BVBook Verdict

By decade

Books of the 1980s

Gibson invented cyberpunk; Morrison wrote Beloved; Rushdie published The Satanic Verses. Prestige fiction and genre fiction both found new confidence. 122 titles in the catalogue from this decade.

Cosmos Carl Sagan · 1980 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson · 1980 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco · 1980 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver · 1981 Essential Read See details →
Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 1981 Essential Read See details →
The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende · 1982 Essential Read See details →
The Color Purple Alice Walker · 1982 Essential Read See details →
Schindler's Ark Thomas Keneally · 1982 Essential Read See details →
War Horse Michael Morpurgo · 1982 Essential Read See details →
The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor · 1982 Essential Read See details →
Waterland Graham Swift · 1983 Essential Read See details →
Neuromancer William Gibson · 1984 Essential Read See details →
The Wasp Factory Iain Banks · 1984 Essential Read See details →
Nights at the Circus Angela Carter · 1984 Essential Read See details →
The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros · 1984 Essential Read See details →
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood · 1985 Essential Read See details →
White Noise Don DeLillo · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Fences August Wilson · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Perfume Patrick Suskind · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Annie John Jamaica Kincaid · 1985 Essential Read See details →
It Stephen King · 1986 Essential Read See details →
Beloved Toni Morrison · 1987 Editor's Choice See details →
Watchmen Alan Moore · 1987 Editor's Choice See details →
The New York Trilogy Paul Auster · 1987 Essential Read See details →
The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris · 1988 Essential Read See details →
Matilda Roald Dahl · 1988 Essential Read See details →
A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking · 1988 Editor's Choice See details →
A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho · 1988 Essential Read See details →
Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro · 1989 Essential Read See details →
Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett · 1989 Essential Read See details →
The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett · 1989 Essential Read See details →
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan · 1989 Essential Read See details →
This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff · 1989 Essential Read See details →
A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving · 1989 Essential Read See details →
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn · 1980 Recommended See details →
American Government James Q. Wilson · 1980 Recommended See details →
Everybody's guide to small claims court Ralph E. Warner · 1980 Recommended See details →
Loving Danielle Steel · 1980 Recommended See details →
Abroad Paul Fussell · 1980 Recommended See details →
The travel writer's handbook Louise Purwin Zobel · 1980 Recommended See details →
The BFG Roald Dahl · 1980 Recommended See details →
Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie · 1981 Recommended See details →
Style Joseph M. Williams · 1981 Recommended See details →
Lanark Alasdair Gray · 1981 Recommended See details →
Louise Bourgeois Louise Bourgeois · 1981 Recommended See details →
Little, Big John Crowley · 1981 Recommended See details →
Subculture Dick Hebdige · 1981 Recommended See details →
The Power of Focused Thinking Edward de Bono · 1981 Recommended See details →
Works (Awakening Kate Chopin · 1981 Recommended See details →
Women Who Run with the Wolves Clarissa Pinkola Estés · 1982 Recommended See details →
The Running Man Stephen King · 1982 Recommended See details →
Ralph S. Mouse Beverly Cleary · 1982 Recommended See details →
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3 Sue Townsend · 1982 Recommended See details →
The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett · 1983 Recommended See details →
Pet Sematary Stephen King · 1983 Recommended See details →
Christine Stephen King · 1983 Recommended See details →
The only living witness Stephen G. Michaud · 1983 Recommended See details →
The Witches Roald Dahl · 1983 Recommended See details →
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera · 1984 Recommended See details →
Influence Robert Cialdini · 1984 Recommended See details →
Thinner Stephen King · 1984 Recommended See details →
De amor y de sombra Isabel Allende · 1984 Recommended See details →
Hackers Steven Levy · 1984 Recommended See details →
Social cognition Susan T. Fiske · 1984 Recommended See details →
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy · 1985 Recommended See details →
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 1985 Recommended See details →
Ender's Game Orson Scott Card · 1985 Recommended See details →
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Oliver Sacks · 1985 Recommended See details →
Good to eat Marvin Harris · 1985 Recommended See details →
The foolish tortoise Richard Buckley · 1985 Recommended See details →
The psychology of eating and drinking A. W. Logue · 1985 Recommended See details →
Intensity Dean Koontz · 1985 Recommended See details →
Skeleton crew Stephen King · 1985 Recommended See details →
Metamagical Themas Douglas R. Hofstadter · 1985 Recommended See details →
Perfume Patrick Süskind · 1985 Recommended See details →
Living in the Light Shakti Gawain · 1985 Recommended See details →
The Accidental Tourist Anne Tyler · 1985 Recommended See details →
The Dark Knight Returns Frank Miller · 1986 Recommended See details →
Much Depends on Dinner Margaret Visser · 1986 Recommended See details →
Kristy's Great Idea Ann M. Martin · 1986 Recommended See details →
Speaker for the Dead Orson Scott Card · 1986 Recommended See details →
The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice · 1986 Recommended See details →
The Blind Watchmaker Richard Dawkins · 1986 Recommended See details →
Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne · 1986 Recommended See details →
Ai hen chih chien Susan Forward · 1986 Recommended See details →
Self-esteem Matthew McKay · 1986 Recommended See details →
Hatchet Gary Paulsen · 1986 Recommended See details →
Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones · 1986 Recommended See details →
The Whipping Boy Sid Fleischman · 1986 Recommended See details →
Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami · 1987 Recommended See details →
Mort Terry Pratchett · 1987 Recommended See details →
Misery Stephen King · 1987 Recommended See details →
The leadership challenge James M. Kouzes · 1987 Recommended See details →
Dawn Octavia E. Butler · 1987 Recommended See details →
Borderlands Gloria Anzaldúa · 1987 Recommended See details →
The Enduring Vision Paul S. Boyer · 1987 Recommended See details →
Eva Luna Isabel Allende · 1987 Recommended See details →
A child called "it" David J. Pelzer · 1987 Recommended See details →
How to Get Rich Donald Trump · 1987 Recommended See details →
Human motor development V. Gregory Payne · 1987 Recommended See details →
Frozen in time Owen Beattie · 1987 Recommended See details →
Small sacrifices Ann Rule · 1987 Recommended See details →
Adulthood Rites Octavia E. Butler · 1988 Recommended See details →
V for Vendetta Alan Moore · 1988 Recommended See details →
Plein Ciel Danielle Steel · 1988 Recommended See details →
Eat Up, Gemma Sarah Hayes · 1988 Recommended See details →
The Queen of the Damned Anne Rice · 1988 Recommended See details →
Hadriana dans tous mes rêves René Depestre · 1988 Recommended See details →
The Psychology of Everyday Things Donald A. Norman · 1988 Recommended See details →
The Courage to Heal Ellen Bass · 1988 Recommended See details →
Holes Louis Sachar · 1988 Recommended See details →
Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel · 1989 Recommended See details →
Hyperion Dan Simmons · 1989 Recommended See details →
The Sandman Neil Gaiman · 1989 Recommended See details →
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen Covey · 1989 Recommended See details →
Computerdenken Roger Penrose · 1989 Recommended See details →
Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology Frederic Martini · 1989 Recommended See details →
Miller's Collectables Price Guide Judith Miller · 1989 Recommended See details →
The blooding Joseph Wambaugh · 1989 Recommended See details →

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