Recs if you like The Westing Game...

books featured in the cozy video game “tiny bookshop”

All fiction books that appear in the Tiny Bookshop catalogue! Would sort them by genre as I read along.

Bring on those Gen Y memories! A list of books likely to give people born between 1981 and 1996 a lot of feelings.

This list is for those of us who grew up eagerly awaiting the Scholastic Book Fair, watching Reading Rainbow (or Wishbone!), and dreaming of a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

Note: these are not books published in 1981-1996, but books that had a hold on the millennial generation.

Also check out the Dear America series, American Girl series & Royal Diaries series.

Books that inspired Wes Anderson movies or have that same feeling of whimsy, quirkiness and a bit of nostalgia 💛

The most popular book of each year according to Goodreads (Posted by Sharon on April 1, 2025). In order of oldest (1925) to newest (2024)

books that remind me of my Gen Z childhood, not necessarily books published 1997-2012. feel free to leave recs in the comments!

From the game. Because I can't be the only one using it as an excuse to add to my tbr

(almost) every book in the game: tiny bookshop

Books you didn't realize were written by Jewish authors. Bonus points if you studied them in school and it just... never came up.

The books your teacher made you read between the ages of 11-14. They changed the way you saw the world, they made you realize books were more than just goofy or sentimental stories you gobbled up before bedtime, and they stuck with you, all these years later.

Suggestions welcome, especially from non-American readers!!

Note: this list was made by a Millennial, so I'd love to hear from some different generations! What did your teachers assign you?

This is a list of (most) every book mentioned in the video game 'Tiny Bookshop'

According to the ALA, "The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Just realised that the game actually features real books! So these are some of the books that show up in the game

Complete as of August 2026.

Here are many beloved and distinguished children’s novels that have won the Newbery Gold award and the silver Newbury Honor award, which were first started over a century ago in 1922. There are many choices, old and new, that have cemented their place in children’s literature for any reader to explore.

the books you read during recess instead of playing kickball

Pair with "Level 7 – Exploring Your World" book.