6 famous books celebrating their sixtieth birthday this year
Six famous books from 1960 that you probably have heard of. Celebrate their sixtieth birthday by giving them a read this year.
New Year’s Resolutions infamously don’t work. They say that only 8% of people accomplish them.
Well, last year, I set a goal to read one book a month.
Guess what? I smashed my goal by reading 14!
And then I shared this braggy Instagram post.
Ok. 12 books may not sound like a lot but let me have my moment.
This year I want to challenge myself to read 18.
But… which books do I add to my list?
I’ve ended up picking a few best-sellers that are celebrating their sixtieth birthday this year.
These books are said to keep you reading till your eyeballs ache just as much as the ones that appear on the shelves today. Maybe they’re even better considering most modern best-sellers are written by people whose only talent is managing to fake tan without getting any white patches.
Another advantage of reading old books is that the local library usually stocks them.
Who loves free reading? Moi.
I bet you do too so, this year, let’s tuck into these six famous books from 1960 that are celebrating sixty years of being awesome.
Lady Chatterley's Lover By D.H. Lawrence
This one was written several years before it was released in 1960. Why? Because it was deemed as pure filth. The Fifty Shades Of Grey of the 1920s. And it was banned immediately.
In 1960, it was unbanned and Penguin was free to publish it. If you’ve seen the TV Show Mad Men, then you’ll probably remember the episode where all the girls are giggling about a book in the coffee room. This is the book. Although it’s set long before the sixties, it was a book that defined the new era’s freer, more-relaxed censorship laws. Read this one to find out what the girls were gossiping about in the office.
To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
Even though To Kill A Mockingbird became one of the most famous books from 1960, Harper Lee never wrote another one. She thought of her book as a love story, but it was much more than that.
It’s now a book that students study and it’s known for talking openly about racism. Especially because it was published at a time when racism seemed to be as normal as drinking coffee.
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? By Henry Farrell
Have you heard of the 1962 movie with the same name? It’s fantastic. And it stars Bettie Davis and Joan Crawford who HATED each other.
Which was great because the two women in this story hated each other too. It has plot twists, bitchiness and suspense. All that good stuff that made a cosy bed read in the sixties, and still does now.
The Moviegoer By Walker Percy
Walker’s debut novel is about a man who is having an existential crisis. We follow him on to the streets of New Orleans where he behaves oddly and watches a lot of movies.
It helped readers learn more about the New Orleans that was alive during the 60s and through The Moviegoer, we can go there too.
The Colossus & Other Poems By Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath poured her heart out onto the literary scene with Colossus and Other Poems. This book defined the autobiographical genre of “confessional” poems. If you think Rupi Kaur is good, then you haven’t met Sylvia Plath.
Lonesome Traveller By Jack Kerouac
This one is for the Beatnik in you. Lonesome Traveller is a collection of Jack Kerouac’s travel diaries. His notes reveal what it was like to travel across the US, Mexico and Morocco.
Rather than read this one, hoping for a good story, read it for Jack’s prose. He was an artist when it came to describing places and it was no wonder that he had such a huge fan base in the Sixties.
When you read all of these books, then you’ll get an idea of exactly what the Sixties girls were reading and being influenced by.
Which book do you want to read first? Or have you read one already? Tell me in the comments below.
P.S. Do you know a fellow book lover? Send this to them and make their to-read list even longer.
Or Read More About The Sixties:
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