Whether you are participating in our Decades Reading Challenge or found this list while researching books about the 60s and 70s, you’ve come to the right place! Below, you’ll find a list of the best books set in the 1960s, and we also have a comprehensive list of 1970s titles.
Our recommended reading list of books set in the Sixties includes historical fiction novels that examine social and racial issues and books that capture the flair of the Swinging 60s. The list also includes memoirs and nonfiction books about the 1960s that provide insights into the era. And finally, we’ve added some of the best books of the 1960s that were written during that decade.
Literary Themes in Books About the Swinging Sixties
The Vietnam War and a strong anti-war sentiment among young people against the US involvement in the War dominated the 1960s. Civil Rights marches also defined the era and helped bring about positive changes, including the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
In the early 1960s, many Americans lived in fear of nuclear war as the Cold War escalated. Throughout the decade, the country mourned the losses of beloved leaders, including President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 60s came to a close with a giant leap for mankind as the first astronauts set foot on the moon.
For additional historical context, check out the timeline of major world events included at the end of the post.
In 1962, at the dawn of the jet-set era, two Pan Am stewardesses are navigating an adventurous new life in this historical fiction novel.
Judy Goodman and Beverly Caldwell had different reasons for seeking the coveted position of a Pan Am stewardess, but both were looking to put continents and oceans between them and their pasts. Judy is running away from an oppressive marriage in small-town Pennsylvania, while Beverly is leaving behind the gilded cage of her NYC society life.
By joining the elite team at Pan American Airlines, they embrace the culture, etiquette, and strict rules of the world above the clouds. The job takes them to faraway destinations and presents them with opportunities they could have only dared dream about.
As the two women build a deep friendship, they see each other through both love and danger while discovering what is truly important. They will also be forced to confront secrets that could change their lives all over again.
The Book Girls Say…
We had the opportunity to interview Camille Di Maio back in January of 2022, and she told us that she was working on a draft of ComeFly With Me. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the chance to read the book for the past three years. You can listen to our full interview with Camille here. She talks about the process of working on Come Fly With Me beginning around the 30-minute mark.
In 1960s New York, men ruled the publishing world. Bernadette is a young copyeditor with her eyes on an even bigger job. She’s determined to become the first female CEO in the industry. Unfortunately, her sexist boss stands between her and the next step on her career ladder.
Bernadette knows she’ll need support to achieve her dreams, so she joins a feminist book club at the New York Public Library. With her book club buddies’ help, she has a better chance of cracking the glass ceiling despite her problematic boss and attempted sabotage by her co-workers.
The Book Girls Say…
Dog lovers will appreciate the chapters voiced by Frank, Bernadette’s Great Dane. As would be realistic for a woman of Bernadette’s age, there is a side romance storyline within this historical fiction.
Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a 21-year-old nursing student who has been raised by her conservative parents to always do “the right thing.” But when her brother ships out for Vietnam in 1965, she begins to change her views of right and wrong. Frankie impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam. As she tends to the green and inexperienced young men who have been sent to fight the war, she is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction. Returning home to a changed America doesn’t prove to be any easier.
Through the story of Frankie’s family, we see the devastation of those who lost their sons, brothers, and other loved ones in Vietnam. But we also get a glimpse of what it was like on the ground in a war that was very complicated and had blurred lines. We see how the country treated these soldiers and nurses differently, even though they were doing their sworn duty for the country, just like those before them.
The Book Girls Say…
There are so many books shedding light on the stories of women during WWI and WWII, but ever since we launched the Decades Reading Challenge back in 2020, we’ve been lamenting the lack of fiction about women’s roles in Vietnam. We couldn’t have asked for a better writer to take up this topic than Kristin Hannah!
While we expected great things from The Women after Kristin Hannah’s other highly-rated historical fiction, she still managed to exceed our expectations. Like her other recent works, The Women humanizes a tragedy that we all need to know about – both to honor those who experienced it and to help prevent history from recurring.
In 1960s Newport, the lives of three women are about to collide. Winifred is different than the other society wives in her circle. She’s colorful, opinionated, and blunt. When her wealthy husband dies, she throws expectations out the window and begins hosting parties for the clerks and waiters that serve the town instead of for the elite.
Marie is a struggling artist, trying desperately to forget her painful past and make her dreams of the future come true. An unexpected friendship with Winifred may be the key to her success.
June is a high-society housewife who suffers from debilitating chronic pain. She has no patience for Winifred’s attempt to disrupt the social order of Newport.
Jim Crow laws ruled Mississippi in the summer of 1964, and three innocent men had just been brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Twenty-two-year-old Violet has also just been the victim of a heinous attack and killed the man responsible. But she knows she’ll be blamed, so she runs from Jackson.
Violet’s sister, Marigold, works for the Mississippi Summer Project, which advocates for Black voting rights. Marigold hoped to attend law school, but a pregnancy changed her plans. She now heads North, hoping to raise her baby outside of segregated Mississippi.
While the sisters leave Jackson for their own reasons, they don’t realize that one man is pursuing them both for his own dark secrets.
The Book Girls Say…
For another highly rated thriller set in the 1960s, pick up A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci.
After her mother passes away, 14-year-old Lily Owens runs away with her friend and nanny, Rosaleen. The two escape to Tiburon, South Carolina, where an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters takes them in.
Lily is introduced to the world of bees and honey, the Black Madonna, and the town that holds the secret to her mother’s past.
Margaret, Viv, and Bitsy appear to have it all by the standards of the early 1960s, but “all” doesn’t feel like enough to them. They live in a brand-new “planned community” in Northern Virginia and feel guilty and confused that they aren’t satisfied with their supposedly idyllic housewife lives.
Things begin to change when the three women form a book club with their artsy new neighbor from Manhattan, Charlotte. Together they read Betty Friedan’s controversial new book, The Feminine Mystique. For the first time, each of these women realizes that they are not alone in their dissatisfaction or their longings.
Their lives are forever altered. The book may be the start of it all, but it’s their bond of sisterhood that really helps them find the courage they each need to navigate the rapidly changing world and see themselves in a new light.
The Book Girls Say…
If you love books about books as much as we do, be sure to check out our 2025 Book Lover’s Reading Challenge for many more wonderful recommendations.
This coming-of-age story is about three different 18-year-old men growing up in 3 different time periods.
William was 18 in 1967 when he went to Vietnam as a Marine. Vincent is 18 in 1979 when he meets William, working on a construction crew, and hears William’s stories of his wartime experience.
The third young man is Vincent’s son, Beau, who has had an easier life than the first two men. He was 18 in 2015 when Vincent received William’s old Vietnam journal in the mail as a thank you for listening to his stories years ago. It was written while he was a Marine and facing things that no one, much less a teenager, should have to encounter.
The three stories are woven together in a beautiful way that many are calling a must-read for everyone, despite the grim nature of William’s combat experiences.
The Book Girls Say…
Although this book is set in three time periods, the story is ultimately a historical fiction of Vietnam, making it a great pick for a book about the 1960s. Make sure you don’t miss the author’s note at the end of the book to learn more about Dugoni’s connection to the story.
Living in a beautiful home with a white picket fence in North Carolina, teenager Lorraine seems to have the perfect life. She has a wonderful boyfriend, but she has big ambitions and dreams of more for her life.
When Lorraine ends up pregnant, her family sends her away to a maternity home in order to shield themselves from the “shame.” But what is supposed to be a secluded safe haven is instead a house of dark secrets and suffocating rules.
As Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her future, she has to decide if she can fight against those who plan to take her child away or whether to bend to the rules of society.
Newlywed Ruth is a law school graduate with an independent streak stronger than most young women in her affluent neighborhood. However, she still wants to impress her mother-in-law, who has signed Ruth up for etiquette lessons with Lillian Diamond.
Fellow etiquette classmate Carrie is quiet but has a dark secret. When witty Ruth befriends Carrie, they form an unbreakable bond. Ruth pushes Lillian and all of her Diamond Girls to question the status quo and stretch beyond their comfort zones as they unite to protect one of their own.
Eddie is a pro baseball player having the worst season of his life. He can’t hit, his new teammates seem to hate him, and he’s homesick. He’s definitely not in the mood to give a series of interviews to a reporter like the team owner just demanded. But, since he’s already on thin ice, he reluctantly agrees.
Mark is a writer for the arts section who has had his own rough year. He just wants to be left alone to mourn the loss of a partner he can’t be public about. He has no interest in his new assignment – writing a season-long series about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop.
As the lonely men cross paths, they also feel surprisingly pulled toward each other. But Mark has vowed never to be in a secret relationship again, and Eddie can’t be out in the world of 1960s baseball.
Each year, the children of the Levin family have looked forward to spending their summer in Nantucket with their grandmother. But in the summer of ’69, thirteen-year-old Jessie is the only sibling who can make the trip. One of her older sisters is pregnant with twins, the other is caught up in the civil rights movement, and her older brother has recently been deployed to the war in Vietnam.
The summer proves to be an eventful one – Vietnam, Woodstock, the moon landing, the Chappaquiddick affair, Jessie struggling with her first heartbreak, and her grandmother with a few secrets of her own.
The Book Girls Say…
This might just be the perfect historical fiction beach read for the summer – a family drama that brings the 60s to life in vivid, nostalgic detail.
If you enjoy Hilderbrand’s Summer of ’69, then you’ll also want to grab the novella-length sequels, Summer of ’79 is available on Kindle or as an Audible audiobook. There’s also another short story follow-up called Summer of ’89, which is available in the recently published story collection titled Endless Summer.
The summer of 1961 started full of hope and innocence in New Bremen, Minnesota. They had a new young president, the Twins baseball team playing their debut season, root beers at the soda counter, and comic books on the magazine racks in the barbershop. But the summer soon turned grim, with multiple deaths. Was it an accident, natural causes, suicide, or murder?
When the tragedies occur, 13-year-old Frank Drum is thrust into adulthood overnight. The novel is part mystery and part coming-of-age story, told by Frank himself as a 40-year-old adult looking back on that fateful summer.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers say that this book deals with spirituality without being overtly religious.
This book is NOT what you’d expect from Stephen King. Instead of horror, you’ll find suspenseful historical fiction crossed with science fiction (and even a twist of romance) that addresses the most compelling aspect of time travel. How do actions taken in the past affect the same future you started in?
English teacher Jake Epping is recruited by his friend Al, the local diner owner, to help with the most unlikely of requests. Al discovered a portal in the diner’s storeroom that transports him back in time to the era of Ike and Elvis. He becomes obsessed with using the portal to go back in time and stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But when he realizes he won’t be able to complete the mission, he enlists Jake for the job. Jake reluctantly agrees to go back to 1958 and live the early years of the 1960s in the small town of Jodie, Texas while devising a plan to stop JFK from dying on 11/22/63.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is a giant at more than 800 pages, but we promise you’ll thank us for this recommendation. The audiobook is fantastic, and it makes a great summer road trip listen!
We haven’t watched the mini-series yet, but we weren’t surprised to hear that (as is always the case) – the book is better!
Another historical fiction novel featuring the Kennedy assassination is November Road by Lou Berney, which is part crime thriller and part love story.
Elizabeth Zott is a quirky andbrilliant female chemist working with an all-male team at the Hastings Research Institute. But her scientific qualifications don’t stop the “good old boys” from being frustrated that she won’t get coffee or make copies for them. When Elizabeth meets Calvin Evans, another scientist at the Institute, another type of chemistry results.
Fast forward a few years. It’s 1961, and Elizabeth is a 30-year-old single mother, and her career has been detoured. Instead of working for Hastings, she’s now (somewhat reluctantly) the star of a much-loved cooking show called Supper at Six. Her cooking methods are unusual (“combine one tablespoon of acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”). As her popularity grows, it turns out she’s not just teaching women to cook, she’s also daring them to change the status quo.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud sort of way – more in a sometimes you have to laugh so you don’t cry sort of way. And while there is an element of romance in the book, we wouldn’t classify it as romance or rom-com.
The descriptions of the misogyny that Elizabeth faces (and specifically some of the language that is directed at her) offend some readers, but it’s an accurate representation of what she and so many women faced in the 1950s and 1960s. By no means is our struggle for equality over, but this book gave us so much respect for the women who paved the way.
Heads Up: Although the overall vibe of this book is a cheerful one, you should be aware that this book also addresses serious topics, with scenes depicting sexual assault, domestic violence, and suicide.
In this memoir, Chick Donohue, a Vietnam vet, recounts the craziest of his many adventures. It all began on a night in 1967 when 26-year-old Chick was at a bar in NYC with his buddies. Each of them had lost loved ones in Vietnam, and they were disheartened to see anti-war protesters turning on the troops.
One of the guys came up with a crazy idea. Someone should sneak into Vietnam and track down their buddies serving there to bring them messages of support and a beer. It would be the Greatest Beer Run Ever.
It’s likely none of them meant for the idea to be taken seriously, but nonetheless, Chick volunteered. A day later, he was on a cargo ship headed back to Vietnam during the height of combat with a backpack full of alcohol.
This turned into his personal Odyssey as a serviceman turned civilian searching for his childhood friends in Vietnam. Chick’s story is filled with lots of hilarious escapades and harrowing close calls, including the Tet Offensive.
The Book Girls Say…
This memoir has been described as a “hilarious quest laced with sorrow, but never dull.”The improbable but true story has been turned into an Apple TV+ war film starring Zac Efron(as Chick), Russell Crowe, and Bill Murray.
Marilyn wasn’t just caught making out with the rabbi’s son—she was caught by the whole congregation! In hopes of saving their daughter’s reputation, her parents sent her to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. They gave her an ultimatum: spend the summer with Ada, Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker, or kiss her college plans goodbye.
Based on her mother’s description, Marilyn expects Ada to be a humorless septuagenarian. Instead, Ada is sharp and straight-talking, with platinum blonde hair, a Hermès scarf, and a Cadillac convertible. As the summer goes on, Ada and Marilyn set off for the Jersey Shore, where Marilyn helps to scope out eligible matches for anyone but herself. She’s learning a lot from Ada—but not exactly what her parents were hoping for. Marilyn realizes that she doesn’t have to settle, even as her father threatens to disinherit her.
The Book Girls Say…
Another excellent 1960s book by Sara Goodman Confino is Behind Every Good Man, about a new divorcee finding her own successful career in Washington, DC.
In the summer of 1964, Ibby’s father died unexpectedly, and her mother dropped Ibby off with her eccentric grandmother, Fannie. While Fannie tends to get committed to the local asylum, Fannie’s Black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, keep an eye on Ibby and educate her on the ways of the South.
Fannie’s family history is marked by tragedy, hidden in the closed rooms of her ornate mansion. When Ibby arrives, it may be time to unlock the mysteries. Along the way, Queenie and Dollbaby’s caring and wisdom show Ibby that family can be found in unexpected places.
The Book Girls Say…
Some reviewers say this 2014 Goodreads Choice Nominee for Best Historical Fiction reads like a YA coming-of-age novel.
Skeeter has returned home from college to her family’s cotton plantation, where, despite trying to act like a proper Southern lady, she seems to disappoint her mother constantly.
Her true ambition, however, is to be a writer. The only job she’s able to find is one she is completely unqualified for, writing a housekeeping advice column for the local paper. Having virtually no experience of her own with housekeeping, Skeeter turns to her friend’s maid, the very poised Aibileen, for help.
As she gets to know Aibileen and Aibileen’s friend, the very sassy Minny, more intimately, Skeeter is inspired to help tell their stories, and she pitches the idea to write the narratives of 12 Black maids – a very risky project for all of them.
The Book Girls Say…
This is one of Angela’s favorite books of all time! It’s full of characters that are easy to love (and others not so much), and by the end, you’ll be so invested in their stories that you won’t want the book to end!
The good news is that, when you do reach the final page, you can watch the movie to enjoy these women all over again.
In August of 1961, barbed wire was placed across Berlin in the middle of the night. Families were torn apart against their wishes by the new 30-mile wall. This historical fiction imagines the lives of twin sisters separated on that fateful night.
Karin is in East Berlin when the wall goes up, separating her from her twin, Jutta. They live parallel lives for years, with Karin surviving the brutal East German regime only with Otto’s help. One day, Jutta finds a hidden way to reach Karin, but the Stasi are watching. Should Jutta flee back home with her sister or follow her heart?
The Book Girls Say…
As children of the 1980s, we always associated the Berlin Wall with the decade when it came down. It was eye-opening for us to read about the wall going up in the early 1960s and what it was like for the families separated all those years.
His loving but strict grandmother has raised Elwood, and his focus on always doing the right thing is about to pay off. He is getting ready to enroll in the local black college and has big dreams. Unfortunately, everything changes when an innocent mistake causes him to be sent to The Nickel Academy to be “reformed” from his so-called crimes.
While this 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is fiction, it’s based on real “schools” and the unspeakable treatment of young Black men who were sent there during the 1960s. Elwood does his best to remain optimistic, but his positive attitude is challenged by his new friend Turner, who has grown up in a different world.
The Book Girls Say…
This book will evoke every emotion. Through Colson Whitehead’s writing, you really get to know and feel for the characters and the situation they are thrown into. Regretfully, racial inequality in America is embarrassingly still a relevant topic today. This is not an easy book to read, but books like this are crucial in providing perspective on the ongoing efforts for equality.
Colson Whitehead is also the author of Harlem Shuffle, a novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.
This is the memoir of Jackie Kennedy’s personal secret service agent, Clint Hill, who was with her throughout her years as First Lady. In this intimate portrait, he recalls being by Jackie’s side for some of her happiest moments, as well as the darkest.
He traveled the world with her, shared in intimate family moments in and out of the White House, and was with her in Dallas on 11/22/63 when he jumped onto the back of the President’s car to shield Mrs. Kennedy in the moments after her husband’s assassination, a tragic day that he recounts moment by moment in this book.
The Book Girls Say…
Clint Hill has written other memoirs about his time as a secret service agent, including the 2016 Five Presidents, in which he reflects on his seventeen years on the White House detail under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, shedding light on their personalities and giving a unique insider perspective on many historical events of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. His newest memoir, My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy, tells more stories about his years traveling the globe with the First Lady.
All of Clint Hill’s memoirs are vivid and insightful without feeling gossipy, and he provides an in-depth look at the politics of the day without feeling political.
Starla is only 9 years old when she makes a series of decisions that change her life overnight. It’s 1963, and she lives with her strict grandmother in Mississippi. Despite being grounded, Starla sneaks out to see the annual 4th of July parade. When she’s caught, she believes her grandmother’s threats of reform school and sneaks out again, this time with the intention of finding her mom all the way in Nashville.
Starla is offered a ride from a black woman, Eula, traveling with a white baby, quite a controversial scene in the 1963 South. Their journey is full of adventures, sometimes dangerous, and long chats that help Starla redefine family and understand more about the world she lives in.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is described by many as The Secret Life of Bees meets The Help meets To Kill a Mockingbird.
If you are interested in reading more about this period of Southern history through the eyes of a child protagonist, consider adding Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon to your TBR list. Like Whistling Past the Graveyard, Boy’s Life is also set in 1960s, but this time in Alabama. This novel similarly examines racial prejudice and segregation, but it also includes elements of magical realism.
Heads Up: This book does include some domestic violence.
In this coming-of-age novel, thirteen-year-old Jack Elliot wants to find a way to keep his oldest brother, Pete, from being drafted and sent to Vietnam. He overhears the men at the local barbershop complaining that famous boys don’t go to war, so he decides the best way to protect his brother is to make him the biggest celebrity in their small town.
Jack and his cousin Frankie convince Jack’s brothers to hunt for a missing fighter jet that crashed in their neck of the woods a few winters back. If they find it, Pete will be a hero. But their summer plans become more complicated thanks to a beautiful girl, a greedy developer, and a wild motorcycle gang.
The Outsiders follows two weeks in the life of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis as he struggles with right and wrong. His world is made up of just two groups – the “socs, ” a violent gang of rich kids who have money and can get away with anything, and the greasers, like Ponyboy, who live on the outside and need to watch their backs. Ponyboy is a proud greaser until the night that his friend makes a terrible decision, and he begins to question everything.
The Book Girls Say…
This coming-of-age novel is one of the most popular teenage books from the 60’s. It’s now regarded as not only an influential piece of literature in the 1960s, but also as one of the novels that laid the groundwork for the YA genre.
There is also a new Broadway musical version of The Outsiders, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. If you don’t have plans to be in NYC anytime soon, then keep an eye out for this musical when it begins touring in the fall of 2025.
Fifty-something Imogen Fortier is a magazine columnist living on Camano Island outside of Seattle. When she receives a fan letter containing a gift of saffron from 27-year-old Joan Bergstrom in LA, she writes back. Thus begins an unlikely friendship between these two women.
As the years pass, their letters to one another help them through the ups and downs of the world – the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, as well as the unexpected twists and turns in their own lives. From world events to romantic relationships, through their letters, they discover that food and a good life can’t be separated. Can anything shake the trust they’ve built over their years of correspondence?
This book is fully written in epistolary style, so you’ll be reading the letters back and forth between the women. The author kept the book on the shorter side, hoping it could be enjoyed in one sitting.
The Book Girls Say…
If you are looking for an easy read that will be a “brief respite from our chaotic world,” this epistolary novel of food and friendship might be your perfect 1960s read.
Melissa read this book on a family vacation when she was looking for something short and light. Love & Saffron exceeded her expectations! It was a lovely story of friendship and the power of forming a connection through writing before ever meeting. As Melissa & Angela (the Book Girls) met through online communication, it was fun to be reminded that before computers, pen pals could become your dearest friends.
Don’t miss the author’s note at the end of the book, which shares details about the real-life women who inspired the story.
In 2010, architect Kayla Carter’s husband died tragically while working on the construction of the family’s dream home in the quiet town of Round Hill, North Carolina. Kayla tries to stay strong for her young daughter, but she knows that the new house will always hold upsetting memories. Then, a mysterious older woman, who seems to know too much about the family, warns Kayla not to move into the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates. The property is rumored to be haunted, but the true history of the land may hide even darker secrets.
In the 1965 timeline, the author takes us back to Round Hill during a very turbulent time in American history. College student Ellie Hockley was raised to be a proper Southern lady, but she envisions a different future than the one that’s expected of her. She plans to spend her summer break helping to register black voters. As she aids the fight for civil rights, she’ll discover the frightening true nature of her neighbor’s prejudices.
When these two women’s stories ultimately come together, the truth will finally be revealed.
The Book Girls Say…
This book weaves together history, suspense, and social justice. Reviewers call the book enthralling, but it will also likely make you feel anger and heartache because Chamberlain does not shy away from digging deep into tough topics.
When Alice Weiss leaves her home in Iowa to chase her dreams in NYC, she is lucky to land the job of a lifetime at Cosmopolitan magazine, which is under the new leadership of its first female editor, Helen Gurley Brown.
Not everyone is happy to see Helen at the helm of the magazine, with some editors and writers resigning and others cooking up a scheme to sabotage their new boss. Alice, on the other hand, remains loyal and is determined to help her new boss succeed as she shocks America by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits.
The Book Girls Say…
We both loved stepping right into 1965 Manhattan as Alice adjusted from her Midwestern roots and learned how magazines are run. This novel is often described as Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada, but it’s a huge bonus that the book was based on the real Cosmopolitan magazine and its first female editor, Helen Gurley Brown.
This book tells the fascinating, true story of the wives behind the men of the 1960s space program. NASA viewed the families of their astronauts as their business, selecting only men with seemingly perfect family lives, and giving the wives strict orders to create homes that wouldn’t produce any undue stress or “mental chores” for the men.
Rocketed to celebrity by their husbands’ selection as the original Mercury 7 astronauts, these women were featured on the cover of Life magazine. Under a deal with NASA, each wife was assigned a reporter who was embedded into her daily life. They followed the wives everywhere, even in the tense moments as they awaited word of their husbands’ fate on each mission. Only able to confide in one another, the “astrowives” formed a tight-knit community in Houston.
The Book Girls Say…
The Astronaut’s Wives Club receives mixed reviews, with most complaints seeming to stem from the fact that it’s written more like a work of feature journalism. Angela found it fascinating, and our readers also tend to enjoy it more than the Goodreads rating reflects. If you enjoy the style of historical non-fiction books like Hidden Figures, we think you’ll appreciate this book, too!
In an era when women were expected to become housewives, three best friends instead struggled to make their mark in NYC as they climbed their way to the top of the entertainment industry.
But once there, they discover there is no place to go but down – into the Valley of the Dolls.
The Book Girls Say…
Described by reviewers as compulsively addictive (like the booze and pills everyone in the book is taking) and highly entertaining, this classic, yet trashy, piece of chick lit is not for everyone!
This was one of the most popular books in the 1960s, becoming the number one best seller in 1966. In the nearly 60 years since, it has become an enduring cult classic.
You are welcome to choose any book that you’d like to read for the challenge, but we hope that this list of books has given you a good starting point.
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We compiled this list of major events of the time period to provide some historical context for your reading. We hope you enjoy learning a bit more about this period in history.
The US deployed 3,500 American soldiers to Vietnam in 1960. After many years of conflict, the US officially went to war in Vietnam when it sent combat troops to defend the American airbase at Da Nang in 1965. Opposition grew in the US, and anti-Vietnam sentiment became more prevalent throughout the decade.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy became the youngest person elected President of the United States; three years later, JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963, while riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas, with his wife Jackie sitting by his side.
The development of “the Pill” in 1960 brings the topic of contraception “out of the bedroom and into the living room” as it becomes a common theme in magazine articles and books.
NASA launched its first astronaut into space for a suborbital flight on May 5, 1961, just weeks after the Soviet Union launched the first human into orbit. In the following year, NASA sent two more of its original Mercury 7 astronauts into space.
In the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, at the height of the Cold War, a US-backed operation known as the Bay of Pigs invasion was unsuccessful in its attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in 1961.
Beginning on August 13, 1961, the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) began constructing the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany – cutting off West Berlin from East Berlin – until 1989.
The world was on the brink of another World War in 1962 as the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated, and both the US and USSR came close to launching nuclear attacks.
The Beatles released their first single – “Love Me Do” – in the UK in 1962. When the Beatles first visited America two years later, in 1964, Beatlemania swept the nation and launched a music phenomenon known as “The British Invasion” that also included popular British bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Herman’s Hermits.
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the Civil Rights March on Washington; the renowned civil rights later was later assassinated in 1968.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin – was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The following year, LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act into law, ending discrimination at the polls.
The first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health declares smoking “hazardous to your health.” This contradicted years of tobacco industry advertisements regarding the benefits of smoking.
1967 is dubbed the “Summer of Love” when the “hippie movement” was in full swing in and around San Francisco, where thousands of young people flocked to Haight-Ashbury.
Senator Robert Kennedy, brother of JFK, was assassinated days after winning the California Presidential primary; Richard Nixon went on to win the US presidential election in 1968.
In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission.
The three-day Woodstock music festival in 1969 featured acts such as The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
In one of the most baffling and horrifying criminal cases of the century, cult leader Charles Manson murdered several young women in the summer and fall of 1969.
The Book Girls are best friends who jointly read over 200 books per year. We started Book Girls' Guide in 2019 to help others de-stress and find joy through the power of a great book. We do in-depth research on thousands of novels and non-fiction titles each year to provide curated book lists covering a variety of genres.
2 Comments
The “Where the Crawdads Sing” has snatch another fan! I really enjoyed the book. Kya was a wonderful and colorful character. It was hard to put down. Thanks for turning me on to this book. Can’t wait to read the others you have suggested.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Stephanie! I just finished reading The Great Alone and if you haven’t read it, we both highly recommend it.
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The “Where the Crawdads Sing” has snatch another fan! I really enjoyed the book. Kya was a wonderful and colorful character. It was hard to put down. Thanks for turning me on to this book. Can’t wait to read the others you have suggested.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Stephanie! I just finished reading The Great Alone and if you haven’t read it, we both highly recommend it.