1. The Radioactive Camel Affair

 

By Peter Leslie (1966)

Why would you not read a book called The Radioactive Camel? This sounds more in line with the campier later seasons of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., as Napoleon and Illya track down some missing Uranium 235. Leslie also cranked out a bunch of novels in the Mack Bolan adventure series that once thrilled many young men.

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2. The Happy Hippo

 

By Frank Denver (1967)

We're not certain how they squeezed an entire novel out of a relationship between a chimp and a hippo, but safari hats off to the Daktari writers.

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3. The Monkees Go Mod

 

By Patrick O'Connor (1967)

The silly psychedelia of the television series carried over to the page, as the book jumped from comic strips to surreal short stories to dadaist art. In that way, it was likely closer to Head than the show. Check out 10 more things you might not know about the Monkees.

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4. A Groovy Way to Die

 

By Richard Deming (1968)

From the trippy pattern to the groovy title, this book oozes 1960s cool. Even the adjectives are extremely of-the-era, as the Mod Squad clashes with "far-out politics and up-tight murder." The next book in the series was The Sock-it-to-Em Murders, naturally.

5. The Evils of Peyton Place

 

By Roger Fuller (1969)

Oooh, now this sounds salacious. We would have had to have stashed this under our bed. This volume focuses on the "brassy and immoral" character of Anne Higgenbotham.

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6. The Flying Nun: The Little Green Men

 

By William Johnston (1969)

Congress sends investigators to check out reports of U.F.O.s But are they really just flying nuns? Probably! Still, we like the idea of an alien encounter with Sister Bertrille.

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7. JoAnne Worley's Chicken Joke Book

 

By JoAnne Worley with Dick Matthews (1969)

Okay, it's not a novel, but it is an entire book of chicken jokes. This Laugh-In tie-in followed up a self titled comedy tome, Mod, Mod World and Inside Laugh-In.

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8. Bomb in the Classroom

 

By William Johnston (1971)

Room 222 dealt with some heavy issues. These books really do venture into more morbid territory, don't they? And wait until you get to the next three…

9. The Bugaloos: Rock City Rebels

 

By Chris Stratton (1971)

The Sid and Marty Krofft production starred in a trio of novels, beginning with The Bugaloos and the Vile Vibes and ending with Benita's Platter Pollution. So, yes, the trippy "vibes" were carried over to the prose as well. In case you are wondering, the Bugaloos are not the rebels. That would be a group of rebellious teenagers who are mad at Benita for running over people with a steamroller.

10. The Partridge Family: Who's That Laughing in the Grave?

 

By Vance Staton (1972)

When we think Partridge Family we do not think "fiendish peril," but that is just what makes this cover so alluring. Is Keith Partridge the one laughing from the grave?! This "exciting novel" asks that you "dig" it.

11. The Brady Bunch in Adventures on the High Seas

 

By Jack Matcha (1973)

The Bradys head out on a cruise that quickly goes south thanks to a gang of jewel thieves. "Alice, Greg and Cindy are trapped in a locked room," the jacket blurb exclaims. This all seems rather dark for a Brady Bunch adventure.

12. M*A*S*H Goes to Las Vegas

 

By Richard Hooker and William E. Butterworth (1976)

"The madcap medics invade Sin City!" the cover proclaims. Radar is getting married at the Nero's Villa casino, and Archbishop Mulcahy is presiding over the event. The 4077th ventured far and wide in its series of novels. This was followed up by M*A*S*H Goes to Vienna, M*A*S*H Goes to Montreal and M*A*S*H Goes to Moscow, just to name a few.

13. FONZIE GOES TO COLLEGE

 

By William Johnston (1977)

Fonzie does not exactly seem like the University of Wisconsin type, and indeed he takes an unconventional approach to secondary education. The hip jukebox kicker heads to Speedy U., an institution promising a degree in a matter of weeks. He studies auto mechanics. According to one Amazon reviewer, the colorful characters include "a clumsy-chemist who's trying to invent coffee-flavored toothpaste; a would-be brain surgeon who practices on a head of cauliflower; and the beautiful Gisele, who seems to care more for her chicken than she does for the Fonz." You were expecting a climactic conclusion to the Happy Days book series?

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14. The Sweathog Newshawks

 

By William Johnston (1977)

After Boom-Boom Washington's puff piece about himself is rejected by the school paper, the Sweathogs create their own press. Its motto is "Give the People What They Want, and What They Want is Tragedy, Crime and Sex." Something tells us Vinnie Barbarino wasn't exactly Tom Wolfe.

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15. "Die, Chameleon!"

 

By Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston (1986)

What a delicious, cheesy, pulpy title. Of course, Chameleon is no lizard, rather a character played by Fred Astaire on the TV show. Turns out, as we learn here, he's Starbuck's real father!

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