjures up something that may have otherwise been lost to time in many of our minds. The datebooks had a specific smell, sound, and feel, with a lenticular cover that made a record-scratch sound when you dragged your fingernails across it. 

I would have anxiety about how to handle the passing of each week. Do I fold the pages in alternating diagonals to make it easy to turn to the next page? Do I rip each week’s previous pages out and potentially lose something important (but have a more compact agenda)? Realistically, neither would happen because the agenda got crushed under the weight of several textbooks at the bottom of my backpack just a week or two into the school year, forgotten.  

While there are dozens of “back when we were in school” memories shared online and across social media, the comments on posts like this one are full of people wondering how so many people across the world had the same exact things. And that’s something I can’t stop thinking about either. Why did so many other people my age have memories associated with a student planner? 

The answer is fascinating.

American Education in the 1980s

The 1980s were a significant time of education reform in America.

At the start of the decade, Ronald Reagan appointed Terrel Bell as Secretary of Education. Bell’s role was supposed to be overseeing the dismantling of the Department of Education—sound familiar?—but he ran into several hurdles. In 1981, Bell approached Reagan with another idea: could they create a commission to study American education and put together a report with their findings?

It was not unprecedented, as such commissions had happened in the past, and Reagan gave the green light. Over the next several years, a commission of 12 administrators, 1 businessperson, 1 chemist, 1 physicist, 1 politician, 1 conservative activist, and 1 teacher, worked on what would become the 1983 report A Nation at Risk . 

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The report pushed for an overhaul of education, and much of the language in the report mirrors what we’re hearing right now across the country related to education. We’re a nation of poorly educated young people failing to meet the needs of a global world. There was an emphasis on how America has lost its way in terms of the purpose of school. Because schools became too invested in “personal, social, and political problems,” the institutions were failing to do their job of educating. Schools were wasting time and money on issues that were to be addressed in the home with the parents. (Sigh).

The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people — from A Nation at Risk

Even though the commission’s report led to reform for education, the report itself was not well received. This was particularly true for, well, those who actually worked in education (recall the commission, despite its focus on high school education, had a whopping one educator on it). A group out of New Mexico took a critical look at A Nation at Risk with their Sandia Report . That report went mostly unnoticed, which was convenient for Reagan-era politicians since the data in Sandia directly contradicted that in their own commission. Student SAT scores had not, in fact, declined substantially in the 1970s. In fact, they rose—but a more diverse demographic of students were taking the SAT in the late ’70s compared to the early ’70s. Facts and data mattered in the ’80s Reagan era as much as they do now.

A Nation at Risk ultimately flipped Reagan’s initial goals of getting rid of the Department of Education. It instead spurred a movement pushing for a more rigorous set of standards students needed to meet. The report used war-coded language during the heights of the Cold War, and it pointed to how, under liberal leadership, public education had withered into little more than social-emotional learning (in the ’80s, they called it “self-esteem learning”). 

All of this occurred in an era before the ready availability of the internet and social media, so the average person got this information via newspapers. And just like now, much of the news about education and A Nation At Risk was not especially critical. As Tamim Ansary notes, The Washington Post alone ran more than 24 stories about the report. 

Educational stakes rose in the Reagan era, and George H. W. Bush continued to push a reform agenda when he took office. There’s a whole lot to unpack about the ’80s and how they mirror contemporary education beliefs being espoused by the grown adults whose own education was impacted by the reforms implemented based on political agenda, rather than research. What’s important to take away is that educators and students were rarely part of the conversation. 

A Story of a Kitchen Table Business

Prior to about 1985, when students went to school, they did not carry planners or agendas. They were not required school supplies. But as the stakes in education were increasing, so, too, was the pressure on educators and students to keep track of increasingly complex assignments. Reagan-era reform tied student performance to educators, meaning that if students were not universally scoring well on tests and/or showcasing more rigor in their knowledge and studies, then the educators themselves were to blame and suffered the consequences.  

Homework increased in quantity in the 1980s after several decades of decline. Although data from the National Assessment of Education Progress in this Brookings Report showcases an increase in homework from 1984 to 2012, that data from 1984 is interesting. Most nine-year-olds and nearly all 13- and 17-year-old students had homework on any given night. 

So how were these students—and subsequently their teachers—supposed to keep up?

Enter Sharon Powers.

Sitting at her kitchen table in 1985, Sharon began to design an agenda book. It was for Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School in Lafayette, Indiana, where her son attended. Once she created the planner, dubbed the Knightline, Powers realized she’d done something pretty unique and immediately created prototypes of a similar agenda for several other local schools. There was the West Lafayette Docket, the Harrison High School Barn Door, the McCutcheon High School Maveranda, and the Lafayette Jefferson High School Broncho Board. Powers found herself a market and officially launched her School Datebooks business in Lafayette, Indiana. 

No one had yet considered the potential market for agendas in schools across the country, but 1985 could not have been more prime. Company lore has it that Powers was inspired to create the datebook because of her own son, Tim, who after college, came back to Lafayette to help run the business.* As the success of School Datebooks grew, the company itself expanded to meet more market needs. All of these products were folded into a larger company called SDI Innovations, but School Datebooks remains their flagship product. 

As of the 2019-2020 school year, School Datebooks reached over 13,000 schools. There are approximately 115,170 schools across the US, so School Datebooks entered 11% of the total US school population. Tim Powers, in an interview with the Hanover College alumni magazine, noted that School Datebooks saw 20-40% growth each year in the late ’90s. 

Eleven percent of the US school population is impressive, but it’s not enough for an image of a school agenda to unlock core memories for such a huge amount of the internet. Especially when many of those commenting about their DJ skills on the cover or their requirement to get the planner signed by a parent or guardian every week came from Canadians. 

That’s because the story of the kitchen table agenda isn’t alone. Just a couple of years earlier, a different company launched a datebook product that would enter school districts first in Canada and then the US. 

A Canadian Company Did It First

Premier Agendas doesn’t have as quaint a kitchen table origin as School Datebooks, though it, too, started humbly. In 1983, a small print shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada realized that there was no easily accessible, inexpensive, and widespread agenda book specifically designed for school students. Premier Printing Ltd. tested out a planner that could be customized by school districts across several provinces and found the response encouraging.

Over the 1980s, the Premier Agendas spread across Canada and it became clear that there was also a market in the US. They expanded, selling their Premier Agendas in the US. They reached a total of 5 million North American students by 1990. Initially very basic, Premier Agenda saw their success growing by creating agendas that appealed to their young audience. They incorporated study tips, quotes and advice, and other fun details that contributed to student social emotional learning started around 1995. By 2010, the company boasted that 17 million students across North America were using Premier Planners.

Premier Agendas changed ownership several times, but its US operations were based in Bellingham, Washington, beginning in 1994. Premier Agendas was acquired by School Specialty, Inc., in December 2001, and by then were the largest provider of academic agendas in the US and Canada. In the US alone, Premier Agendas supplied their goods to 15,000 schools (or 13% of all US schools). 

Now, For a Twist

So here’s where the story of two planners embedded in the memories of nearly half of North American adults takes a twist. 

Premier Agendas’s reach was wider than School Datebooks’ and began a couple of years before them. Sharon Powers likely had no idea there was a competitor in the market, given that there was no internet or easily accessible database of businesses across the globe—none of her local schools had been sold products like a student agenda before she sold her own. Both businesses grew substantially, despite humble beginnings in each, thanks in part to an era of increased panic over education. 

But the market would change in the late 2010s.

In 2019, Premier Agendas announced they would be shutting down the business . The Bellingham facility would remain open, but it would no longer have an Agendas division. It’s likely that a lot of this had to do with the fact students no longer have a need for paper agendas the way they did in the ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, and even just a few years earlier. More and more was done digitally or in planners acquired by students themselves—if you’re anything like me, you’re also sucked into nonstop planner/agenda setup videos on YouTube and TikTok and convinced this time that you’ll stick to it. It would be prudent to mention here this was also an era of school budget cuts and despite how little the planners cost, it was an easy line to cross out to save a few hundred dollars per year.**  

It looked like Premier Agendas would quietly disappear and with it, dozens of full time jobs. Several employees would be able to stay on in sales roles and others would be offered roles elsewhere in the company, but their work would no longer be needed in the Agenda side of the business.

That is, until SDI Innovations, which owns School Datebooks, acquired Premier Agendas in 2020.

No longer competitors, Premier Agendas was folded into School Datebooks, giving them a reach of over 15,000 today.  

There’s no way to accurately capture how many US and Canadian students had either Premier Planners or School Datebooks, but a rough estimate would put the combined reach of both somewhere over one-third and up to one-half of students in North America. That’s tremendous scale and reach for any product, and that neither business used it as a way to advertise themselves directly to their audience is pretty impressive. These agendas are a memory that connected so many thousands of those who were students between the 1980s and early 2010s. They were a staple, even if what seemed to be one universal datebook was actually two slightly different ones. 

The planner at the top of this piece? That was from Premier Agenda, also known as the one in more schools in North America. You can peep this version , as well as one of the Canadian versions .

Perhaps the image below, among some of those made by School Datebooks, sparks a memory.

School Datebooks Today

I reached out to the School Datebook team to see if they’d share one of their early cover renditions and not only were they excited to, we actually got on a phone call to talk. During our conversation, I learned some interesting things. First, this year celebrates 40 years in the datebook business, which is no small feat. But perhaps even more interesting for People Of A Certain Age, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the famous Millennium planner (Premier Agenda’s Version). Rumor has it that there might be some exciting announcements in honor of these milestones in the near future.

Interesting to me and perhaps less so to a general readership? School Datebooks provided the planners of my middle school experience. What should not be surprising is that the distribution of the planners had some regional ties—my suburban Chicago schools went with School Datebooks, likely because SDI Innovations was in Indiana.

The team at School Datebooks has been fun to see pop up in those nostalgic posts on TikTok and Instagram. They’ve put a lot of energy into social media over the last year, eager to tie the origin story at Sharon Powers’s kitchen table to the Premier Planners that drive so many memories because they are now one in the same. It’s not too often you see brands engage with these kinds of posts, and more, it’s rare you see it done in a way that’s fun and educational (without being a pitch for the product—which, well, they’ve been good at since the start!).

Sadly, Sharon Powers passed away in November 2023 , but her memory will live on across North American schools for a long, long time. Indeed, it lives on every time one of these social media or Reddit posts pops up.

That’s a heck of a legacy.

School Datebooks sells several styles of planners on Amazon if you’re itching for one. Know that while they’re cute and functional, they will not let you live out our DJ dreams via vinyl-esque covers today…yet, at least. Perhaps that’ll be something millennials get to revisit in a future product!

*This company lore was debunked by a member of the SDI Innovations team on our phone call—but it’s a fun one, isn’t it?

**If you’re curious, it looks like the cost of these agendas in the 2022-2023 school year ranged anywhere from $4 to $15 a student , depending on school discounts and customization. Not bad!

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'Dune: Part Two's Most Underrated Scene Has a Deeper Meaning

"There are no sides. You of all people should know, Reverend Mother."

The Big Picture

• Feyd-Rautha undergoes a distinct Gom Jabbar test from Paul Atreides, revealing the Bene Gesserit's schemes.
• The Bene Gesserit employ eugenics to secure power by breeding the Kwisatz Haderach, involving the Atreides and Harkonnen.
• Control over Feyd-Rautha becomes crucial for the Bene Gesserit to maintain their standing amid Paul Atreides' rising influence.

Few franchises have such a complex lore as Dune . In Dune: Part Two , Denis Villeneuve explores many elements of the original Frank Herbert novel while also elevating some of them with original ideas. One of those is the Bene Gesserit, the ancient sisterhood that has been pulling the strings of nearly every major galactic event for millennia. They are present everywhere, from laying the seeds of the Fremen prophecies in Arrakis to plotting the demise of House Atreides with the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV ( Christopher Walken ), but the scene that defines them is also one of the movie's best, when Lady Margot Fenring ( Léa Seydoux ) applies the Gom Jabbar test to Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen ( Austin Butler ) on Giedi Prime. It's the same test applied to Paul Atreides ( Timothée Chalamet ) in the first Dune movie, but, this time, there are very different intentions behind it.

Dune: Part Two

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.

Feyd-Rautha’s Gom Jabbar Test Is Very Different From When Paul Atreides' Took It

Feyd-Rautha is the heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen ( Stellan Skarsgård ), and his introduction in Part Two happens in a gladiator arena during his birthday celebrations. The sequence is grand in every way. The black sun of Giedi Prime painting everything in chalky black and milky white, Feyd-Rautha's psychopathy in the arena, how the people worship him... It's all very impressive from a visual standpoint, but what comes next manages to be even more impactful because, despite Feyd-Rautha seeing himself as a predator, he's actually the prey .

After his psychotic birthday bash, Feyd-Rautha walks through the corridors of the Harkonnen castle in Giedi Prime by himself, followed by Lady Margot. He puts a knife at her throat to ask her what she's on about, but the tables quickly turn. After playing coy at first, she quickly gets him under her control and leads him to the guest wing of the castle, where he has never been before. Feyd-Rautha is clearly out of his element, and what he does now isn't up to him anymore .

He follows Lady Margot into her chambers, where she commands him to kneel and put his hand on a box, a Gom Jabbar needle at his throat now. He evidently passes the test, as he's still alive for the remainder of the movie and has his two hands, and, in the next scene, Lady Margot reports on the test and on securing his Harkonnen bloodline by conceiving a girl with him to Reverend Mother Mohiam ( Charlotte Rampling ) and Princess Irulan ( Florence Pugh ), who's also a Bene Gesserit. Plans within plans.

Feyd-Rautha's experience with the Gom Jabbar is very different from when Paul Atreides took the test in the first movie. Back then, it was mostly about Reverend Mother Mohiam chastising Lady Jessica ( Rebecca Ferguson ) for defying her orders and conceiving a boy, Paul, instead of a girl for Duke Leto Atreides ( Oscar Isaac ). Now, it's all about finding someone who can potentially stand up to Paul after he's already become a leader among the Fremen. Lady Fenring completely dominates Feyd-Rautha , to the point where she doesn't even have to use the Voice to make him comply. She identifies all his weaknesses, gets what she came for, and leaves him. He is a psychopath who murdered his own mother, and seeing him reduced to this is even satisfying to a point, and it reveals a lot about what the Bene Gesserit want and how they act to get it.

Feyd-Rautha Is the Best Alternative for the Bene Gesserit To Retain Their Power

In Part Two , the Bene Gesserit plays a larger role than in Villeneuve's first Dune movie. Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is present for a lot of the important events, and we meet other members of their sisterhood, like Lady Fenring and Princess Irulan themselves. Not just that, but Reverend Mother Mohiam also reveals that she convinced the Emperor that House Atreides needed to be annihilated , something that speaks of the influence they hold in the political sphere in the Dune universe.

When it's discovered that Paul Atreides not only survived, but is also leading a crusade against the Empire's dominion over Arrakis, this is an immediate danger to the Bene Gesserit. For millennia , the sisterhood has built a position in which they aren't openly in power, but rather behind it. The political structure of the Empire is similar to Middle Age fiefs, with lords and vassals, and the Bene Gesserit articulated the movements of every political player , from the smallest to the biggest. Using their influence, they are present in every court and advise every lord, while also being present among ordinary people, both in big urban centers and on remote planets, like Arrakis. They have managed to gather this much influence by a heavier use of spice , which granted them prescience and abilities superior to those of an ordinary person - enough to make them feared and respected even among high-borns like Feyd-Rautha.

For Frank Herbert, The Dune Novels Weren't Just Epic — They Were Personal

Reverend Mother Mohiam advising the Emperor to exterminate the Atreides is a major departure from the original Dune novel , but one that highlights just how insidious the Bene Gesserit can be to perpetuate their influence and status. House Atreides rose as a potential threat to the Emperor's rule and, by proxy, their own condition as advisors of power . One of the signs that the Atreides posed a risk was the very fact that Lady Jessica defied her orders to bear a daughter to Duke Leto - Jessica is a Bene Gesserit herself, but disobeyed her direct orders for the love she had for him. The fact that the Atreides were capable of inspiring such sentiment was dangerous for the political order of the Empire, and ultimately led to their downfall under Bene Gesserit approval.

Paul Atreides is aware of the Bene Gesserit's involvement in his father's death and the destruction of his house. His ascension in Arrakis puts the sisterhood in a delicate position, because it's something they hadn't foreseen. The best possible outcome to the whole Arrakis affair is Paul's crusade being defeated , which is why Feyd-Rautha became such an important puzzle piece for them. For that to happen, however, the Bene Gesserit had to find out if he could be controlled. This was Lady Fenring's most important mission regarding him: finding out if he could be a tool to defeat Paul, allowing them to keep their status.

Lady Fenring Uses Feyd-Rautha as Part of the Bene Gesserit’s Eugenics Program

Another purpose of Lady Fenring's mission in Giedi Prime is related to another of the Bene Gesserit's machinations. Apart from their political role, the sisterhood also has a crucial role as a religious organization in the Dune universe. While there is no official religion, they are looked upon as spiritual guides , and have their own internal beliefs and rituals in this sense. The Gom Jabbar test is one of them, meant to assess whether a man is a prospect to be the Kwisatz Haderach - a man who will take humankind to a new age of enlightenment.

The arrival of the Kwisatz Haderach, however, will only happen through one of the Bene Gesserit's most insidious practices - eugenics. Over the millennia, they have set in motion a secret breeding program between the great houses , using their influence to cross members of these houses until a man is born who has the genes to be the Kwisatz Haderach. According to the Bene Gesserit's eugenics plan, the Kwisatz Haderach is supposed to be born from a crossing between houses Atreides and Harkonnen - an Atreides female and a Harkonnen male . However, Lady Jessica's decision to bear Duke Leto a son once again thwarts their plans, leaving House Harkonnen's genetic line in danger.

This is another reason for Lady Fenring's mission in Giedi Prime: securing Feyd-Rautha's genetic line by bearing his daughter. To ensure the continuity of their eugenics program, many of the Bene Gesserit themselves act as concubines to the great houses . Lady Jessica herself never married Duke Leto, being only his concubine, but the fact that a Bene Gesserit's past is supposed to be secret meant that she never knew she was the daughter of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen , so her having a son meant the crossing between Atreides and Harkonnen happened one generation earlier, making Paul the Kwisatz Haderach.

Dune: Part Two is now available to watch on Max.

Watch on Max