I’ve seen this tag on YouTube, it’s about going through the books published in each decade of the 20th Century and picking out your favourite from each. I decided to give it a try, though some of them are default picks as I hadn’t read anything else from that decade!
1900s
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
This was a default one but in all liklihood I would have picked it anyway as I love Beatrix Potter books. I have loads of them in storage at home. Beautifully illustrated and I think these stories still hold up really well today. This is the story about Peter Rabbit, who is a bit bold!
1910s
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Another default choice. Honestly I don’t remember much of this book, it has been years since I read it. I should really pick it up again.
1920s
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Yes, this is bit of a cliché for the 1920s but it was either this or Winnie the Pooh! And I wanted to get away from children’s books as I’m thinking of doing another post about them. I read it last year and spoke a small bit about it in this post. Also, I absolutely LOVE this book cover, so cool!
1930s
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Another book I read last year, here’s the post from that. It follows the story of the new Mrs de Winter, who forever feels in the shade of the perfect Rebecca, her husband’s first wife. This novel is dark and brilliant. And the Hitchcock film is great too!
1940s
1984 by George Orwell
Classic futuristic novel about Big Brother and how he’s always watching you. It’s a great book and the scenes from Room 101 still make me shudder today! It definitely gets you thinking and the scary thing about all this is that it’s not impossible to see a world like this in the future.
1950s
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
I read this book after watching the film and I really enjoyed it. It shows a darker side to the story shown in the film and a darker side to Holly too. It has been a while since I’ve read it though, it’s definitely due a reread.
1960s
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath’s only novel, which is a semi autobiographical account of her own life and struggles with mental health. I spoke about it here for my Banned Books post last year. And I’ve also quoted it in this post about taking a bath, which I just adore. It’s definitely dark but it really resonated with me.
1970s
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
It’s a true story of Helene Hanff, a New Yorker, and her relationship with the staff of Marks and Co., the second hand book shop at 84 Charing Cross Road, where she first writes to order some books during the Second World War. The book consists of letters sent back and forth and the relationships that build up overseas. It’s a very sweet book, I wrote more about it here.
1980s
Maus by Art Spiegelman
There were a few books I could have picked here but I went for this as I read it last year (post here) and it’s such a good novel. Based on his father’s stories from Second World War, it can be sad at parts but it’s a page turner and definitely worth the read.
1990s
I had another book picked for this and even started writing about it but decided I just could not pick Harry Potter. I love this book and series, they are great for children and adults. And do I really need to tell you what it’s about?! Surely the whole world and its mother knows!
And that’s it! Some of them were hard to decide upon, there were tons of books by Roald Dahl for example that I could have picked but decided to go with more adult selections (not that adults can enjoy Dahl!). What do you think? Is there anything you’d swap out? What have a glaringly missed? Let me know below!
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