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Hey there, it's Sharifah, otherwise known as S. Zainab Williams, contributing editor
at Book Riot and I am here with another Read Harder Challenge task. And this time I am
throwing it way back to the 80s for the task that asks us to read books originally published
in the decade you were born. I know I'm old. And I also have no self-control so I have
a lot of books to go through. I'm gonna try and get through them as fast as I can. Let's
start with Stephen King who published Christine in 1983. Christine is the story of pimple-faced
loner teen Arnie Cunningham who makes the mistake of buying a 1958 Plymouth Fury from
the detestable Ro D. LeBay. But he gets more than he bargained for, namely big fins and
pure evil. Arnie gets caught up in a love triangle between a girl and his car, as happens
sometimes in life. His car is supernatural and it develops an obsession with him, a very
unhealthy obsession as most obsessions are. I bet you've already seen the movie, but you
might as well read the book as well. They're always a little bit different and you can
always do the task that asks you to debate about which is better, book or film. Now Stephen
King was pumping out books in the 80s and granted the 80s was the best time for horror
other than the 70s. Maybe because of Stephen King, maybe not, who knows? Also it's almost
campfire season and you really can't go wrong in entertainment with a little bit of Stephen
King. Oh yes, Bill Waterson. Something Under the Bed Is Drooling, a Calvin & Hobbes experience.
That part's not actually in the title. Published in 1988. Now I'm not going to take for granted
that you already know what Calvin & Hobbes is about. It's about a boy in a middle class
suburban family who executes his imagination and intelligence on the world around him with
the help of his stuffed tiger, who is slightly more grownup than he is and likes to make
it known. The Calvin & Hobbes books were the first books I really had to have all of, like
Pokemon. And let me tell you, there were some words in here I didn't understand as a kid,
but that didn't stop me from reading it and enjoying fully and maybe looking those words
up. Waterson doesn't treat kids like idiots. And there isn't much to say about Something
Under the Bed Is Drooling except that it's exceptional as everything Bill Waterson does.
He does everything well. HIs books are so vivid and imaginative and Calvin is so introspective,
as is Hobbes a stuffed tiger. And I don't think there's any other comic that can compare.
All I'm saying is if you and your older sister are collecting Calvin & Hobbes books make
sure you get your own copy and you don't share it because chances are, 20 years later, they'll
end up on her bookshelf in Arizona. Alice Walker's 1982 novel The Color Purple. 14 year
old Celie jumps out of a horrible, abusive family life and right into a horrible, abusive
marriage at the age of 14. And through this marriage she meets Sophia who's strong willed
and outspoken and has troubles all her own. There were a few movies my mom made me watch,
she sat me down. Um. Roots was one of them and The Color Purple was another. It was a
hard thing to watch as a child, it's a hard thing to read even as an adult. It's about
race relations, it's about being powerless, and being a woman, and this is the 1930s in
rural Georgia. Unfortunately I didn't get to read The Color Purple in high school. I
think because there is a lot of graphic violence and *** assault that happens in the book.
We read a bunch of other stuff that had some of that, but for whatever reason I didn't
get to read The Color Purple. I think it's a really important book to read and if you've
ever wanted to read Alice Walker this is a good starting point. You've got Celie who
came up in this really abusive family life and a marriage. And so you see how she processes
that and how it affects her emotionally and as a human. Then you got strong-willed, outspoken
Sophia who's A type personality sort of gets her in trouble because, you know, it's the
1930s. She's a black woman. And you've got the jazzy Suge who puts stars in everybody's
eyes. And you see how his relationship with Celie plays out. And the characters are so
rich and their stories are so well threaded together that it's almost hard to believe
this is a work of fiction. It feels like real characters and their real struggles. Shel
Silverstein bringing us A Light in the Attic published in 1981. The best poetry is illustrated
poetry, everybody knows it. Maybe those are just my words but, um, I admittedly don't
like a lot of poetry. But I love Shel Silverstein. He has a place in my heart from childhood
and his style of poetry which is entertaining, witty, whimsical, and accompanied by similarly
witty, entertaining, and whimsical illustrations is one of my favorites, one of my favorite
childhood reads. Reading Shel Silverstein is kind of like eating candy. And the poems
are so short but they pack so much punch. Other books you might want to read from the
80s, 1982's The BFG by Roald Dahl also coming out as a feature film soon. Another 1982 classic,
Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits. If you're looking to fulfill non-fiction science
then you might want to check out 1980's the Cosmos by Carl Sagan. San Franciscans might
be particularly interested in Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City, published in 1980.
Thank you for re-visiting the 80s with me with another Read Harder challenge task and
I'll be back for another one next time. See ya then.