Time-travelling with literary legends
To spark your reading inspiration this summer, we’ve rounded up a legacy of best-sellers to bring you the best books from over the decades.
Thanks to the Auckland Libraries Top 100, we all know the best books of our most recent decade. But what about the many decades before? After much deliberation, we've chosen our top reads from the 1950s right through to the 2010s.
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The 50s
East of Eden was considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus. Its epic scope and memorable characters explore universal themes of love and identity, and it remains one of America's most enduring novels. Set in California's Salinas Valley, two families find their destinies fatefully intertwined.
The 60s
Through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Lee explores the issues of race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s with compassion and humour. She also creates one of the great heroes of literature in their father, whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice and hypocrisy. This book is a classic and one of the world's best-loved reads.
The 70s
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been a radio show, TV series, novel, stage play, comic book and film. Following the galactic (mis)adventures of Arthur Dent, Hitchhiker's in its various incarnations has captured the imaginations of curious minds around the world. It's a must-read!
The 80s
Following the story of Māori-European artist, Kerewin, The Bone People is a Kiwi cult-classic. Themes of displacement, shame and survival come to light through the trials and tribulations of three outcasted strangers, bought together by chance. One night, Kerewin's seemingly eternal solitude is disrupted by a visitor who will change her life forever.
The 90s
Bridget Jones's Diary documents one woman's struggles through the social minefield of her 30s. She is supported through the whole process by four indispensable friends, Shazzer, Jude, Tom and a bottle of chardonnay. A dazzling urban satire of modern relationships? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something?
The 00s
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is rightly described as 'one of those books you just have to read'. This psychological thriller unravels the story of a wealthy woman who goes missing from a family gathering on an island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family.
The 10s
Gone Girl is one of the most famous examples of the 'unreliable narrator' technique. Its carefully crafted narrative weaves deception and fact to reveal a gripping plot you cannot get ahead of. On a warm summer morning, Nick and Amy Dunne are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media, and an endless series of lies and deceits - the truth is revealed.
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