I love the ’90s, too: Empire Records, Cruel Intentions, the Delia’s catalog, shopping at Merry-Go-Round and Contempo Casuals, slap bracelets…I could go on forever. Lilith Fair, Dazed and Confused, Nirvana, and grunge all have special places in my heart. I am a child of the ’80s and ’90s, and often scroll the nostalgia Instagram pages, remembering things I forgot about and bringing back lots of other memories. Don’t get me wrong: I know that as a young kid in a fairly secluded environment, I wasn’t aware of a lot. While I don’t remember some of the more serious events like the Iran-Contra hearings, I do remember reading about Christa McAuliffe and watching the Challenger explode on live television. I remember the Lisa Steinberg case, Ariel Glaser and Ryan White and the discussion about HIV and AIDS (and later, I learned about Reagan’s handling of it…or lack thereof), the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rodney King, Operation Solomon, and much more. While these two decades are full of historically and socially relevant events, I remember it from a kid/teen’s perspective. Knowing all the things I know now of those decades, there’s a different backdrop to many of my memories if the time. For me, this doesn’t take away from the memories; it adds texture, context, and information to them. Sometimes the urge to revisit these two decades will hit me, and of course, I turn to books. I turn to books when I just need a little escape from today. When I’m missing my grandparents and all the times I spent with them as a kid and teen. Or even when I want to read more about an event I didn’t know much about back then (or now). Books are a great way to spend some time with memories of childhood, and I’m sure it would be infinitely better if such nostalgia were paired with snacks like Gushers, Dunkaroos, and Giggles cookies. For even more about the ’80s and ’90s, check out this post of must-read novels from the 1990s and this post on ‘80s nostalgia book recommendations.
