Summer Challenge 2026: Decade you were born

Looking for help completing your Summer Challenge Bingo Card? Here are some books that are set in different decades over the last century.

Updated June 27, 2026
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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The riveter : a novel
Wang, Jack
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (New Yorker, Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, CBC,Indigo, and more!) A cross-cultural love story set against the dramatic backdrop of the Allied invasion of Europe in WWII. Vancouver, 1942. Josiah Chang arrives in the bustling...

Set in the 1940s.

Skylark : A GMA Book Club Pick: a Novel
McLain, Paula
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife weaves a mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below--where a woman's quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor...

Set in the 1940s.

Daisy Jones & The Six : a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins.
Paper Book
A PENGUIN BOOK CLUB PICK NATIONAL AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2019 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: The Washington Post * Esquire *...

Set in the 1970s.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
Honeyman, Gail.
Paper Book
* Winner of the Costa First Novel Award * No.1 Sunday Times bestseller * One of the Sunday Times' 100 bestselling books of the past 50 years * Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon 'Funny, touching and unpredictable' Jojo Moyes ...

Set in the 2010s.

The help
Stockett, Kathryn.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award-winning film--a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't--nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. Aibileen is a...

Set in the 1960s.

Little fires everywhere : a novel
Ng, Celeste
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month,...

Set in the 1990s.

Mexican gothic
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "It's Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird."--The Guardian   ONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME * WINNER OF THE LOCUS...

Set in the 1950s.

Malibu rising : a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER   Malibu 1983. Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of one night, each of their lives will be changed forever in this propulsive novel from the...

Set in the 1980s.

To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper
Paper Book
Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025. Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize...

Set in the 1930s.

It : a novel
King, Stephen
Paper Book
Stephen King's classic #1 New York Times bestseller and the basis for the massively successful films It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two as well as inspiration for HBO Max's series It: Welcome to Derry--about an evil without a name: It. Welcome...

Set in the 1950s.

Wonder
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
THE ICONIC #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 16 MILLION COPIES SOLD "A crackling page-turner filled with characters you can't help but root for."--Entertainment Weekly Meet Auggie Pullman, an ordinary kid with an extraordinary face-...

Set in the 2010s.

Lessons in chemistry : a novel
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A delight for readers of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, this blockbuster debut set in 1960s California features the singular voice of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist whose career takes a detour when she becomes the star of...

Set in 1960s.

Eleanor & Park
Rowell, Rainbow.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Best Seller! "Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."-John Green, The New York Times Book Review Bono met his...

Set in the 1980s.

The perks of being a wallflower
Chbosky, Stephen
Paper Book
"A timeless story for every young person who needs to understand that they are not alone." --Judy Blume "Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books." --R. J. Palacio, #1 New York...

Set in the 1990s.

Wrong place wrong time : a novel
McAllister, Gillian.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "It's perfection, every word, every moment. A masterpiece . . . One of the best books I've ever read." --Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author New York Times bestselling author Gillian McAllister has created a...

Set in the 2000s.

Five little Indians
Good, Michelle
Paper Book
WINNER: Canada Reads 2022 WINNER: Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction WINNER: Amazon First Novel Award WINNER: Kobo Emerging Author Prize  Finalist: Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist: Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Prize Finalist: BC & Yukon...

Set in the 1960s.

Silver nitrate
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the author of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and Mexican Gothic comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film--and awakens one woman's hidden powers. ...

Set in the 1990s.

A town called solace
Lawson, Mary
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GLOBE AND MAIL, CBC BOOKS AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH   "I've been telling everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each of her novels is just a...

Set in the 1970s.

Young Mungo : a novel
Stuart, Douglas
Paper Book
#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GLOBE AND MAIL * NPR * KIRKUS REVIEWS * TIME * AMAZON * THE WASHINGTON POST * THE TIMES (UK) * DAILY HIVE * THE TELEGRAPH * FINANCIAL TIMES * THE GUARDIAN *...

Set in the 1990s.

The Novice of Holloway Hall : A novel
Johnston, Wayne.
Paper Book
From award-winning, bestselling author Wayne Johnston comes a boisterous, sweeping tragicomic saga of faith, loyalty, and family secrets that refuse to stay buried At twenty-eight, Vivvy Holloway is nearly the same height as when she was five. Though she hides her face behind a...

Set in the 1940s.

A Fortune of Sand
Sepetys, Ruta
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The daughter of a powerful tycoon escapes to a glamorous artists' retreat--where dark secrets and dangerous temptations await--in this gripping Prohibition-era novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Salt to the Sea. ...

Set in the 1920s.

All things under the moon : a novel
Choi, Ann Y. K.
Paper Book
Pachinko meets Beasts of a Little Land in this stunning, evocative tale, set in 1920s Korea, of one seemingly ordinary woman--an uneducated villager living under Japanese occupation--who takes control of her own destiny and rises to become an advocate for women's literacy as a force...

Set in the 1920s.

Gin, turpentine, pennyroyal, rue : a novel
Higdon, Christine
Paper Book
"Christine Higdon is a brilliant storyteller. Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue is a joy and a privilege to read; undoubtedly one of the best books I've read in years." -- Donna Morrissey, author of Pluck Four working-class Vancouver sisters, still reeling from...

Set in the 1920s.

Deep Cuts: A Novel
Brickley, Holly
Paper Book
AN INSTANT CANADIAN BESTSELLER A love story about two people pulled apart by the same force that draws them together: music. It's a Friday night in a campus bar in Berkeley, fall of 2000, and Percy Marks is pontificating about music again. Hall and Oates is on the...

Set in the 2000s.


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