New releases are great, but with hundreds of years of literature there can be some great stories in older books too. With that in mind, our new regular feature is to look back on five decades each month as we look back on this day in literature throughout the last fifty years. Each month we will feature a book release from the same month ten, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty years ago and hopefully they’ll be books that will either trigger happy memories for you, or give you something to add to the TBR pile!
As we start our first feature, in March 2016, here’s the last fifty years in literature:
March 2006
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, The Book Thief was first released in March 2006. The wonderful story of a young German girl during World War II is often mentioned on our page, and has now been released as a movie too.
March 1996
That Summer – Sarah Dessen
We have a few fans of Sarah Dessen on the page and the author writes good young adult fiction. It was in March 1996 that her debut novel, That Summer was released.
March 1986
Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card
For those fans of the Ender’s Saga, no doubt you were waiting patiently for the third book in the series, Speaker for the Dead, released in March 1986.
March 1976
Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey
Who doesn’t love the Pern Riders in the Harper Hall series by Anne McCaffrey? The entire series has really stood the test of time, because the first book in the series, Dragonsong was released in March, way back in 1976.
March 1966
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita has made a bit of a resurgence of late, no doubt thanks partly to Daniel Radcliffe who named it his favourite novel of all time, quite publically. Well if you’ve just heard of it, it’s not new as it was released 50 years ago in March 1966.
So that’s it, the first edition of our on this day in literature series. See you next month as we follow April through the last fifty years of new releases!
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