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 July 15, 2026
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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Sisters in Yellow
Kawakami, Mieko
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From Mieko Kawakami, award-winning author of Breasts and Eggs, comes a bold novel of sacrifice and the tumultuous bonds of sisterhood, set in the gritty Tokyo of the 1990s. "I have a feeling I won't forget Hana, perpetually running up life's down...

Set in the 1990s.

Skylark : a novel
McLain, Paula
Paper Book
"1664. Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette's efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious...

Set in the 1940s.

The Saturday night ghost club
Davidson, Craig
Paper Book
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls - a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place - Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so...

Set in the 1980s.

Daisy Jones & the Six a novel
Reid, Taylor Jenkins
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD! A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup--from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and...

Set in the 1970s.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Honeyman, Gail
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick "Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric...

Set in the 2010s.

The Help
Stockett, Kathryn.
Audiobook
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, but Constantine has...

Set in the 1960s.

Little Fires Everywhere A Novel
Ng, Celeste.
Ebook
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 * Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today * From the author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . . "Irresistible . . . High drama at the beach,...

Set in the 1980s.

To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper.
Paper Book
Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read "One of the most--if not the most--beloved of American novels." --The New Yorker Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South--and the heroism...

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
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
#1 GLOBAL BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 8 MILLION COPIES SOLD * Meet Elizabeth Zott: "a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention" (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a ...

Set in 1960s.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea
Mafi, Tahereh.
Audiobook
A National Book Award Longlist title! From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice. It's 2002, a year after 9/11. It's...

Set in the 2000s.

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.

Tell the wolves I'm home : a novel
Brunt, Carol Rifka
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal * O: The Oprah Magazine * BookPage * Kirkus Reviews * Booklist * School Library Journal   In this striking literary debut, Carol Rifka Brunt unfolds a moving story of love,...

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.

Attachments
Rowell, Rainbow.
Paper Book
From the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slow Dance, Wayward Son, Fangirl, Carry On, and Landline comes a hilarious and heartfelt novel about an office romance that blossoms one email at a time....Beth Fremont...

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...

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 AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH * New York Times bestselling author Mary Lawson, acclaimed for digging into the "wilderness of the human heart," is back after almost a...

Set in the 1970s.

Young Mungo : a novel
Stuart, Douglas
Paper Book
A story of queer love and working-class families, Young Mungo is the brilliant second novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain A national bestseller, acclaimed as one of the best books of the year by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Time, and...

Set in the 1990s.

The Island Club
Harrison, Nicola
Paper Book
1956: On idyllic Balboa Island, just off the California coast, life seems peaceful and welcoming. But when the lives of three women begin to unravel in shockingly different ways, an unlikely friendship--and the game of tennis--may be the only thing that can save them.Milly Kinkaid's plan to fix her...

Set in the 1950s.

A Fortune of Sand
Sepetys, Ruta
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.

A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery: A Saffron Everleigh Mystery
Khavari, Kate
Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh has set sail on her first research expedition, but it's disrupted by accusations of murder when one of her fellow scientists is murdered in this daring fifth installment. Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets...

Set in the 1920s.

Deep Cuts: A Novel
Brickley, Holly
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "Tender as a ballad and pleasurable as a pop song, Deep Cuts is both a romp into the indie sleaze era of the early aughts and a timeless love story."--Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION...

Set in the 2000s.

Idlewild : a novel
Thomas, James Frankie
Paper Book
Idlewild is a tiny, artsy Quaker high school in lower Manhattan. Students call their teachers by their first names, there are no grades, and every day begins with 20 minutes of contemplative silence in the Meetinghouse. It is during one of those meetings that an airplane hits the Twin Towers.

Set in the 2000s.

An Infinite Love Story
Cleeton, Chanel
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK FOR SUMMER BY NPR*, WOMAN'S WORLD, PARADE, AND BOOKBUB "A sweeping romantic drama with a touch of magical realism. ...Cleeton's ability to pull readers in quickly and deeply through her storytelling makes her a go-to author for an immersive...

Set in the 1960s.

And then there was the one
Waters, Martha
Paper Book
From Martha Waters, the author of the "enchanting" (Entertainment Weekly) Regency Vows series, a new historical romance set in 1930s England with a murder mystery twist. In a quaint village in the Cotswolds, Georgiana Radcliffe has accidentally become an amateur detective...

Set in the 1930s.


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