Task 8: Read a Book Originally Published in the Decade You Were Born

[Anna]

80s baby. Thinking about The Color Purple, which I have never read -- and happens to have been published in my birth year. Or, I might read Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons, which would meet the under 100 pages task, too. Or Midnight's Children.

[Maureen]

I just finished Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, which was published in my 60's.

[Caitlin]

Another 80s baby--I went with Superior Women, and wish I'd liked it better. At least it's one more task off the list!

[April]

Another 70s kid here. Lots of great choices, had a hard time narrowing them down but I think I'm going to go with The Princess Bride. (Hmmm, maybe I'll double up and use that for my book vs movie comparison too.)

[Lisa]

The Collector I'm not only going for the decade I was born, but the year I was born! 1963 for me! I think I read this 30 years ago...I can't wait to revisit it!

[Tracy]

April wrote: "Another 70s kid here. Lots of great choices, had a hard time narrowing them down but I think I'm going to go with The Princess Bride. (Hmmm, maybe I'll double up and use that for my bo..."

This is my plan too! I have never read the book or watched the movie which my husband finds hard to believe. :)

[Carol]

Tracy wrote: "April wrote: "Another 70s kid here. Lots of great choices, had a hard time narrowing them down but I think I'm going to go with The Princess Bride. (Hmmm, maybe I'll double up and use ..."

Oh, Tracy. You MUST watch the movie, lol, however ridiculous it seems to make that the priority over the book in this list of all places.

[Carolyn]

50's baby here-reading The Price of Salt by Patricia Hightower. Some reviewers say it is a bit cheesy but it is revolutionary for its time. Stories about lesbian romance usually ended in finding the right man or suicide. Movie Carol is based on this book.

[Lori]

I so wish I had seen the list before I ventured out on my own!! I was born in the 60's and read The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Lacarre. It is a cold war spy novel, not exactly my cup of tea but tolerable.

[Bryan]

Bea wrote: "Gosh, I seem to be among the oldest here. I was born in the 40s - late 40s. My choice is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

I, too, was born in the first half of the last century. ;-)

[Bryan]

For me, that would be the 1940s as I was born in the first half of the last century. Frances Parkinson Keyes' novel Dinner at Antoine's hit number 3 on the 1948 Best Sellers list as determined by Publishers Weekly, and was number 6 on the same list for 1949. This seemed like a good book to read for the challenge. As with all the books I'm reading for this challenge, I've posted my (in this case) lengthy review on Librarything.com, Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook.

[Kathy]

Tatiana wrote: "I was born in the 80's so I'm planning on reading The Handmaid's Tale."

I read this book last year. Definitely worth the read.

[Kathy]

Bea wrote: "Gosh, I seem to be among the oldest here. I was born in the 40s - late 40s. My choice is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."

A tree grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite books ever. I'll need to find something published in the 60's for this challenge.

[Audrey]

I recently reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It's a beautiful book and it was interesting to see how my perspective on it changed since I read it as a young teenager.

[Dixie]

Just finished The Magic Christian, written the year I was born (1959). I saw the movie many years ago and now that I've read the book I want to see it again - can't imagine how they made this bizarre (in a good way) book into a film!

[Teresa]

I read The Clairvoyant Countess, originally published in the 70's. It was a fun little read. One of my favorite parts: $100 is enough to pay rent and the phone bill! Lol.

[Lauren]

I read Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood - and it was spectacular: A meditation on art, life, relationships. It was published in 1988, and I was born in 1980.

I was already challenging myself to read all of Atwood's books, so this one fell in with that personal challenge!

[Robin P]

Lauren wrote: "I read Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood - and it was spectacular: A meditation on art, life, relationships. It was published in 1988, and I was born in 1980.

I was already challenging my..."

I was struck by how she shows the cruelty of children, there's a quote about how children are not cute and little to other children, they are "life-sized". The first part of the story is autobiographical in that Atwood and her brother traveled around with her parents to wilderness areas and she wasn't used to doing "girl stuff".

[Eva]

I changed my mind and decided to read Goodnight Moon. I was born in 1948 and until I researched this Challenge topic I had no idea a book that I read to my kids when they were young was written in the 1940s, Goodnight Moon Timeless!

[Janet]

I just read a 1980 book since I am 1981 baby and its Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr. Very good book about a very real con man

[Rainey]

Janet wrote: "I just read a 1980 book since I am 1981 baby and its Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr. Very good book about a very real con man"

If you watch the movie with Leonard dicaprio you could tick off no.18

[Michael]

Possession by A.S. Byatt came out the year I was born (1990), so that's what I'm going for. It was on my TBR list already.

[Rainey]

Michael wrote: "Possession by A.S. Byatt came out the year I was born (1990), so that's what I'm going for. It was on my TBR list already."

One of my all time favourites. I will be interested to see how well you like it.

[Chessa]

Another (late) 70's kid here, so I'm going with A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick.

[Robin P]

Michael wrote: "Possession by A.S. Byatt came out the year I was born (1990), so that's what I'm going for. It was on my TBR list already."

Yes! Possession is a book I would take to a desert island, there is so much in it. Of course I am a literature nerd, and I think it especially appeals to people who were English majors.

[Travis]

I was born in the '50s, so I read Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana. I'd seen the movie but not read the book. A brilliant takeoff on spy novels, the book centers unfortunately on issues I don't find very funny, like the cold war and military dictators. But all the main characters are charming and the situations ridiculously funny.

[Aisha]

Being a 1990 baby, I will read The Virgin Suicides which was originally published in 1993.
Side note: I feel like 90s babies are in the minority here and that saddens me :( I guess there really has been a decline in reading

[Tami]

Karen wrote: "I've never read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, (from the seventies)...."

I loved that book when I read it in school! Maybe it's been long enough I can read it again?

[Yamna]

Aisha wrote: "Being a 1990 baby, I will read The Virgin Suicides which was originally published in 1993.
Side note: I feel like 90s babies are in the minority here and that saddens me :( I guess there really ha..."

I noticed the exact thing :( Most of the readers here are from the 50s or 60s. It's kinda sad that there aren't that many from the 90s or even the 2000s

[Robin P]

Aisha wrote: "Being a 1990 baby, I will read The Virgin Suicides which was originally published in 1993.
Side note: I feel like 90s babies are in the minority here and that saddens me :( I guess there really ha..."

I have the impression that Book Riot is run by and targeted to young people, mostly women, although of course anyone is welcome. I'm surprised how many older people (like me) are on here. Maybe the younger ones just don't happen to post here.

[Aisha]

The diversity is great, maybe you're right; some people might not be posting on here.

[Megan]

I was born in 79 but I very much think of myself as a 90s kid, being as that's when I was in jr high, high school and college.... that counts right?? ;)

[Lauren]

Robin wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I read Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood - and it was spectacular: A meditation on art, life, relationships. It was published in 1988, and I was born in 1980.

I was already..."

I really enjoyed those parts of the story when she and her brother were traveling and exploring Ontario wilderness - and all the things about her father's entomological research. The book was brilliant.

[Mary]

I'm a 90s kid. I read a picture book called Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola.

I read this simply because it was St. Patrick's Day and didn't see the date it was published until later.

[SibylM]

1965 here. I am going with The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Left Hand of Darkness. I am a little embarrassed that I haven't read either one of these books yet at this point in my life, so thanks BookRiot for nudging me in the right direction.

[Katy]

I was born in '76, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which was published in '79. I am so grateful for this challenge giving me the nudge I needed to read this book - it has an instant place on my "best books ever" list! Just amazing - her characters are so well-drawn and the time and place so vividly presented, I could hardly wait to go to bed each night so I could read more. Can't wait to read more Butler, though I can't imagine anything more powerful and affecting than Kindred.

[SibylM]

Katy wrote: "I was born in '76, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which was published in '79. I am so grateful for this challenge giving me the nudge I needed to read this book - it has an instant place on my..."

I read her Parable of the Sower for the dystopian novel task -- it would also work for "First book in a series by a person of color" -- and I absolutely loved it. I gave it 5 stars.

[Carol]

SibylM wrote: "Katy wrote: "I was born in '76, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which was published in '79. I am so grateful for this challenge giving me the nudge I needed to read this book - it has an instan..."

So . . I loved Kindred and want to read another Octavia Butler novel, but I generally dislike dystopian and read sci-fi only when someone makes me. Given that 'm counting on my love of Butler's writing style to get me through, which Butler novel do you recommend I read for my second outing?

[SibylM]

So . . I loved Kindred and want to read another Octavia Butler novel, but I generally dislike dystopian and read sci-fi only when someone makes me. Given that 'm counting on my love of Butler's writing style to get me through, which Butler novel do you recommend I read for my second outing?
Parable of the Sower is the only novel of hers I have read. I can say that it is almost completely non-sci fi. Dystopian, yes, but it is all set on earth and machines of any sort have very little place in the novel.

[Lorna]

Another 80s kid here, it's Fried Green Tomatoes for me!

[Cheri]

Carol wrote: "SibylM wrote: "Katy wrote: "I was born in '76, and read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which was published in '79. I am so grateful for this challenge giving me the nudge I needed to read this book - i..."

Normally I'm not one for vampire fiction, but Fledgling is good. A story with heart.

[Carol]

SibylM wrote: "So . . I loved Kindred and want to read another Octavia Butler novel, but I generally dislike dystopian and read sci-fi only when someone makes me. Given that 'm counting on my love of Butler's wri..."

Perfect. Thanks, SiblyM!

[Eva]

Lucky me! I was born in the 1940s and just finished Book 1 in the Poldark series Ross Poldark and have started Book 2 Demelza. I enjoyed watching the Masterpiece Theater version on Prime - but, the books are so much better (IMO).

[Trudie]

I decided I would read whatever the Booker prize winner was from my year - 1975. Lucky for me it was Heat and Dust. A novel set in India and that reminded me strongly of A Passage to India. Wonderful read maybe the best so far from this challenge. my review

[quietprofanity]

Wow. I didn't happen to have any books in my TBR pile other than Alanna: The First Adventure from the 1980s, but apparently there's a lot from my decade that I've either enjoyed (Handmaiden's Tale) or would like to read one day (Midnight's Children). Jealous of everyone from the 1970s who got to read Kindred, because I loved reading that this year, and from the 1990s who are reading Harry Potter, because you all make me feel old. (Or Jeffrey Eugenedies, because I enjoyed Middlesex as well.)

I reviewed Alanna here. Overall I found it a really fun kids fantasy book that I wish I'd read when I was a kid. I don't double-up but I could see someone choosing it for the middle grade challenge and having a great time.

[Veronica]

I ended up picking a book published in my birth year (1981) - Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I did not expect to encounter the feminist/anti-patriarchy themes of the story. I don't know if those themes are what Garcia Marquez intended, but it's what I took from it and found it to be quite fantastic. I read it in Spanish and reviewed it on my blog (scroll down for English).

[Rayne]

I was born in the 70s, and I happened to have a copy of Shoeshine Girl on the shelf at home. I read this out loud to my daughter, so I was able to mark off 3 tasks with it. Score!!

[Jessica]

Born in 1986 as the daughter of a Marine, I will be reading Semper Fi for this task!

[Erin]

Born in 1988, but read a book from 1987, Knots and Crosses, which I absolutely fell in love with. A good friend of mine has been suggesting it too me for ages, and I fell in love.

[Theresa]

Lisa wrote: "The Collector I'm not only going for the decade I was born, but the year I was born! 1963 for me! I think I read this 30 years ago...I can't wait to revisit it!"

I chose that book as well. I'm about half way through and am really enjoying it. I'm going to use it for my 'read the book/watch the movie' selection, too.