Books Set in the '80s
14 Books Set in the 1980s, From Malibu Rising to Trust Exercise
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The 1980s gave us so much to be nostalgic for — big hair, neon fashion, modern rock, high school movies — it's no surprise that so many authors have written books set in the '80s. From Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising, which follows the children of the famous rockstar Mick Riva, to Susan Choi's Trust Exercise about a group of students at a highly competitive performing arts high school, the pillars of the 1980s are weaved throughout so many novels. And while some of these stories solely take place in the '80s, others spend a part of their story in the decade, such as Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half, for example.
Whether you simply love the '80s and all the nostalgia the decade evokes or are following along with the 2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge and want to check off the "A book set in the 1980s" prompt, keep scrolling to learn more about these novels that should be on your must-read list of books.
And if you want more ideas for books to check off additional prompts for this year's POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, check out these social-horror novels and the books becoming movies in 2022.
