The 1940 Book Club

 

Thank you to Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings for hosting these fun “Clubs” in which we chose a book published in the club’s “year,” read and review it.

My research into books published in 1940 lead to fairly sparse pickings, but I found a few that looked both interesting enough and short enough for the timeline and for my attention span these days.

Possibilities

Since I messed up #DeanStreetDecember, I hope to read this 1940 gem: Nothing to Report by Carola Oman. republished by Dean Street Press in the Furrowed Middlebrow series. Link for Amazon Kindle version.

Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford–honestly, I can’t recall if I’ve read this one. It is not in any of my lists. The years of my reading lists include my Mitford Sisters years so it is likely I haven’t.

I hated this book in high school. I didn’t read it, flunked the exam and my immature little self was proud of this fact! As an adult I’ve enjoyed his books, so I may try this. It’s the most likely to be on audio, too, which makes it a good bet.

 

Books I’ve already read that were published in 1940

Note: Publishing dates may vary between the USA, where I am, and the UK.

My favorite of the Little House books, The Long Winter and a book I always loved at my Grandmother’s, Caps for Sale, were both published in 1940.

According to this list from UC Berkeley:

1. Mrs. Miniver  I read this, and loved it, pre-blogging. Way better than the movie.
2. How Green Was My Valley  (My review is linked)
3. The Grapes of Wrath Read this in high school

Are you participating in the 1940 Club read? Do you have a post with a book or books published in 1940? Please feel free to leave me a comment or a link to your post.