It’s here! Since Karen and I decided to give as much notice as possible this time, it feels like I’ve been waiting for ages to announce the beginning of The 1938 Club, so it’s lovely that it’s going to kick off now. (The post introducing The 1938 Club got a great response, thanks!)
What is the 1938 Club?
In case you’ve missed it, there is one simple challenge: read anything published in 1938 and write about it. The book can be published anywhere in the world, in any language, and in any format. I’m hoping we get novels, short stories, plays, poems, and non-fiction of all sorts. Between us, we’ll get an overview of the literary scene
Why 1938?
The first time around, we chose 1924 more or less at random – and the same mostly applies here. Ali was the one to suggest 1938; being on the cusp of war will be a fascinating time for the world, some looking forwards, some looking backwards. In six months’ time, we’ll do another year, yet to be decided but probably in the 1940s.
Where shall I put my reviews?
If you’ve got a blog, put your review(s) there sometime this week and let us know, either in the comments here or over at Karen’s. We’re using the hashtag #1938Club on Twitter, Instagram, etc., so feel free to jump on that – and if you direct us to reviews made on social media, we can certainly link to them too. I’ll use this page for all links.
As with last time, I’ll also be collecting older 1938 reviews. I won’t be actively hunting for these, but please do let me know links of any older reviews you have to 1938 books on your blog.
Enjoy!
Reviews this week:
Margery Allingham – The Fashion in Shrouds
Harriet Devine
Triciareads55 on LibraryThing
Eric Ambler – Cause for Alarm
Annabel’s House of Books
Eric Ambler – Epitaph for a Spy
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Triciareads55 on LibraryThing
Enid Bagnold – The Squire
Harriet Devine
HeavenAli
Hogglestock
Dorothy Baker – Young Man With a Horn
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Me at Vulpes Libris
Pechorin’s Journal
E.C. Bentley – Trent Intervenes
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Elizabeth Bowen – The Death of the Heart
Harriet Devine
JacquiWine’s Journal
Marjorie Bowen – God and the Wedding Dress
She Reads Novels
Helen Dore Boylston – Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse
TBR 313
John W. Campbell – Who Goes There?
Other Formats Are Available
Joanna Cannan – Princes in the Land
Madame Bibliophile Recommends
Agatha Christie – Appointment With Death
The Book Jotter
Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
The Book Satchel
Arthur C Clarke – ‘How We Went To Mars’
Jackie at Vulpes Libris
Cyril Connolly – Enemies of Promise
Hilary at Vulpes Libris
Stuck in a Book
Lettice Cooper – National Provincial
Books and Chocolate
Freeman Wills Crofts – Antidote to Venom
Desperate Reader
Richmal Crompton – Journeying Wave
Adventures in Reading, Writing, and Working From Home
RichmalCromptonReader
Stuck in a Book
Carter Dickson – The Judas Window
Crossexamining Crime
Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca
Simon at Stuck in a Book
What Me Read
Lawrence Durrell – The Black Book
Briefer than Literal Statement
John Fante – Wait Until Spring, Bandini
Intermittencies of the Mind
Stella Gibbons – Nightingale Wood
Cate Butler on Instagram
Our Vicar’s Wife
Eleanor Graham – The Children Who Lived in a Barn
Bookmusings on Instagram
Julien Gracq – Chateau d’Argol
1st Reading
Eleanor Graham – The Children Who Lived in a Barn
Stuck in a Book
Georgette Heyer – A Blunt Instrument
Desperate Reader
Margaret Kennedy – The Midas Touch
Beyond Eden Rock
Eric Knight – Lassie Come Home
Jackie at Vulpes Libris
Munro Leaf – Wee Gillis
Semicolon
Ngaio Marsh – Death in a White Tie
Random Jottings
Kate O’Brien – Pray for the Wanderer
Beyond Eden Rock
George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia
Lady Fancifull
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Other Formats Are Available
E.J. Oxenham – The Abbey Girls Play Up
Corvus Cornix
Jean Lucey Pratt – A Notable Woman (1938 entries)
Desperate Reader
Graciliano Ramos – Barren Lives
Somewhere Boy
Harriet Rutland – Knock, Murderer, Knock!
I Prefer Reading
Jean-Paul Sartre – Nausea
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Delmore Schwartz – ‘In Dreams Begin Responsibilities’
Literasaurus
Dr Seuss – The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
Intermittencies of the Mind
Nevil Shute – Ruined City
I Prefer Reading
George Simenon – The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Lizzy’s Literary Life
Howard Spring – My Son, My Son
Starbox
John Steinbeck – The Long Valley
The Nobby Life
John Steinbeck – The Chrysanthemums
Other Formats Are Available
D.E. Stevenson – The Baker’s Son
Books and Chocolate
Kressman Taylor – Address Unknown
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Angela Thirkell – Pomfret Towers
Beth Bonini on Instagram
Hard Book Habit
The Sleepless Reader
Sylvia Townsend Warner – After the Death of Don Juan
Corvus Cornix
Winifred Watson – Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
Bag Full of Books and on Instagram
Cate Butler on Instagram
JacquiWine’s Journal
Madame Bibliophile Recommends
Other Formats Are Available
Evelyn Waugh – Scoop
Eveyln Waugh Society
Kate Macdonald
T.H. White – The Sword in the Stone
Shoshi’s Book Blog
Thornton Wilder – Our Town
The Emerald City Book Review
P.G. Wodehouse – The Code of the Woosters
Cate Butler on Instagram
Other Formats Are Available
Triciareads55 on LibraryThing
Virginia Woolf – Diary
Stuck in a Book
Virginia Woolf – Three Guineas
Somewhere Boy
Older reviews:
Enid Bagnold – The Squire
I Prefer Reading
What Me Read
Dorothy Baker – Young Man With A Horn
JacquiWine’s Journal
Samuel Beckett – Murphy
Pechorin’s Journal
Enid Blyton – The Secret Island
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Elizabeth Bowen – The Death of the Heart
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Joanna Cannan – Princes in the Land
She Reads Novels
Stuck in a Book
The Captive Reader
John W. Campbell, Jnr. – Who Goes There?
Pechorin’s Journal
Agatha Christie – Appointment With Death
Books Please
Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
Books Please
My Reader’s Block
John Dickson Carr – The Crooked Hinge
Crossexamining Crime
Freeman Wills Crofts – Antidote to Venom
Crossexamining Crime
What Me Read
Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca
Books Please
Lady Fancifull
My Reader’s Block
Elizabeth Enright – Thimble Summer
Hope is the Word
A.A. Fair – The Bigger They Come
My Reader’s Block
John Fante – Wait Until Spring, Bandini
Pechorin’s Journal
Stella Gibbons – Nightingale Wood
Bag Full of Books
HeavenAli
What Me Read
Anna Gmeyere – Manja
Beyond Eden Rock
The Captive Reader
Eleanor Graham – The Children Who Lived in a Barn
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Gwethalyn Graham – Swiss Sonata
The Captive Reader
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
Lady Fancifull
My Reader’s Block
Georgette Heyer – A Blunt Instrument
My Reader’s Block
Georgette Heyer – Royal Escape
I Prefer Reading
Gerald Kersch – Night and the City
Pechorin’s Journal
Irmgard Keun – Child of All Nations
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
C.S. Lewis – Out of the Silent Planet
My Reader’s Block
Constance and Gwenyth Little – The Black-Headed Pins
Crossexamining Crime
My Reader’s Block
Ngaio Marsh – Artists in Crime
Kate Macdonald
Ruth McKenney – My Sister Eileen
Stuck in a Book
George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia
I Prefer Reading
Stuck in a Book
E.R. Punshon – Comes a Stranger
Crossexamining Crime
John Rowland – Murder in the Museum
Crossexamining Crime
Harriet Rutland – Knock, Murderer, Knock!
Crossexamining Crime
Nevil Shute – Ruined City
The Captive Reader
Dodie Smith – Dear Octopus
Stuck in a Book
The Captive Reader
Rex Stout – Some Buried Caesar
My Reader’s Block
Rex Stout – Too Many Cooks
Crossexamining Crime
Jan Struther – Try Anything Twice
Stuck in a Book
Kressman Taylor – Address Unknown
Pechorin’s Journal
Angela Thirkell – Pomfret Towers
The Captive Reader
Arthur W. Upfield – The Bone is Pointed
My Reader’s Block
Winifred Watson – Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
HeavenAli
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Lady Fancifull
Semicolon
She Reads Novels
The Captive Reader
What Me Read
Evelyn Waugh – Scoop
I Prefer Reading
Semicolon
Stuck in a Book
T.H. White – The Sword in the Stone
Stray Thoughts
P.G. Wodehouse – The Code of the Woosters
I Prefer Reading
Dornford Yates
This Publican
Very excited to be part of this. I was introduced to the club by some friends of mine at Instagram. I am almost done with my book and will post a review soon. I chose Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha C.
I just posted a review on my blog, and here it is.
http://harrietdevine.typepad.com/harriet_devines_blog/2016/04/the-death-of-the-heart-by-elizabeth-bowen-1938-1.html
Mine’s on Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, with links to earlier posts on Dornford Yates’ The Publican, and Ngaio Marsh’s Artists In Crime: http://wp.me/p5tbBG-5Cu
Great stuff Simon – looks like this is going to be a popular one! :)
Very much looking to this event – I’ll be posting a review of a 1938 book later this week. Also, if you’re collecting links to previous posts, I’ve reviewed Dorothy Baker fab jazz novel, Young Man with A Horn – here’s a link:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/young-man-with-a-horn-by-dorothy-baker/
Loving the 1938 club already. Currently reading my third book from 1938 – though when when I’ll review them is another matter. Hopefully will get two out by Sunday. (No guarantee though).
on my way to the library to pick up The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White. The last time I read it was years ago when I read it aloud to my 9 year old son who is now 43 years old and has fond memories of reading the book together.
Mine is scheduled for this week, hopefully all the links work for it.
I have read a book precisely for this club, which I will post tomorrow, but in the meantime, here is another link. Depending upon where you look, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was published either in 1937 (Wikipedia) or 1938 (Goodreads or Wikipedia on a different page). So, here is a link for you: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/12/17/day-822-miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day/
A real blockbuster!,
This review is from: My son, my son – Howard Spring
An absolute blockbuster of a novel, narrated by author William Essex. Recalling his childhood as the unwanted son of a Manchester washerwoman, he remembers too his early – and lifelong – burning ambition to become rich.
While in lodgings he becomes friends with Dermot, a gifted carpenter with strong patriotic feelings for the Irish, suffering under English rule. And as the narrative follows the personal and professional lives of the two men, Essex describes a conversation they have on the birth of their respective sons on the same day: Dermot resolves that his son shall achieve what he has not – “I shall never be satisfied with the position of Ireland under the muddy feet of your bloody country. My son shall not be satisfied with it. He shall go to Ireland, he shall learn to be an Irishman as I am not … now you know what I want most passionately in this world for my son.” Essex also wants to realise in his son what he has missed himself: “I’ve been poor in a way that even you have never known … I just want him to have everything. I’ll work my fingers to the bone to give him every damn thing he asks for.”
The two families are always close, but the results of the different input from the fathers into their sons’ upbringing makes for a riveting read, nail-biting to the last. Not, perhaps, great literature, but Howard Spring writes with style and keeps the reader enthralled from the first sentence. I loved his memory – prophetic of things to come – of swimming on a Cornish holiday just before the First World War “The sight of all others most fascinating in those waters: a horde of tiny silver fish, swimming in a long thin procession, ten or a dozen abreast, like a small marine army on the move. Endlessly they went by, never changing their formation, wheeling now to the right, now to the left, but always precise, regimented, moving as by a common will. A small cloud drifted before the sun and the water, still pellucid, turned grey. And the silver fish turned grey. I could still see them: a grey endless army, moving to some unknown encounter across the grey floor of the sea.”
A really good read – I’ve just bought another of Spring’s novels on the strength of it.
I just posted my review of The Baker’s Daughter by D. E. Stevenson, newly reprinted by Sourcebooks! I love Stevenson so I was delighted to learn that one of the reprints was published in 1938. Here’s a link:
http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-bakers-daughter-by-d-e-stevenson.html
I’ve also started reading National Provincial by Lettice Cooper, hopefully I”ll finish it by the end of the week and can review that one as well. Thanks for hosting!
I have a Georgette Heyer for you here http://desperatereader.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/a-blunt-instrument-georgette-heyer.html
Hi, I’ve just posted a review of John Fante’s Wait Until Spring, Bandini first published, of course, in 1938.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=13948
Scoop http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=17768
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton http://hopeisthewordblog.com/2010/07/23/mike-mulligan-and-his-steam-shovel-by-virginia-lee-burton/
Whoops, Mike Mulligan is from 1939. Sorry about that.
The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White https://barbarah.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/book-review-the-sword-in-the-stone/
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright http://hopeisthewordblog.com/2010/05/19/thimble-summer-by-elizabeth-enright/
Thanks for the Dorothy Baker pingback. I’ve just posted a new review: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – what a delightful novel!
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day-by-winifred-watson/
Just published a post of Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell – looking forward to the next Club :)
https://thesleeplessreader.com/2016/04/12/pomfret-towers-by-angela-thirkell-1938club/
Simon, here is my post from today for the 1938 club, Rebecca! https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/day-882-rebecca/
Simon, I did a roundup of past reviews here,
http://tinyurl.com/z8xyhrm
& today, a review of Nevil Shute’s Ruined City,
http://tinyurl.com/hl33575
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a day and Who Goes There? (aka The Thing)
https://otherformatsavailable.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/miss-pettigrew-versus-the-thing/
Here is my review for Miss Pettigrew
https://bagfullofbooks.com/2016/04/13/miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day-by-winifred-watson/
And also an older review of Stella Gibbon’s Nightingale Wood
https://bagfullofbooks.com/2015/03/30/nightingale-wood-by-stella-gibbons/
Also an Instagram post
https://instagram.com/p/BEInNLUC0KO/
The Squire by Enid Bagnold
https://hogglestock.com/2016/04/13/oh-enid-you-were-a-bit-boring/
I’ve just posted a review of God and the Wedding Dress by Marjorie Bowen:
https://shereadsnovels.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/god-and-the-wedding-dress-by-marjorie-bowen/
I’ve also found two older posts on my blog:
Princes in the Land
https://shereadsnovels.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/princes-in-the-land-by-joanna-cannan/
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
https://shereadsnovels.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/review-miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day-by-winifred-watson/
I have posted a review of Journeying Wave by Richmal Crompton
http://www.richmalcromptonreader.com
I re-read Helen Dore Boylston’s Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse – so an update to an older post: http://tbr313.blogspot.com/2016/04/sue-barton-visiting-nurse-by-helen-dore.html
I’m glad to see Sherry (above) included some children’s books – I couldn’t find a good list of which children’s books were published that year.
A review of Knock, Murderer, Knock! by Harriet Rutland.
http://tinyurl.com/jfw4bko
Just posted my review of Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie on the blog http://www.thebooksatchel.com/hercule-poirots-christmas-agatha-christie/
I’ve just posted a review of Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson at Semicolon:
http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=25301
Thank you for starting and administering this club. I’m enjoying the reviews and the journey into 1938.
I am enjoying reading the reviews and have posted reviews of three books I have read Thank you so much for making this possible. Now I will go back to reading other reviews.
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler – http://www.librarything.com/work/57753/book/128718333
Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse – http://www.librarything.com/work/17597940/book/129093539
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham – http://www.librarything.com/work/424511/book/129171411
I started reading Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, but lost steam. A man is abducted from Earth by two men, who somehow can travel through space. They land on a planet and plan to give him to the aliens, but somehow he escapes and tries to survive. It was a Robinson Crusoe kind of thing and did not hold my interest.
Just posted a review of The Black Book by Lawrence Durrell here: http://brieferthanliteralstatement.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-black-book-lawrence-durrell.html
thanks,
Victoria
My review of Our Town posted today:
http://emeraldcitybookreview.com/2016/04/reading-new-england-our-town.html
Thank you for linking!
Here is my review of Carter Dickson’s The Judas Window (1938) which I posted on my blog today:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/the-judas-window-1938-by-carter-dickson/
Here are some links to older reviews on my blog on other books from 1938:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/murder-in-the-museum-1938-by-john-rowland/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/tuesday-night-bloggers-too-many-cooks-1938-by-rex-stout/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2016/01/01/the-crooked-hinge-1938-by-john-dickson-carr/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/the-black-headed-pins-1938-by-constance-and-gwenyth-little-a-book-full-of-surprises-walking-corpses-and-men-doing-the-tidying-up/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/548/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/knock-murderer-knock-1938-by-harriet-rutland/
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/freeman-wills-crofts-antidote-to-venom-1938/
I just found out about this, thanks to the lovely Kate at Cross Examining Crime. I won’t have a chance to read a new book in time–but I do have some previous reviews to offer up. I have gathered them all here (http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-1938-club.html) if you would like to take a look.
No idea why I didn’t notice this on your blog before….because I’ve been here.
I was intending to read Virginia Woolf’s Three Guineas, but ran out of time this week and I left it too late to start reading it. But here are some links to older reviews :
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie – http://www.booksplease.org/2015/08/25/appointment-with-death-by-agatha-christie/
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie – http://www.booksplease.org/2009/11/23/crime-fiction-alphabet-h-is-for-hercule-poirots-christmas/
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – http://www.booksplease.org/2009/01/24/still-a-favourite/
My review of Death in A White Tie by Ngaio Marsh
http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2016/04/the-1938-club-death-in-a-white-tie.html
Love these ‘Clubs’ Simon and Karen – and I finally managed to make a contribution as well as being an avid reader! My post on Delmore Schwartz’s short story ‘In Dreams Begin Responsibilities’ can be found here: https://literasaurus.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/the-1938-club-delmore-schwartz-in-dreams-begin-responsibilities/
I added a review of Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
My review of The Abbey Girls Play Up by E. J. Oxenham: https://corvuscornix.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/the-abbey-girls-play-up-by-e-j-oxenham-1938-club/
Can I sneak in just under the wire and be added to the Journeying Wave list, please? https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/book-review-richmal-crompton-the-journeying-wave-1938-club/
I’ve really enjoyed this again. Lots of reminders of great books read in the past, more I now want to read, and the push to cross one of the tbr list. Thank you, and here’s a late offering too http://desperatereader.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/antidote-to-venom-freeman-willis-crofts.html
I’ve posted another review, National Provincial by Lettice Cooper — loved this book!
http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2016/04/national-provincial-by-lettice-cooper.html
Thanks again for hosting the 1938 Club!
Another extremely late offering: After the Death of Don Juan by Sylvia Townsend Warner: https://corvuscornix.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/after-the-death-of-don-juan-by-sylvia-townsend-warner-1938-club/
Hi Simon, I’ve just posted a review of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart – a little late, but I’m I’m hoping this will qualify. Thanks to you and Karen for hosting this event – it’s been a most enjoyable week. :)
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2016/04/18/the-death-of-the-heart-by-elizabeth-bowen/
My last contribution to the 1938 club.
https://otherformatsavailable.wordpress.com/2016/04/18/steinbeck-orwell-and-wodehouse-1938-club/
Hello, I also did a re-read of Homage to Catalonia this week AND had already done older reviews of Miss Pettigrew, Brighton Rock and Rebecca, so here are my links. What a great year, what a great challenge, thank you!
http://ladyfancifull.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/george-orwell-homage-to-catalonia/
http://ladyfancifull.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/winifred-watson-miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day/
http://ladyfancifull.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/daphne-du-maurier-rebecca/
http://ladyfancifull.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/graham-greene-brighton-rock/
Nice to know older reviews can lurch in on their zimmer frames and get counted!
Gosh, I didn’t check back often enough during the week, so I didn’t notice that The Squire was also published in 1938. It’s probably too late, but here is my review of that book: https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/day-867-the-squire/
And here is another one! These are all older posts of 1938 books:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/day-731-antidote-to-venom/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/day-86-nightingale-wood/
Sorry if I’m too late!
Don’t have a blog and won’t write a review as such, but if you enjoy mysteries do read Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout. Yes, it has racist and sexist bits, and those can’t be defended. But it also has humor, and enough references to wonderful food to make you want to find a copy of The Nero Wolfe Cookbook and cook your way through it. It’s fun, too, to imagine the long-ago time when a journey of 60 miles was reckoned to take an hour and a half by car, and the end of a men’s confab means everyone has to locate his hat before he leaves.
Thanks, Simon, for this reading idea. Already looking forward to the 1947 Club!
Hope I’m not too late (loved reading the reviews, and was surprised to discover how many books I read from the ’30’s!). Review of “Appointment with Death” by Agatha Christie is here – http://the-bookhound.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/1938-appointment-with-death.html.
There are a few earlier reviews for 1938 reads linked through from here – http://the-bookhound.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/a-backwards-look-for-938-club.html including Cause for Alarm, Rebecca and Homage to Catalonia.
Looking forward to the 1947 Club. Great fun.
I have opened up my defunct blog just so I can do this. I am eagerly scoping out books.