Back to the '80s

Books published in the 1980s

Updated February 24, 2023
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The Lord God made them all
Herriot, James
Paper Book
Cujo : a novel
King, Stephen
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller, Cujo "hits the jugular" (The New York Times) with the story of a friendly Saint Bernard that is bitten by a bat. Get ready to meet the most hideous menace ever to terrorize the town of Castle Rock, Maine. Outside a peaceful...
The pillars of the earth
Follett, Ken
Paper Book
Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known. Everything readers...
Neuromancer
Gibson, William
Paper Book
A deluxe hardcover edition of the pioneering cyberpunk novel that predicted our obsession with the Internet--part of Penguin Galaxy, a collectible series of six sci-fi/fantasy classics, featuring a series introduction by Neil Gaiman Winner of the AIGA + Design Observer 50...
The cider house rules : a novel
Irving, John
Paper Book
First published in 1985, The Cider House Rules is John Irving's sixth novel. Set in rural Maine in the first half of this century, it tells the story of Dr. Wilbur Larch--saint and obstetrician, founder and director of the orphanage in the town of St. Cloud's, ether addict and abortionist. It is...
What we talk about when we talk about love : stories
Carver, Raymond
Paper Book
The most celebrated story collection from "one of the true American masters" (The New York Review of Books)--a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one's way through the dark that includes the iconic and much-referenced title story featured in the Academy Award...
Lonesome Dove : a novel
McMurtry, Larry.
Paper Book
The Pulitzer Prize­-winning classic of the American West that follows two aging Texas Rangers embarking on one last adventure. An epic of the frontier and rich with complex characters, Lonesome Dove is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness. ...
Geek love
Dunn, Katherine
Paper Book
National Book Award Finalist * Here is the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities--with the help of amphetamines, arsenic, and radioisotopes. One of The Atlantic's Great...
Howl's moving castle
Jones, Diana Wynne.
Paper Book
In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark...
White noise
DeLillo, Don
Paper Book
The National Book Award-winning classic by the author of Underworld and Libra, featuring an introduction by Richard Powers, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory and Playground Now a major motion picture starring Adam Driver and...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (The New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. Look for The Testaments, the...
Love in the time of cholera
García Márquez, Gabriel
Paper Book
Set in a country on the Caribbean coast of South America, this is a story about a woman and two men and their entwined lives. From the author of the legendary One Hundred Years of Solitude.
The bonfire of the vanities
Wolfe, Tom.
Paper Book
The remains of the day
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Paper Book
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER * From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is "an intricate and dazzling novel" (The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England.   This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly...
Blood meridian, or, The evening redness in the West
McCarthy, Cormac
Paper Book
25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION * From the bestselling author of The Passenger and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road: an epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of the Western novel and the...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
Read the original inspiration for the new, boldly reimagined film from producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino. Celebrating its fortieth anniversary, The Color Purple writes a message of healing,...
Pet sematary
King, Stephen
Paper Book
Stephen King's #1 New York Times bestseller is a "wild, powerful, disturbing" (The Washington Post Book World) classic about evil that exists far beyond the grave--among his most iconic and frightening novels. When Dr. Louis Creed takes a new job and moves his...
Cosmos
Sagan, Carl
Paper Book
The best-selling science book ever published in the English language, COSMOS is a magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science. Brilliant and provocative, it traces today's knowledge and scientific methods to their historical roots, blending science and philosophy in a wholly...
The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy.
Paper Book
Master storyteller Amy Tan examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters in this New York Times bestseller. "The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it...
Midnight's children
Rushdie, Salman.
Paper Book
"BEST OF THE BOOKER" AWARD WINNER * This towering classic of international literature is at once a riveting family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people. "One of the most important books to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation." -...
The clan of the cave bear
Auel, Jean M.
Paper Book
An all-absorbing journey into man's possible past. Jean M. Auel, a storytelling genius, weaves a compellingly readable saga of human survival; an epic that transcends time and place. It is peopled with rich and complex characters who experience the full range of human emotions. All this makes for...
Redwall
Jacques, Brian.
Paper Book
As the inhabitants of Redwall Abbey bask in the glorious Summer of the Late Rose, all is quiet and peaceful. But things are not as they seem. Cluny the Scourge--the evil one-eyed rat warlord, is ell-bent on destroying the tranquility as he prepares to fight a bloody battle for the ownership of...
The silence of the lambs
Harris, Thomas
Paper Book
The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestselling classic, now with a note by author Thomas Harris revealing his inspiration for Hannibal Lecter. An ingenious, masterfully written novel, The Silence of the Lambs is a classic of suspense...
A prayer for Owen Meany
Irving, John
Paper Book
"A remarkable novel. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation. ... An amazingly brave piece of work ... so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world." --STEPHEN KING,...
V for vendetta
Moore, Alan
Paper Book
In an alternate future in which Germany wins World War II and Britain becomes a fascist state, a vigilante named "V" tries to free England of its ideological chains.
Time to kill
Grisham, John.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * John Grisham's first novel is a searing courtroom drama that probes the savage depths of racial violence and introduced the world to fearless lawyer Jake Brigance. "John Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today."--...
The prince of tides
Conroy, Pat.
Paper Book
"A masterpiece that can compare with Steinbeck's East of Eden. ... Some books make you laugh; some make you cry; some make you think. The Prince of Tides is a rarity: It does all three." -- Detroit Free Press A modern American classic and a family saga that spans...
Hyperion
Simmons, Dan
Paper Book
A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and invention, the first volume in a remarkable epic by the multiple-award-winning author of The Hollow Man. On the world called...
Batman, the Dark Knight returns
Miller, Frank
Paper Book
Writer/artist Frank Miller completely reinvents the legend of Batman in this saga of a near-future Gotham City gone to rot, 10 years after the Dark Knight's retirement. Forced to take action, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of fury, taking on a whole new generation of criminals and matching their...
Patriot games
Clancy, Tom
Paper Book
The phenomenal bestselling author of The Hunt for Red Octoberand The Sum of All Fears, Tom Clancy is one of America's most acclaimedstorytellers. Now he targets a CIA analyst and his family in the deadliest game of our time --international terrorism. In an explosive wave of violence, an ultra-left...
The accidental tourist
Tyler, Anne.
Paper Book
Meet Macon Leary--a travel writer who hates both travel and strangeness. Grounded by loneliness, comfort, and a somewhat odd domestic life, Macon is about to embark on a surprising new adventure, arriving in the form of a fuzzy-haired dog obedience trainer who promises to turn his life around....
Cold Sassy tree
Burns, Olive Ann.
Paper Book
The one thing you can depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, is that word gets around--fast. When Grandpa E. Rucker Blakeslee announces one July morning in 1906 that he's aiming to marry the young and freckledy milliner, Miss Love Simpson--a bare three weeks after Granny Blakeslee has gone to her...
Beloved : a novel
Morrison, Toni.
Paper Book
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Toni Morrison's Beloved is a spellbinding and dazzlingly innovative portrait of a woman haunted by the past, presented here in stunning hardcover with an introduction by A. S. Byatt. Named by The Atlantic as one of the Great American...
Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine.
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture from Disney, starring Josh Hutcherson and Zooey Deschanel! Discover the beloved Newbery Medal-winning story by bestselling author Katherine Paterson, a modern classic of friendship and loss.  Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the...
Sphere
Crichton, Michael
Paper Book
Crichton keeps us guessing at every turn in his best work since The Andromeda Strain. Los Angeles Times In the middle of the South Pacific, a thousand feet below the surface of the water, a huge vessel is discovered resting on the ocean floor. It is a spaceship of phenomenal dimensions,...
Crossing to safety
Stegner, Wallace
Paper Book
Introduction by Terry Tempest Williams Afterword by T. H. Watkins nbsp; Called a "magnificently crafted story . . . brimming with wisdom" by Howard Frank Mosher in The Washington Post Book World, Crossing to Safety has, since its publication in...
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Adams, Douglas
Paper Book
Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series! "A madcap adventure . . . Adams's writing teeters on the fringe of inspired lunacy."--United Press International Back on Earth with...
Presumed innocent
Turow, Scott.
Paper Book
Presumed Innocent launched Scott Turow's career as one of the pre-eminent legal thriller writers in America and was later adapted to a major feature film starring Harrison Ford. "This one will keep you up at nights, engrossed and charged with adrenaline." --People...
Wyrd sisters
Pratchett, Terry.
Ebook
In Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, Granny Weatherwax teams with two other witches--Nanny Ogg and Margat Garlick--as an unlikely alliance to save a prince and restore him to the throne of Lancre, in a tale that borrows--or is it parodies--some of William Shakespeare's best-loved works.<...
Mort : a novel of Discworld
Pratchett, Terry.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett makes Death a central character in Mort, his fourth sojourn to Discworld, the fantasy cosmos where even the angel of darkness needs some assistance.  Death comes to everyone eventually on Discworld. And now he's come to Mort with...
Gorky Park
Smith, Martin Cruz
Paper Book
“Brilliant . . . enough enigmas within enigmas within enigmas to reel the mind.” –The New Yorker A triple murder in a Moscow amusement center: three corpses found frozen in the snow, faces and fingers missing. Chief homicide investigator Arkady Renko is...
Foucault's pendulum
Eco, Umberto.
Ebook
A literary prank leads to deadly danger in this "endlessly diverting" intellectual thriller by the author of The Name of the Rose (Time).   Bored with their work, three Milanese book editors cook up an elaborate hoax that connects the medieval Knights...
The blue sword
McKinley, Robin.
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book and a modern classic of young adult fantasy, The Blue Sword introduces the desert kingdom of Damar, where magic weaves through the blood and weaves together destinies. New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author Robin McKinley sets the standard for epic fantasy and...
Like water for chocolate : a novel in monthly installments, with recipes, romances, and home remedies
Esquivel, Laura
Paper Book
Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops...
Downbelow station : or the company wars
Cherryh, C. J.
Paper Book
The Hugo Award-winning classic sci-fi novel, now available in a trade edition. The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the stars nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long, but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were emotionally and...
The snow queen
Vinge, Joan D.
Paper Book
This reissue of a modern classic of science fiction, the Hugo and Locus Award-winning and Nebula-nominated The Snow Queen, marks the first time the book has been reprinted in fifteen years. The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years,...
Dawn
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
One woman is called upon to rebuild the future of humankind after a nuclear war, in this revelatory post-apocalyptic tale from the award-winning author of Parable of the Sower. When Lilith lyapo wakes from a centuries-long sleep, she finds herself aboard the...
Wild seed
Butler, Octavia E.
Paper Book
In an "epic, game-changing, moving and brilliant" story of love and hate, two immortals chase each other across continents and centuries, binding their fates together -- and changing the destiny of the human race (Viola Davis). Doro knows no higher authority than himself. An...
Bendigo Shafter
L'Amour, Louis
Paper Book
At what point does a group of strangers become a community? When young Bendigo Shafter and a ragtag bunch of travelers settle in the rugged Wyoming mountains, they quickly come to depend on a toughness and wisdom many of them never knew they possessed. Led by the beautiful and...
A great deliverance
George, Elizabeth
Paper Book
To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into...
Knots and crosses
Rankin, Ian.
Paper Book
Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders...and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters....
The house on Mango Street
Cisneros, Sandra.
Paper Book
The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes-sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous-Sandra Cisneros' masterpiece is a classic story...
Jacob have I loved
Paterson, Katherine.
Paper Book
Katherine Paterson's remarkable Newbery Medal-winning classic about a painful sibling rivalry, and one sister's struggle to make her own way, is an honest and daring portrayal of adolescence and coming of age.  A strong choice for independent reading, both for summer reading...

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