Books representing my lifetime

Earlier this week I posted a list of the 75 best books of the last 75 years. The list was put together by Ann Pratchett for the 75th anniversary of the PARADE magazine. At the end of the post I challenged myself and my readers to create a list of best books read in our lifetime. The following is my attempt to cover my life with books. As you will see, I did not read the books during the given year necessarily, they were just published in that year. 

Creating the list was way harder than I thought it would be. For one thing, I have not gone back and read many books published during my childhood, hence the high number of (C) children's titles without an (A) adult title. I discovered a few things along the way, too. Little Bear was not written by Maurice Sendak, as I always thought. He was just the illustrator of my first childhood book. In 2008 there was a shift in publishing and more YA titles than adult titles were sold that year. That trend continues. One more note, many of the books I have listed were books I liked fine but in no way represent the best books I've ever read. Often I included them on the list because they were memorable in some way and I continue to think about them even now.

Here is my original post about the Parade Magazine 75 best in past 75 years. I challenge you to create a list of books which represent your lifetime. Good luck!

Books I’ve read and enjoyed over the course of my lifetime;

 published 1957-2016

A=Adult titles; C=Children’s or YA titles

1957	A-On the Beach by Nevil Shute C-Little Bear by Elise Holmelund, ill. By M. Sendak	1987	A-Beloved by Toni Morrison (tied) A-The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher
1958	A-Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe C-Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes	1988	A-Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver C-The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
1959	A-Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank C-The Birthday Book by Dr. Seuss	1989	A-The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay C-Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
1960	A-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee C-Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell	1990	A-The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien C-Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
1961	C- Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls C-The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (Tied)	1991	A-The Firm by John Grisham C- If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numberoff
1962	C- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle	1992	A- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn C- Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
1963	A-The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath C-Where the Wild Things Are by M. Sendak	1993	A- The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx C- The Giver by Lois Lowry
1964	A- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway C- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein	1994	A- Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (tied)  A-Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
1965	A-In Cold Blood by Truman Capote C-The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary	1995	C-The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (tied) C-Sabriel by Garth Nix
1966	None	1996	A-Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt C- Lily's Purple Purse by Kevin Henkes
1967	A-One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez C-The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton	1997	A-The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy C- Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone by JK Rowling (first pub. in UK, series complete 2007.)
1968	A-The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough C-Ramona the Pest by  B. Cleary	1998	A-The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver C-Holes by Louis Sachar
1969	A- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelo C-The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle	1999	A-Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Letham C-Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
1970	A-The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison C-The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White	2000	A-In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson C-Because of Winn-Dixie by DiCamillo
1971	A-The Hiding Place by C. ten Boom C-Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH by O’Brien	2001	A-Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (tied) A-Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
1972	A-All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot C-My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok	2002	A- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides C- Feed by M.T. Anderson
1973	C-The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Green	2003	A- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini C- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
1974	A-All the President’s Men by Woodward and Bernstein C-There’s a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss	2004	A- The Plot Against America by Philip Roth C- The Race to Save the Lord God Bird by Philip Hoose
1975	C-Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit	2005	A-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls C-Looking for Alaska by John Green
1976	A- Roots by Alex Haley C-The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter	2006	A-The Worst Hard Time by T. Egan   C-The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
1977	A-The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough C-Miss Nelson is Missing by Allard and Marshall	2007	A- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz C- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling
1978	A- The World According to Garp by John Irving C- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett	2008	A-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Barrows and Shaffer C- The Hunger Games by S. Collins
1979	A- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams C-The Neverending Story by Michael Ende	2009	A-The Help by Kathryn Stockett (tied) A- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
1980	A-A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole C-The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Noble	2010	A- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand C- Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
1981	A-When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner	2011	A-Ready Player One by Ernest Cline C-Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
1982	A- The Color Purple by AliceWalker  A-Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally (tied) C-Jamberry by Bruce Degen	2012	A-Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn C- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
1983	A- The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett C-The Berenstain Bears and a Messy Room by Stan Berenstain	2013	A-The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt C-Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
1984	A- Cold Sassy Tree by Olive A. Burns C-The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by A. Wood and D. Wood	2014	A-All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr C- I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
1985	A- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood C-The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg	2015	A-Circling the Sun by Paula McLain C-Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
1986	A-Maus I  by Art Speigelman C-The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon	2016	A-My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout C-The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (4th in Raven Cycles eries)