The 2019 national summer reading theme is "A Universe of Stories" in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. This list contains a selection of fiction, nonfiction, and movies exploring the 1960s.
See the Apollo 11 booklist for reading materials related to space achievements and space travel.
|
|
Fiction
|
|
|
American Pastoral
Philip Roth - Houghton Mifflin Format: Book
|
With vigorous realism, Roth takes readers back to the conflicts and violent transitions of the 1960s.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bad Boy Brawly Brown : an Easy Rawlins mystery
Mosley, Walter - 0753818353 Format: Book
|
This entry in Mosley's ongoing mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins is set in 1964 Los Angeles. Easy is asked to track down the son of a friend who has joined a dangerous revolutionary political group known as The Clan of the First Men.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Freshwater Road
Denise Nicholas - Surrey Books Format: Book
|
From award-winning actress Denise Nicholas: a ten-year anniversary reissue of her dramatic coming of age story set in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Help
Kathryn Stockett - G.P. Putnam's Sons Format: Book
|
Three women join together to write a tell-all book about the work as African American maids in the South, that forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town.
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award-winning film , nominated... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War
Karl Marlantes - Atlantic Monthly Press Format: Book
|
The timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam. Written by a highly decorated Marine veteran Matterhorn is a classic of combat literature.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nora, Nora: A Novel
Anne Rivers Siddons - Harper Perennial; Reprint edition Format: Paperback
|
Nora, Nora tells the story of free-thinking Nora Findlay who turns tiny Lytton, Georgia, on its ear in the summer of 1961.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Park Avenue Summer
Renée Rosen - Berkley Format: Paperback
|
It’s 1965 and Cosmopolitan magazine’s brazen new editor in chief—Helen Gurley Brown—shocks America and saves a dying publication by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Monk Kidd - Viking Adult Format: Book
|
A heartwarming coming of age tale set in South Carolina in 1964. Adapted into an award-winning film starring Dakota Fanning Queen Latifah Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summer of '69
Elin Hilderbrand - Little, Brown and Company Format: Hardcover
|
The #1 New York Times Bestseller Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of a summer when everything changed, in New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand's first historical novel Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. It's... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The summer we got saved
Devoto, Pat Cunningham. - Grand Central Pub Format: Book
|
Embracing the conservative belief systems of her Southern hometown, Tab witnesses profound changes in the attitudes of her friends and family throughout the course of a 1960s gubernatorial campaign.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nonfiction
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Road to Woodstock
Michael Lang - Ecco Format: Book
|
In The Road to Woodstock, Michael Lang recaptures the magic of the historic three day concert.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Vietnam War: An Intimate History
Geoffrey C Ward - Knopf Format: Book
|
From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, a vivid, uniquely powerful history of the conflict that tore America apart and the companion volume to the major, multipart PBS film. PBS series is available from the Eustis Memorial Library in DVD format.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Woodstock: 50th Anniversary Edition: Three Days that Rocked the World
Mike Evans - Sterling Format: Hardcover
|
A special 50th anniversary edition of our lavishly illustrated ultimate guide to Woodstock, with a day-by-day, act-by-act account of everything that went down on Yasgur's farm - along with interviews and quotes from those who were there. Woodstock defined a generation and exemplified... |
|
|
|
|
|
DVDs
|
|
|
1969
Downey, Robert. - MGM Home Entertainment, Format: DVD
|
A joyful and heartbreaking story that captures the music, the anger, and the innocence of the Vietnam era. Rated R.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chappaquiddick
Jason Clarke - Lionsgate Format: DVD
|
Based on historical events, this suspenseful thriller examines the infamous 1969 death of Mary Jo Kopechne, who drowned after Senator Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Detroit Digital
Kathryn Bigelow Format: DVD
|
Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal reteam for this docudrama about the Detroit race riots of July 1967. Rated R.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hairspray
John Travolta Format: DVD
|
During the summer of 1962, teenager Tracy Turnblad, with big hair and a big heart, wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corney Collins Show" and is transformed overnight from outsider to celebrity. Rated PG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lackawanna Blues
George C Wolfe Format: DVD
|
A young boy's life is shaped by the characters in the boarding house where he lives. Based on Ruben Santiago-Hudson's autobiographical play set in 1950's and 1960's Lackawanna, New York. Rated PG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nina
Zoe Saldana - Image Entertainment Format: DVD
|
The life and story of late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone, with a look at her rise to fame and the relationship between her and her manager, Clifton Henderson. Rated NR.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selma
David Oyelowo - Paramount Format: DVD
|
Selma chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. Rated PG-13.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shag
Zelda Barron - Olive Films Format: DVD
|
Four attractive young lasses head to the surf and sand of Myrtle Beach, SC during the sumer of 1963. Rated PG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Taking Woodstock
Demetri Martin - Universal Studios / Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) Format: DVD
|
Inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber. When Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit on a music festival, he calls the producers thinking he could drum up some much-needed business for his parents' motel. Three weeks later, half a million people are on their... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Woodstock diary 1969: Friday Saturday Sunday
Douglas, Alan, 1931-2014. - Warner Bros. Pictures, Format: DVD
|
The Woodstock diary is an enthralling "Fly on the wall" documentary about the creation of Woodstock and of the actual three-day event itself. Rated NR.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A walk on the moon
Diane Lane; Viggo Mortensen; Liev Schreiber; Anna Paquin; Tovah Feldshuh; et al; All authors - Miramax Home Entertainment Format: DVD
|
The personal turning point of a family in crisis is portrayed against the backdrop of the summer of 1969. Rated R.
|
|
|
|
|
|