I’m very excited that the 1936 Club starts tomorrow – a week, run by me and Karen, where we invite everyone to read and review books published in 1936. It’s definitely been a bumper year of choices for me – I had literally dozens of options, and have narrowed down with difficulty.
I’m actually away at the end of the week, so may be a bit delayed with catching up – but please put your links in the comments here. If you don’t have a blog/GoodReads/LibraryThing etc, then do put your thoughts in the comments.
Happy reading!
Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham
The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
Întâmplări în irealitatea imediată by Max Blecher (and three translations)
Case for Three Detectives by Leo Bruce
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
War of the Newts by Karel Čapek
Lizzy’s Literary Life
Kinship of All Species
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Briefer Than Literal Statement
Little G by E.M. Channon
The Captive Reader
Stuck in a Book
Short stories by Agatha Christie
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
Staircase Wit
Book Around the Corner
Briefer Than Literal Statement
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
Scones and Chaise Longues
Hopewell’s Public Library of Life
Books Please
She Reads Novels
Bitter Tea and Mystery
The Strange Case of Harriet Hall by Moray Dalton
Susannah of the Mounties by Margaret Dennison
Death in the Back Seat by Dorothy Cameron Disney
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Trisha Day
Book Word
What Me Read
Literary Gitane
Drums Along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds
Murder in the Cathedral
Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon
The General by C.S. Forester
All That Swagger by Miles Franklin
The Passion Years by Arthur Gask
Miss Linsey and Pa by Stella Gibbons
A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge
Antigua Penny, Puce by Robert Graves
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene
The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
Desperate Reader
Becky’s Book Reviews
Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer
Desperate Reader
Staircase Wit
Live Alone and Like it by Marjorie Hillis
The Captive Reader
She Reads Novels
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
Parrots by Rex Ingamells
Death at the President’s Lodgings by Michael Innes
Minty Alley by C.L.R. James
Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home
Heavenali
Together and Apart by Margaret Kennedy
Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston
Bitter Tea and Mystery
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
The Haunter of the Dark by HP Lovecraft
The Shadow Out of Time by H.P. Lovecraft
Mephisto by Klaus Mann
Thank You, Mr Moto by John P Marquand
Death of Anton by Alan Melville
Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
Collected Stories by Vladimir Nabokov
The Enchanted Voyage by Robert Nathan
No Place Like Home by Beverley Nichols
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Stuck in a Book
Begin Again by Ursula Orange
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Pining for the West
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Book Around the Corner
The Swedish Cavalier by Leo Perutz
Houses as Friends by Dorothy Pym
The Poisoners by George R Preedy
One Murdered: Two Dead by Milton Propper
A Puzzle for Fools by Patrick Quentin
Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome
Three Comrades by Erich Maria Remarque
The Fortunes of Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
The Holiday Game by Mihail Sebastian
All Star Cast by Naomi Royde-Smith
Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith
Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson
Ordeal by Hunger by George R. Stewart
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
It Pays to be Good by Noel Streatfeild
Briefer Than Literal Statement
Pining for the West
The Wife Traders by Arthur Stringer
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki
A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
August Folly by Angela Thirkell
Who Killed Stella Pomeroy? by Sir Basil Thomson
Murder in the Bookshop by Carolyn Wells
The Shape of Things to Come by H.G. Wells
The Thinking Reed by Rebecca West
The Other Day by Dorothy Whipple
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White
Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse
Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse
Fires by Marguerite Yourcenar
I don’t think we’ve ever had a year with so many options! So difficult to choose! :D
I’ve just found 6 of the titles in my home library so must make a decision about which one to read first as we have only a week.
(Noel Streatfield, Ballet Shoes: Sylvia Townsend Warner, Summer Will Show: Graham Greene, A Gun for Sale: Dauphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn: George’s Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest: Djuna Barnes, Nightwood.
Advice please.!
.
Daphne is always a god choice ;-)
Jamaica Inn, Daphne Du Maurier, written in 1936
Set in 1835, this is a perfect example of everything Gothic novels are known for, beginning with its first sentence: “It was a cold and gray day in late November. . .the air was clammy and cold, and for all the tightly closed windows it penetrated the interior of the coach. . .” Inside, Mary Yellin is on her way to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn, located in a bleak and desolate part of the rugged and windswept Cornish Moors. Once the coachman warns that it’s an evil place, we know things are bound to turn out badly and despite the brave face Mary puts on she quickly discovers she has made a terrible mistake by coming here.
No Gothic novel is complete without a heavy dose of romance, and against her better judgement Mary is drawn to her uncle’s roguish brother Jem, a horse thief. Meanwhile the atmosphere at Jamaica Inn has grown even more dark and ominous and to her horror, Mary comes face to face with her uncle’s involvement in a smuggling ring and the unspeakable acts of cruelty and murder that are part of it. Trying to escape, she is rescued by the strange and mysterious Reverend Francis Davey and despite his calm and measured exterior Mary wonders if he is hiding some sort of secret.
One reason Du Maurier is able to sustain this novel’s all-pervading sense of isolation, danger, and suspense is because of the villainous characters she has created who come across as truly evil in contrast to Mary’s determination to stand up to them. But what makes this such a classic is Du Maurier’s gift for creating atmosphere and the ominous sense of tension it evokes: … it seemed to Mary that the darkness of the night became intensified and the air closer…The horses picked their way delicately, and now and again stopped in their tracks and snorted as though in fear and uncertain of their steps. The ground was soggy now and treacherous and though Mary could no longer see the land on either side she knew by the feel of the soft yielding grass that they were encompassed by marshes. . . She glanced at her companion to discover his mood. He leant forward in his saddle, straining his eyes to the darkness that at every moment became thicker and harder to penetrate and she saw by his tense profile and his thin mouth tight closed like a trap that he was concentrating every nerve on their passage that was fraught suddenly with a new danger….”
It was difficult to put this novel aside once I’d started, especially since I was listening to the Audible version, masterfully narrated by Tony Britton.
Thanks Trisha for your thorough review! And good to see you here, I had no idea you were participating. I’ll post two reviews for this event on Tuesday
Thanks so much for adding this! I saw a play of it once, but have never read.
I read this one, too. Review coming later this week!
I started a bit early with my Odon von Horvath plays from 1936 last week, but plan to fit in at least two other reviews this coming week – one scheduled for tomorrow (Max Blecher) and War with the Newts hopefully on Wednesday, if I get to write it in time!
I would love to participate but I also try to reduce my TBR pile. Not only is there no book on there from 1936 but I wouldn’t be able to get one to read next week. So, I’ll have to pass, unfortunately. But I’ll have a look what books you are all reading.
Already finished my first book, Anne of Windy Poplars, and about to start my second! I’m finally going to read The Other Day, Dorothy Whipple’s memoir. I’m really looking forward to reading all the posts, it’s such a great year for books.
I’ve got Novel on Yellow Paper first, but then I hope to squeeze in a few more. Looking forward to this! It is such a great year.
I have finished two books for 1936, Together and Apart by Margaret Kennedy which I review tomorrow, and The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White (the inspiration behind The Lady Vanishes). Now into the last sixty odd pages of Minty Alley by C L R James. My challenge will be to review them all this week. A bumper year indeed.
I’ve already blogged about at least 12 previous 1936 reads but so far I’ve only read Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome for this upcoming Club week, but I plan to read a few others. https://piningforthewest.co.uk/2021/04/10/the-1936-club/
I have one book read. I may get to Jamacia Inn as well. I enjoy these challenges do much!
Here’s my first one for the club: Dorothy Cameron Disney’s debut: Death in the Back Seat
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/12/the-1936-club-death-in-the-backseat-by-dorothy-cameron-disney/
Thanks for hosting this. And I agree: problem of plenty, this year.
I read A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
http://ruthiellareads.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-1936-club-shilling-for-candles.html
Glad I managed to participate this year. I blew it last November! Looking forward to reading everyone’s posts.
I was planning to finally read The War with the Newts by Karel Kapek, but still have 1.5 of my planned Iain Banks reading to get through first… fingers crossed I’ll get to it.
Here is my link to books published in 1936 that I’ve already read. I’ve just finished Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie – my review later – and I hope to read Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston later on this week.
sorry – forgot to add my link!!! – https://booksplease.org/2021/04/12/the-1936-club-books-ive-already-read/
I’m reading Minty Alley which I hadn’t realised Ali was reading too (hooray!) and hoping I might fit in something else …
This is my first time participating, and thank you for giving me the push to finally get to Nightwood by Djuna Barnes. I’ll link to my review in this post.
(My name has the link but in case – http://readingenvy.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-nightwood.html)
I read Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George R. Stewart.
Here’s my review of August Folly by Angela Thirkell: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/04/12/review-1644-the-1936-club-august-folly/
Here is my Goodreads link for Young Men in Spats by P.G. Wodehouse: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3931593145
I started with Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie but will review some further off the beaten trail later in the week!
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/cards-on-table-by-agatha-christie-for.html
Here’s a round-up with a couple that I read a bit early (last week)–it has quick reviews plus links to the full reviews already posted. I hope to add a couple more before the week’s out: https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-1936-club-review-round-up.html
Here’s Stevie Smith’s Novel on Yellow Paper:
http://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2021/04/stevie-smiths-novel-on-yellow-paper.html
plus, if you like, one I read a while ago, Graham Greene’s A Gun For Sale
https://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2017/08/graham-greenes-gun-for-sale.html
I’ll be reading Lovecraft’s In the Mountains of Madness.
I’ve reviewed Graham Greene’s A Gun for Sale: https://readingmattersblog.com/2021/04/12/a-gun-for-sale-by-graham-greene/
I read Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery, fourth in the Anne of Green Gables series. Here’s a link: https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2021/04/1936-club-anne-of-windy-poplars-by-l-m.html
Thanks again for hosting, there are so many great books published this year!
Here’s my second read: The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/1936-club-the-santa-klaus-murder-by-mavis-doriel-hay/
Here is my first review:
https://sconesandchaiseslongues.blogspot.com/2021/04/for-1936club-murder-in-mesopotamia-by.html
I’m hoping to get South Riding done by the end of the week.
Here’s my review of Nightwood by Djuna Barnes: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/review-1645-the-1936-club-nightwood/
Thanks so much for doing this Simon. I had a lot of fun reading, reviewing, and creating my post for this feature. Please find here my two reviews: Double Indemnity, by James M. Cain, and The Swedish Cavalier, by Leo Perutz: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/04/06/my-top-6-books-for-the-1936-club/
This is so cool, so many books I have never heard of!!
Here’s mine: The Thinking Reed, by Rebecca West https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/04/14/the-thinking-reed-by-rebecca-west/#comment-178241
Here’s another one: A Puzzle for Fools by Patrick Quentin
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/14/1936-club-a-puzzle-for-fools-by-patrick-quentin/
Here’s my review of Live Alone and Like It by Marjorie Hillis:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2021/04/14/live-alone-and-like-it-by-marjorie-hillis-1936club/
I should have another one later in the week!
One Murdered: Two Dead by Milton Propper: https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2021/04/one-murdered-two-dead.html
Hoping to have at least one more (possibly two).
A second review: John Marquand’s Thank You, Mr. Moto
http://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2021/04/john-p-marquands-thank-you-mr-moto.html
I reread The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer. I had forgotten the similarities between it and Northanger Abbey! It was fun.
Here’s my review of The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/04/15/review-1646-the-1936-club-the-abc-murders/
Two from me:
Susannah of the Mounties by Muriel Denison
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/susannah-of-mounties-by-muriel-dennison.html
Death at the President’s Lodgings by Michael Innes http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/death-at-presidents-lodging-by-michael.html
Another 1936 post! The Other Day by Dorothy Whipple.
Nooo! Forgot to add the link:
https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2021/04/1936-club-other-day-by-dorothy-whipple.html
I have a second contribution, for Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston.
http://bitterteaandmystery.blogspot.com/2021/04/1936club-murder-in-piccadilly.html
Here’s another one: The Poisoners by George R. Preedy
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/15/the-1936-club-the-poisoners-by-george-r-preedy-marjorie-bowen/
Here’s my review of Agatha Christie’s Murder in Mesopotamia –
https://booksplease.org/2021/04/16/murder-in-mesopotamia-by-agatha-christie/
This none wasn’t entirely a delight to read, but a very salutary reminder of how objectionable past attitudes can be. It had all sorts of moments. https://desperatereader.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-fortunes-of-captain-blood-rafael.html
Good review–I had hoped to get through this one, too, but life got in the way. I’ve put it in my list for the Classics Club spin though. I’ve linked to my 1936 Club Review–Agatha Christie so far less of a challenge than Daphne!
Sorry it’s late Simon, but here is my review of Winifred Holtby’s South Riding:
https://sconesandchaiseslongues.blogspot.com/2021/04/for-1936club-south-riding-by-winifred.html
Here’s my link for Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/review-1647-the-1936-club-jamaica-inn/
The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/1936-club-the-dark-frontier-by-eric-ambler/
Hi Simon
I read It Pays to be Good by Noel Streatfeild. Review here: https://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-1936-club-it-pays-to-be-good-noel.html
A third one from me.
https://bitterteaandmystery.blogspot.com/2021/04/1936club-murder-in-mesopotamia.html
Another 1936 book! https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2021/04/who-killed-stella-pomeroy.html
Here’s mine: https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/the-1936-club-murder-in-the-cathedral-and-ballet-shoes/ (I can’t believe no one else has chosen these two titles so far!)
No review to link to at the moment I’m afraid, but I’m going to add mine anyway as I’m surprised not to see anyone else mention it here: Lettice Cooper’s The New House (mine’s the Persephone edition).
Here’s my review of Murder in Mesopotamia:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2021/04/17/murder-in-mesopotamia-by-agatha-christie-1936club/
As time is running short, I have reviewed three mysteries in one post. The mysteries are:
1. Death of Anton by Alan Melville
2. Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston
3. The Strange Case of Harriet Hall by Moray Dalton
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/the-1936-club-three-mysteries/
And another–Murder in the Bookshop by Carolyn Wells
https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2021/04/murder-in-bookshop.html
I read Miss Buncle Married by DE Stevenson.
Thanks for hosting Simon!
https://bagfullofbooks.com/2021/04/18/miss-buncle-married-by-d-e-stevenson-1936club/
Another reading of Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie here: https://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-1936-club-cards-on-table.html
thank you,
Victoria
All That Swagger by Miles Franklin – https://bronasbooks.com/2021/04/17/all-that-swagger-miles-franklin-1936club/comment-page-1/#comment-10111
Not as engaging as I had hoped.
Thanks, Simon and Karen! What a diverse year of books! Here are my final two:
Drums Along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds (allegedly just behind Gone With the Wind in the bestseller lists)
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/drums-along-mohawk-by-walter-d-edmonds.html
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (definitely my all time 1936 favorite although The Talisman Ring is up there, as is Jamaica Inn)
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/ballet-shoes-by-noel-streatfeild-who-is.html
Still enjoying everyone’s reviews, although need to turn my mind to bibliographic analysis as it is the last week of the semester.
Under the wire, I’ve just posted my review of Arthur Stringer’s 1936 novel The Wife Traders, published (and bowdlerized) that same year in England as Tooloona:
http://brianbusby.blogspot.com/2021/04/arthur-stringer-unshackled-then.html
Last one before time runs out: Three Comrades by Erich Maria Remarque
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/1936-club-three-comrades-by-erich-maria-remarque/
Once again thanks a lot for hosting this. It has been a wonderful week and I am already looking forward to the year selected next.
Am I too late? Just finished Robert Graves’ “Antigua Penny, Puce” from 1936:
Light hearted, far fetched but quite entertaining tale of rival siblings. Brother Oliver is a generally unsympathetic boy, with an interest in stamps. His much cleverer younger sister – someone who will not let a matter drop till she wins- is made co-owner of the collection.
Years on, with Oliver an author, and sister Jane a highly successful theatre owner and business woman, she seeks to regain her half of the stamps. Including the eponymous rare one.
The rights of ownership of that specimen, however, prove to be a legal minefield- it was purloined by Jane’s scientist chum, Edith- a lady secretly infatuated with Jane’s much derided brother…
Quite an enjoyable light read.
Last one from me as well, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
https://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-1936-club-how-to-win-friends-and.html
thank you.
I am happy to join in with my review of War with the Newts by Czech writer Karel Capek. Highly recommended!
https://kinshipofallspecies.wordpress.com/2021/04/18/war-with-the-newts-karel-capek-1936/
These are all the 1936 books and some short stories I found on my shelves. There are a couple nobody else has read, as far as I can see. My proper reviews aren’t finished yet, I’m afraid, but I’ll link them later. https://marketgardenreader.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/1936club-finding-books-published-in-1936
One final review! I couldn’t return it to the library unread, could I?
Behold, Here’s Poison
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/04/behold-heres-poison-by-georgette-heyer.html#more
Could you add
The General by C S Forester
Here is my link Simon
https://bookertalk.com/the-general-by-c-s-forester-a-lifetime-of-duty/
done!