Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book set in the decade you were born.

Who's feeling deja vu, 2018-style??


No Listopia, but you can use these tags for inspiration: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/by...

Set doesn't have to mean published. I like that this prompt is broader because it can be a book published and set then, or a modern book that is set then.

I'm already planning to cheat. My birth year end in a 2. I have a book that takes place in the prior decade in the year ending 9. It's well within 10 years of my birth. Close enough, right?

Some great 90s options from a 1995 baby:

Forget This Ever Happened
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Fireworks
The Mall
The Black Kids
Skunk Girl
Rani Patel in Full Effect
Rebel Girls
Those Who Prey

I'm thinking of reading The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, which is set in the 90s.

I've never been a fan of this kind of prompt. I was born in 1989 and I feel a lot more connected to the 90s than the 80s.

All the President's Men is a great one for people born in the 70s. Unfortunately, I've already read it. I might go with Arcadia or Escape from Saigon.

My 1970s list so far:
The Masterpiece
The Perfumist of Paris
The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History
Knots

My 1970s book will be Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Setting: 1973, Alabama

I did this topic for another book challenge (completely different from PS) and had a hard time with it.

I'm debating on this one. I might end up doing a book that took place in the 1980s, even if it's a chapter headline in a book. If I do that there are several good ones:

Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present
David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music
Formidable: American Women and the Fight for Equality: 1920-2020

Ron,

Maybe a movie behind-the-scenes book would work for non-fiction set in the 1980's. The Making of Return of the Jedi by J.W. Rinzler is outstanding.

Rachel wrote: "I've never been a fan of this kind of prompt. I was born in 1989 and I feel a lot more connected to the 90s than the 80s."

You could always take Katy's approach above and read a book that was just set within 10 years of your birth!

For 1970s: I just read Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win, a YA book set in 1979 about an Iranian-American running for class president during the Iranian Revolution. I really enjoyed it!

More 1980s-set books!
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Vanishing Half
Malibu Rising
The Midnight Library

For my 70s Daisy Jones and The Six

For anyone who has read The Sympathizer: the blurb says it starts in 1975. Does it then go back in time and take place partly in the 60s, or is it all solidly set in the 70s?

I'm really feeling my youth here... born in 2000! I found a pretty good list at this link (https://bookgirlsguide.com/books-set-...) and will probably pick something of there. Or maybe I could reread The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11.

Ron wrote: "I did this topic for another book challenge (completely different from PS) and had a hard time with it.

I'm debating on this one. I might end up doing a book that took place in the 1980s, even if ..."

Have you read The Library Book? The fire was in 1986.

Thanks Milena. I have that one in my home library but it's one I have not gotten to.

Milena wrote: "Ron wrote: "I did this topic for another book challenge (completely different from PS) and had a hard time with it.

I'm debating on this one. I might end up doing a book that took place in the 198..."

I loved The Library Book! One of those great nonfiction books that read like a fast-paced page-turner.

I went through a long list and decided on Hyperion, then of course realized that it's not SET in the 80s, it was PUBLISHED in the 80s. I'm going to read it anyway, I didn't find anything else interesting. :P

Fellow '80s babies, I would suggest None Shall Sleep and the sequel coming out in 2023, Some Shall Break.

Im going to be reading The Alchemist for this category

I was born in 1938 so the 1930s.

I was on the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee so I will wait until January to read.
I also have Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
and Lost Horizon by James Hilton
I am trying to read my books.

Ashley Marie wrote: "More 1980s-set books!
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Vanishing Half
Malibu Rising
The Midnight Library"

I didn't know The Midnight Library was set in the 80s! The synopsis definitely didn't mention that, lol

I'm just realizing now that many of the early Babysitter's Club books were published in the 80s so I would assume they were set then as well! I have a couple of the graphic novel remakes on my list that I wanted to read, so this might be a good place to fit one in

I was going through 2023 releases and found Children of the Sun by Beth Lewis is set in the 80's. I liked The Wolf Road so I guess this is an option if I do decide I want to do this prompt.

There are a set of Listopias that list the "best" fiction books set in a given decade. This is the link for the 1970s list, but at the top of the page it also includes links for all the other decades in the 20th century. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
I'm think I'm going with Mary Jane for a book set in the 1970's.

I think I read My Best Friend's Exorcism or maybe We Ride Upon Sticks for a book set in the 1980s the last time a prompt like this came around. I've also read 8-Bit Christmas. It was a cute holiday read.

I may go with nonfiction this time and read McCarthy's memoir, Brat: An '80s Story, or maybe Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to '80s Teen Movies

Another nonfiction option that wasn't bad is Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion

A couple of 90s possibilities I might turn to:

Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Opera
The Xibalba MurdersA Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder
Malice In Miniature
On Celtic Tides: One Man's Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak

Another 80's baby here!
I was going to read The Bonfire of the Vanities for a book set in the 80s for this year's challenge, but didn't get to it, so that will be my goal for next year.

I was browsing at the library today and saw this book, that would work, if you're ok stretching it into modern years- The Forever Witness: How Genetic Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder. It would also work for Nadine's mini challenge on genealogy (which is where I plan to use it).

I'm currently reading Killers of a Certain Age and most of it is set in the present, but so far at least one chapter was set in the 70s ... if any 70s babies are willing to stretch things to include books that are set in multiple time periods.

Burn Baby Burn is set in the Son of Sam summer (1977). It was a coming of age character story. I listened to it and like it well enough. It also works for song lyrics (lots of 70s music references!), divorce, and fire on the cover.

Ashley Marie wrote: "More 1980s-set books!
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Vanishing Half
Malibu Rising
The Midnight Library"

Oh man! I have already read all of these. LOL. All these books are great!

Jennifer W wrote: "Burn Baby Burn is set in the Son of Sam summer (1977). It was a coming of age character story. I listened to it and like it well enough. It also works for song lyrics (lots of 70s m..."



I was only 9 but the whole Son of Sam thing was so weird - he got messages from his DOG?? - that I still vaguely remember it.

does anyone know if Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has scenes from the 70s??

Nadine in NY wrote: "I'm currently reading Killers of a Certain Age and most of it is set in the present, but so far at least one chapter was set in the 70s ... if any 70s babies are willing to stretch ..."

I had so much fun reading that book!

I read Silver Sparrow this past year for a book set in the 80's. It's from the point of view of 2 half sisters. Their father is a polygamist married to both of their mothers. One sister knows about it and one does not. I thought it was an excellent book.

K.L. wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "I'm currently reading Killers of a Certain Age and most of it is set in the present, but so far at least one chapter was set in the 70s ... if any 70s babies ar...


I had so much fun reading that book!"



Yes I'm enjoying it!!

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt for the books set in 1980s

Here are some more listopias with books sorted by decade they are SET:

1900s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1910s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1920s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1930s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1940s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1950s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

1960s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

1970s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

1980s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

1990s: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Amazing @Kristy!

Any lists for people born in the 2000's :,)

Decided to go a slightly different route.

In the book The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee (Young Readers Adaptation): Life in Native America , it has a chapter that says 1980-2015.

1960s - The Season of the Witch by James Leo Herlihy

Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy

The Graduate by Charles Webb

I was not too happy with the small choice I found for decade, so I checked "My books" as I started to set up bookshelves 1920's-2000's for any book I read (well, not unread books, so).
Turns out that "my" 70's have a huuuuge number of my childhood books in there - so unless your parents did not go for classics only, those children's books that come to you right around when they were published might be it!
Else, I suppose any history book dealing with what happened around your decade should be easy to find.

I will be reading either Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín or The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro for this prompt. Set in the 1950s. I'm old! lol I just googled books set in the 1950s and came up with a good list. Both of the above books are already in my TBR bookshelves.

Ah the 70s!
Split Tooth is an award-winning debut read by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq. It tells the story of a girl growing up in Nunavut in the 1970s, a gritty, harsh but beautiful tale that blends fiction, memoir magical realism and mythology. The audiobook has excerpts of her unique singing. Here is my review

80's Baby

I read A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey, set in 1950s Australia.

It is centred on the Round Australia Trial, testing the reliability of cars in a drive right around the continent. The book features a trial sponsored by Redex; those races took place 1953-55. The book also features a character confronting his own, and the country's, Aboriginal heritage, and the attitudes of the time.

It took a while to get into, but then a fascinating read.