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978 books
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189 voters
80s Books
Showing 1-50 of 7,592
Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
by (shelved 44 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.22 — 1,324,223 ratings — published 2011
My Best Friend's Exorcism (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 40 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.92 — 156,666 ratings — published 2016
Less Than Zero (Paperback)
by (shelved 27 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.62 — 103,876 ratings — published 1985
The Handmaid's Tale (Hardcover)
by (shelved 25 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.15 — 2,494,735 ratings — published 1985
Eleanor & Park (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.92 — 1,271,054 ratings — published 2012
Malibu Rising (Hardcover)
by (shelved 20 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.02 — 1,326,163 ratings — published 2021
Paper Girls, Volume 1 (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.88 — 112,350 ratings — published 2016
The Color Purple (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.28 — 763,396 ratings — published 1982
The Bonfire of the Vanities (Paperback)
by (shelved 19 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.93 — 88,415 ratings — published 1987
Norwegian Wood (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.99 — 750,734 ratings — published 1987
Watchmen (Paperback)
by (shelved 18 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.39 — 600,817 ratings — published 1987
Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)
by (shelved 17 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.89 — 371,470 ratings — published 1984
American Psycho (Paperback)
by (shelved 17 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.80 — 372,449 ratings — published 1991
The Remains of the Day (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.14 — 372,840 ratings — published 1989
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.04 — 570,481 ratings — published 1985
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.10 — 556,381 ratings — published 1984
The Joy Luck Club (Paperback)
by (shelved 16 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.97 — 714,418 ratings — published 1989
White Noise (Paperback)
by (shelved 15 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.86 — 129,556 ratings — published 1985
Atmosphere (Hardcover)
by (shelved 14 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.32 — 866,248 ratings — published 2025
Matilda (Hardcover)
by (shelved 14 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.34 — 1,131,044 ratings — published 1988
Tell the Wolves I'm Home (Hardcover)
by (shelved 14 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.02 — 150,527 ratings — published 2012
The Impossible Fortress (Hardcover)
by (shelved 13 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.79 — 12,944 ratings — published 2017
The Alchemist (Paperback)
by (shelved 13 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.92 — 3,663,551 ratings — published 1988
Pet Sematary (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 13 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.09 — 716,357 ratings — published 1983
Love in the Time of Cholera (Paperback)
by (shelved 12 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.94 — 554,358 ratings — published 1985
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante, #1)
by (shelved 12 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.28 — 685,033 ratings — published 2012
Bright Lights, Big City (Paperback)
by (shelved 12 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.81 — 37,828 ratings — published 1984
Firestarter (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 11 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.92 — 250,094 ratings — published 1980
The Name of the Rose (Paperback)
by (shelved 11 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.14 — 401,377 ratings — published 1980
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West (Paperback)
by (shelved 11 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.15 — 232,723 ratings — published 1985
Brat: An '80s Story (Hardcover)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.61 — 15,942 ratings — published 2021
The Lover (Paperback)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.70 — 76,711 ratings — published 1984
Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.44 — 190,938 ratings — published 2020
Like a Love Story (Unknown Binding)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.26 — 16,109 ratings — published 2019
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Scary Stories, #1)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.06 — 73,570 ratings — published 1981
Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
by (shelved 10 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.31 — 1,489,436 ratings — published 1985
Small Things Like These (Hardcover)
by (shelved 9 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.08 — 482,829 ratings — published 2021
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Hardcover)
by (shelved 9 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.39 — 4,256,697 ratings — published 2017
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter, #1)
by (shelved 9 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.07 — 378,976 ratings — published 1981
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Paperback)
by (shelved 9 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.00 — 80,087 ratings — published 1981
Cujo (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 8 times as 80s)
avg rating 3.80 — 327,041 ratings — published 1981
The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
by (shelved 8 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.26 — 594,820 ratings — published 1988
Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)
by (shelved 8 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.28 — 460,366 ratings — published 1986
Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
by (shelved 8 times as 80s)
avg rating 4.28 — 308,671 ratings — published 1989
“Boys with hands in pockets, waiting for everything to begin”
― The Great Believers
― The Great Believers
“The Lottery by Stewart Stafford
It was New York, 1984,
The AIDS tsunami roared in,
Friends, old overnight, no more,
Breathless, I went for a check-up.
A freezing winter's dawn,
A solitary figure before me,
What we called a drag queen,
White heels trembled in the cold.
"Hi, are you here to get tested?"
Gum chewed, brown eyes stared.
This was not my type of person,
I turned heel and walked away.
At month's end, a crippling flu,
The grey testing centre called,
Two hundred people ahead of me;
A waking nightmare all too real.
I gave up and turned to leave,
But a familiar voice called out:
"Hey, you there, come back!"
I stopped and turned around.
The drag queen stood there in furs,
But sicker, I didn't recognise them,
"Stand with me in the line, honey."
"Nah, I'm fine, I'll come back again."
"Support an old broad before she faints?"
A voice no longer frail but pin-sharp.
I got in line to impatient murmurs:
"If anyone has a problem, see me!"
Sylvester on boombox, graveyard choir.
My pal's stage name was Carol DaRaunch,
(After the Ted Bundy female survivor)
Their real name was Ernesto Rodriguez.
After seeing the doctor, Carol hugged me,
Writing down their number on some paper,
With their alias not their real name on it:
"Is this the number of where you work?"
"THAT is my home number to call me on.
THAT'S my autograph, for when I'm famous!"
"I was wrong about you, Carol," I said.
"Baby, it takes time to get to know me!"
A hug, shimmy, the threadbare blonde left.
A silent chorus of shuffling dead men walking,
Spartan results, a young man's death sentence.
Real words faded rehearsal, my eyes watered.
Two weeks on, I cautiously phoned up Carol.
The receiver was picked up, dragging sounds,
Like furniture being moved: "Is Carol there?"
"That person is dead." They hung up on me.
All my life's harsh judgements, dumped on Carol,
Who was I to win life's lottery over a guardian angel?
I still keep that old phone number forty years on,
Crumpled, faded, portable guilt lives on in my wallet.
© Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.”
―
It was New York, 1984,
The AIDS tsunami roared in,
Friends, old overnight, no more,
Breathless, I went for a check-up.
A freezing winter's dawn,
A solitary figure before me,
What we called a drag queen,
White heels trembled in the cold.
"Hi, are you here to get tested?"
Gum chewed, brown eyes stared.
This was not my type of person,
I turned heel and walked away.
At month's end, a crippling flu,
The grey testing centre called,
Two hundred people ahead of me;
A waking nightmare all too real.
I gave up and turned to leave,
But a familiar voice called out:
"Hey, you there, come back!"
I stopped and turned around.
The drag queen stood there in furs,
But sicker, I didn't recognise them,
"Stand with me in the line, honey."
"Nah, I'm fine, I'll come back again."
"Support an old broad before she faints?"
A voice no longer frail but pin-sharp.
I got in line to impatient murmurs:
"If anyone has a problem, see me!"
Sylvester on boombox, graveyard choir.
My pal's stage name was Carol DaRaunch,
(After the Ted Bundy female survivor)
Their real name was Ernesto Rodriguez.
After seeing the doctor, Carol hugged me,
Writing down their number on some paper,
With their alias not their real name on it:
"Is this the number of where you work?"
"THAT is my home number to call me on.
THAT'S my autograph, for when I'm famous!"
"I was wrong about you, Carol," I said.
"Baby, it takes time to get to know me!"
A hug, shimmy, the threadbare blonde left.
A silent chorus of shuffling dead men walking,
Spartan results, a young man's death sentence.
Real words faded rehearsal, my eyes watered.
Two weeks on, I cautiously phoned up Carol.
The receiver was picked up, dragging sounds,
Like furniture being moved: "Is Carol there?"
"That person is dead." They hung up on me.
All my life's harsh judgements, dumped on Carol,
Who was I to win life's lottery over a guardian angel?
I still keep that old phone number forty years on,
Crumpled, faded, portable guilt lives on in my wallet.
© Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.”
―
