A friend of mine has been re-reading SF books from his collection once we reach the year in which the book is set. This only works if a specific year is called

A friend of mine has been re-reading SF books from his collection once we reach the year in which the book is set. This only works if a specific year is called out, of course. And I'm not sure what he does when a book takes place over a long stretch of time. But it seems like a clever way to revisit older SF novels.