Your Shelf or Mine

Books of the 1990s

Becky and Jenny wax nostalgic about the 90s. Jakob is also there. We talk about:
Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel; 
The Perfume by Caroline Cooney; 
Silent Scream by Diane Hoh; 
The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine; 
Frindle by Andrew Clements; 
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman; 
and more!

context for Jakob's Mitt Romney joke: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4I-SG8dK1AU 

Books of the 1980s

Becky and Jo talk about books of the 1980s including:

Alanna: The First Adventure (1983) by Tamora Pierce (and the rest of the Song of the Lioness Quartet), The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood, The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker, and picture books by Robert Munsch (Love You Forever, 1986; The Paper Bag Princess, 1980; Thomas's Snowsuit, 1985), Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express, 1985), David Wiesner (The Loathsome Dragon, 1987), Jan Brett (The Mitten, 1989), and Don and Audrey Wood (The Napping House, 1984; The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, 1984; King Bidgood's In the Bathtub, 1985). 

Cujo!

Becky, Jennifer, Heather, and Jakob talk about Stephen King's classic novel "Cujo." Remember - don't have regrets, vaccinate your pets!

Apologies for any poor sound quality in this one.

Books of the 1970s

Becky, Austin, and Heather talk about books of the 1970s including:

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Norma Klein, Mom, the Wolf Man, and Me by Norma Klein, Taking Sides by Norma Klein, Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry, Sophie's Choice by William Styron, The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers, The Japanese Screen by Anne Mather, The Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt, Love Story by Erich Segal, M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton, Dispatches by Michael Herr

PLUS:

1974: A Personal History by Francine Prose, King of Kings by Scott Anderson, Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin, Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming, Joan Dideon, Rick Perlstein, and this article: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/childrens-literature-in-united-states 

 

Books of the 1960s

Becky, Jo, and Holly talk about books of the 1960s including:

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The Young Unicorns by Madeline L'Engle, Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer and much more!

Holly recommends:

The Acid Queen by Susannah Cahalan, The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie, The Fire Is Upon Us by Nicholas Buccola, The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

Books of the 1950s

Becky and Jakob talk about:

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Eloise by Kay Thompson

and more!

Books of the 1940s

Becky and Austin talk about books of the 1940s, including: 

Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstro m 

The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown by Mac Barnett 

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown 

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown 

In the Great Green Room by Amy Gary 

“Looking At Picture Books” substack by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen: https://lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/ 

Especially: https://lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/p/goodnight-moon 

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton 

The Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown 

The Little Island by Golden MacDonald (Margaret Wise Brown) and Leonard Weisgard 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 

Lit Hub list: https://lithub.com/a-century-of-reading-the-10-books-that-defined-the-1940s/ 

Hiroshima by John Hersey 

https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/a-rare-discovery-on-the-seventy-fifth-anniversary-of-john-herseys-hiroshima 

Fallout by Lesley M.M. Blume 

Gwendolyn Brooks 

Books of the 1930s

Becky and Jey talk about books of the 1930s including: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack, The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. 

Check out American Indians in Children's Literature here: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ 

Find our reading challenge here: https://longviewlibrary.beanstack.com/ 

 

Books of the 1920s

We are counting down to the Longview Library's 100th anniversary in April 2026 by reading and discussing books from one decade each month. You can read along with us and track your participation on our Beanstack page: longviewlibrary.org. 

This month, Becky, Jo, and Austin talk about books from the 1920s:

Millions of Cats by Wanga Gag (Wanga Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray and Before They Were Artists: Famous Illustrators as Kids by Elizabeth Haidle)

The Brownies' Book

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery

and more!

Percival Everett

Becky, Austin, and Holly talk about the work of National Book Award winner Percival Everett, including Erasure (and the movie adaptation "American Fiction"), God's Country, Watershed, So Much Blue, Telephone, The Trees, James, and more!