Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we’re talking about books from before we were born. I’ve decided to look at my to-be-read list and pick out ten books that were written in the ten years (one for each year) before 1985, which is when I was born!
1984– The Bone People: “Own voices” might be a recent buzzphrase, but it is not a new phenomenon…this Booker Prize-winner about Maori people in New Zealand was written by a woman who is herself of Maori descent.
1983– Winter’s Tale: Fantasy does not often get critical recognition even when it deserves it, so this being a very well-reviewed fantasy novel definitely caught my attention!
1982– A Pale View of Hills: I love Kazuo Ishiguro and this was his debut.
1981– The War at the End of the World: I’ve always been curious about novels in translation (I read a decent number of them), and this one from a Peruvian writer about a conflict that took place in Brazil sounds fascinating and was included by Harold Bloom in his list of books that make up the western canon.
1980– The Transit of Venus: Everyone I know who has read Shirley Hazzard loves her work, and this and The Great Fire are her books that I see recommended most often so I am looking forward to getting to this!
1979– Kindred: A book I have been meaning to read for years now because I’ve heard such great things about it.
1978– Tales of the City: This in the first of a series of books about queer life in San Fransisco, and it having been adapted twice makes me think it must be quite good!
1977– Ceremony: Another own voices book, by a Pueblo woman about Pueblo people. It’s a classic of Native American literature!
1976– Roots: Loosely (maybe even very loosely, according to historical experts) based on the story of Alex Haley’s own family history, this was a huge bestseller and got good reviews as well.
1975– The Female Man: This is a feminist science fiction book that gets at how conceptions of gender roles are shaped by society, which is extremely my jam.