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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Skylark : 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.

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.
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.
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
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made...

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
A special movie tie-in edition of R.J. Palacio's #1 New York Times bestseller.   Over 8 million people have fallen in love with Wonder and Auggie Pullman, the ordinary boy with the extraordinary face, who inspired a movement to...

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.

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
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A heartfelt story of love, grief, and renewal about two unlikely friends who discover that sometimes you don't know you've lost someone until you've found them "A dazzling debut novel."--O: The Oprah Magazine "Tremendously...

Set in the 1980s.

The perks of being a wallflower
Chbosky, Stephen
Paper Book
Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting...

Set in the 1990s.

Attachments
Rowell, Rainbow.
Paper Book
"Attachments is so perfectly engaging, so sly, and so funny I read it all in one sitting, then went back and read my favorite scenes a second time...I hope Rowell never stops writing." -Haven Kimmel Beth and Jennifer know their company monitors their office e-mail....

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
Ebook
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 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.

Gin, turpentine, pennyroyal, rue : a novel
Higdon, Christine
Ebook
' Four working-class Vancouver sisters, still reeling from the impact of World War I and the pandemic that stole their only brother, are scraping by but attempting to make the most of the exciting 1920s. Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rueis a love story but like all love stories, it s...

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.

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.


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