Explore the best books about the 1970s, a decade marked by the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and a push for more progressive politics.
When you think about the 1970s, you think of the difficult shift as the post-war boom gave way to conflict as culture continued to shift. In America, Watergate, high gas prices, and the divided opinion on the Vietnam War shaped the Seventies.
You see this divisiveness in books set in the 1970s with characters swept up in the desire for change that won’t come fast enough.
Today, I’ve put together a list of books about the 1970s. You’ll find something for everyone: fun 1970s historical fiction, nonfiction books about the 1970s, and even a few classic 1970s books worth a read.
Best Books About the 1970s
Everything I Never Told You
Celeste Ng
Set in 1970s Ohio, Celeste Ng’s debut novel starts with the drowning of Lydia, the beloved daughter of James and Marilyn Lee. As the family struggles with her death, the author takes you deeper into the cracks and flaws of this mixed-race family. It is a poignant character study into the dynamics of a family where the parents’ unfulfilled hopes are pinned on one child, to the detriment of all. The story unfolds masterfully, and Celeste Ng’s writing is exquisite. By the end, you’ll be in tears for these poor children and the damage that had been done by their parents’ selfishness.
A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry
In 1975, the Indian government declares a state of emergency that forces a widow to take in a student boarder and two tailors fleeing caste violence and seeking work. In a deep examination of human nature, Mistry presents a character-driven story that completely draws you in while explaining the larger political landscape that affects them on an individual basis. Bleak, yet beautiful, Mistry’s epic novel explores the fine balance between hope and despair.
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
One of the most unforgettable books about the 1970s, The Kite Runner tells of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father’s servant in a way that beautifully describes love, friendship, betrayal, and redemption. Be warned that the novel is violent and graphic at times, so understand that while moving, the story is dark and disturbing. It’s that contrast between the worst of human nature and the best that truly brings out a remarkable tale that will stay with you for a long time.
Daisy Jones & The Six
Taylor Jenkins Reid
This addictingly fun read is the oral history of the rise and fall of a fictional 70s band. With sex, drugs, and plenty of drama, you’ll feel like you are watching a biopic on VH1 – but an extremely well-written one. written like a script of interviews, Daisy Jones & The Six explores what happened when up-and-coming singer Daisy Jones was thrown together with legendary rock star Billy Dunne and his band The Six.
Book Club Books About the 1970s
Sparks Like Stars
Nadia Hashimi
In the 1970s, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Kabul as the daughter of one of the President’s right-hand men. When the communist coup results in the murder of her entire family, Sitara escapes and is adopted by an American diplomat. Now a renowned surgeon, her world is rocked when the man who rescued her appears in her operating room, sending her on a search for answers.
Take My Hand
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Take My Hand is inspired by the true story of government overreach in the forced sterilization of poor Black girls. In 1973, Civil Townsend is excited to use her new nursing degree to make a difference in the lives of her African-American community in Montgomery, Alabama. However, Civil is shocked to find her first patients are two young Black girls (ages 11 and 13) on birth control and begins to question the ethics of her work. Take My Hand is one of the most thought-provoking books about the 1970s that informs you while keeping you gripped by an emotional story.
The Island of Missing Trees
Elif Shafak
On the island of Cyprus, two teenagers, one Greek and one Turkish, fall in love under the lush fig tree at the local tavern. When war breaks out, Kostas and Defne are separated, but they never stop wondering what happened to each other. Years later, a woman in London tries to parse out the secrets of her family rooted in the fig tree that grows in her backyard.
Another Brooklyn
Jacqueline Woodson
When August returns home to bury her father, she runs into an old friend and begins reminiscing. Growing up in Brooklyn, August and her best friends dreamed of the big future they have ahead of them. However alongside the magical Brooklyn of their childhood lived another Brooklyn, a dark world rife with dangers for young women.
The Book of V.
Anna Solomon
Anna Solomon weaves together stories of three powerful women: a modern housewife straining against motherhood and desire, a politician’s wife in the 1970s who refuses her husband’s humiliating favor, and the Biblical queen Esther. Together, the three women’s tales show the expectations and restraints society has placed on women throughout the centuries.
Bestselling Books On the 1970s
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah
A recently returned Vietnam War POW, Ernt Allbright decides to move his family to the Alaskan frontier. At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers and just what Ernt needs. But when the harsh Alaskan winter approaches and Ernt’s mental state begins to deteriorate, his wife and daughter must fight to survive. A captivating, stay-up-all-night novel that is a favorite among book club books about the 1970s.
The Book of Cold Cases
Simone St. James
In 1977, two men were murdered with the same gun but the prime suspect, the eccentric Beth Greer, was acquitted at trial. Searching for a story for her true-crime blog, Shea Collins decides to interview Beth, in a mansion that feels haunted. The deeper Shea dives into the truth, the more she worries she is being manipulated by a cold-blooded murderer.
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
Cynical August doesn’t believe life will ever change until she develops a crush on a girl from her subway commute. Jane is perfect and the highlight of August’s every day. But when August and Jane finally meet, August realizes that somehow Jane actually lives in the 1970s. A time-defying queer romance from the author of Red, White, & Royal Blue.
Damnation Spring
Ash Davidson
For generations, Rich Gunderson’s family has logged the redwood forest on California’s coast. After a streak of miscarriages and infertility, his wife Colleen begins to wonder if there’s something in the water. As Colleen investigates the environmental impacts of logging, her search for answers might tear her marriage, and the town, apart. With over 400 pages, Damnation Spring is a challenging read with a slow build, but one that is worth it in the end for people who love books on nature.
White Teeth
Zadie Smith
In 1975, Englishman Archie Jones is contemplating suicide after his wife leaves him. Instead, Archie meets and marries the much younger Clara Bowden, who is of Jamaican descent, and gains a new lease on life with the birth of their daughter. Meanwhile, Archie’s best friend from the war, Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal, has an arranged marriage late in life and has twins. As Archie and Iqbal struggle to raise children who choose different paths, White Teeth highlights the unique racial and cultural influences on London.
More Books Set in the 1970s
The Dream Daughter
Diane Chamberlain
In 1970, Caroline Sears is devastated to learn her newborn daughter has a heart defect that cannot be cured. Except, her brother-in-law declares there is a cure. Hunter claims to be a time traveler from the future who promises that if she jumps to 2001, she can have fetal heart surgery and save her baby. Now Carly must decide what she believes and whether she should take a leap of faith.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Dawnie Walton
In her debut novel, Dawnie Walton writes the oral history of a fictional rock & roll duo who rose to fame in the 1970s. Coming of age in Detroit, Opal knows she can be a star despite her unusual Afro-punk style and teams up with British singer Nev. When another band on the label uses a Confederate flag, Opal’s vehement protests have lasting repercussions. As Opal and Nev contemplate a reunion in 2016, dark secrets about their past start to surface.
Faye, Faraway
Helen Fisher
Faye is a happily married mother of two who still feels the ache of the loss of her mother as a child. When she suddenly finds herself transported back in time, she has the opportunity to befriend her mother. Faye, Faraway is a slow heartfelt debut novel that spends most of the story contemplating the psychology of time travel, faith, and the relationship between parents and children.
Valentine
Elizabeth Wetmore
The morning after Valentine’s Day 1976, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramirez wanders into Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, a victim of a brutal rape. When justice is slow coming, the fierce women of Odessa, Texas, decide that maybe they should take justice into their own hands. This character-driven piece is said to have a slow start but builds to an intensely thought-provoking conclusion.
Velvet Was the Night
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In 1970s Mexico City, Maite craves a life of adventure and romance like she reads in her magazines. When her vibrant neighbor Leonora disappears, Maite sets out to investigate Leonora’s involvement with student radicals. At the same time, Elvis, an eccentric thug who longs for a better life, is also searching for Leonora and finds himself intrigued by Leonora’s passionate neighbor.
The Children on the Hill
Jennifer McMahon
In 1978, Vi and Eric live with their grandmother, Dr. Helen Hildreth, who runs a psychiatric treatment facility next door to their home. One day, their grandmother brings home a girl from the facility to be their new sister. As Vi and Eric teach her all about monsters, Vi begins to question their grandmother’s methods. Meanwhile, in the present day, a podcaster investigates a child abduction and monster sighting in a small town, thinking it’s connected to her long-lost sister.
Classic 1970s Books
Kindred
Octavia E. Butler
In 1976, Dana, a young African-American writer, finds herself inexplicably sent back through time to a pre-Civil War plantation in Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy, she finds herself back in Los Angeles. Over and over, Dana finds herself returning to the plantation, which she realizes is where her ancestors lived. As her stays in the past become longer, Dana becomes entangled in the plantation and is forced to make harder and harder choices to survive. Octavia Butler’s genre-bending novel is a must-read for books about the 1970s.
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison set her debut novel in her hometown of Lorain, Ohio. In 1941, Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old Black girl, desperately wants blue eyes. Tired of being considered “ugly,” Pecola wishes more than anything to fit into white America. Morrison’s novel typifies her writing – discussing race, abuse, class, and gender in a thought-provoking story.
Watership Down
Richard Adams
Books on nature don’t always have to be serious; they can also be a ton of fun. When Fiver gets a premonition of danger, Hazel leads a group of bunnies to establish a new warren in the English countryside while facing predators, men, and neighboring rabbit tribes. You might be expecting a fantasy book, but Watership Down is just a book about bunnies. An extremely compelling story about bunnies that will hook you from the first chapter.
Carrie
Stephen King
You can’t really talk about books about the 1970s without mentioning Stephen King’s debut novel, Carrie. The shock factor is high in this original story of a high school girl developing telekinetic powers. Mistreated by her family and her classmates, Carrie is pushed to the breaking point, setting her on her famous path of revenge.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams’s science fiction satire starts with the destruction of Earth through eminent domain laws for the new galactic highway. At the last moment, Arthur Dent is saved by his friend Ford Prefect and off they go on an epic journey through the galaxy. A perfect blend of dark humor and science fiction, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a modern classic that evokes the spirit of the 1970s.
Nonfiction Books About the 1970s
All the President’s Men
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
On June 17, 1972, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein didn’t think much of being assigned to cover a break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Yet, through a series of reporting, Woodward and Bernstein were able to connect to a massive slush fund and a corrupt attorney general and eventually President Nixon himself. Published just two months before Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men showcases the investigative work it took to topple a corrupt president.
Furious Hours
Casey Cep
Casey Cep looks at a fascinating true crime story from the 1970s, where Reverend Willie Maxwell was accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money, a case that Harper Lee spent years investigating in hopes to turn into a book. Although the state tried to prosecute him, Maxwell was acquitted with the help of his savvy lawyer Tom Radney. Then, at the funeral of Maxwell’s niece whom he is assumed to have killed, a man shot Maxwell in cold blood and is acquitted of that murder with the help of the same Tom Radney.
Publication Date: 7 Mary 2019
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
Bag Man
Rachel Maddow & Michael Yarvitz
Although President Nixon’s Watergate scandal is a defining event of the 1970s, few people remember the details of Nixon’s vice-president. The former governor of Maryland, Spiro T. Agnew had long used his political positions to run a criminal bribery and extortion ring. At the height of the Watergate scandal, three young prosecutors set out to prove Agnew’s crimes before Agnew became President.
Which Books About the 1970s Are You Most Interested in Reading?
What do you think? Do you enjoy reading books about the 1970s? What 1970s books would you recommend? As always, let me know in the comments!
More Historical Fiction Reading Lists:
Ann says
May I suggest adding Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane to the list. Set in 1974 South Boston on the eve of school desegregation. It is tough & gritty and the character of Mary Pat Fennessy will stick with you. Warning: there is language & violence. It is oftentimes downright brutal.
This was on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading list. Politics aside, this is a great read. I was in a bit of a rut, jumping from one book to the next. My attention span has been just awful. Just when I thought I’d lost my reading mojo, I cracked this one open.
I am finishing it up today. I almost could have read it in a day, it was that gripping. This one will make you think about all that is wrong with our society and sadly many things have not changed.
Rachael, good luck with the school year! I have a 10 year old grandson in Germany who will jump from elementary to high school. At least that is what my daughter says. It sounds similar to our “middle school” or when I was a kid “intermediate,” or 6th grade. She says they will all be in the same buildings. Surely not the same classes?
Anyway, major transition & more than a little sad because he will separate from the younger brother who attended the same elementary.
I just feel like we will lose the “little kid” we know a little too soon.
Anyway, I am hoping this book will end on a high note and I hold onto the hope that there is some good in the world.
Cindy Roe Littlejohn says
A favorite of mine written in the late 1970s was “The Far Pavilions,” an epic novel abput British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye. It tells the story of an English officer during the British Raj. The novel is a masterpiece of storytelling and is based on the biographical writings of the author’s grandfather. It was a bestseller in the 70s and one of my all time favorites.