Yes, it’s that time of year again – on Monday, Simon and I will be co-hosting one of our six-monthly reading clubs, and this time we’re focusing on the year 1937. It promises to be another bumper year, and I did share some pictures of possible choices at the beginning of the month.

However, there were a number of titles I didn’t put on the piles because I’d already read them and didn’t intend a revisit. Some of these were pre-blog and although they’re excellent books they weren’t particularly calling at the moment.

Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is one of the most loved titles from 1937; I first read this when I was a teenager, and although I revisited the full “Lord of the Rings” sequence in recent years, I haven’t picked up the first book in a while. Another book from the year which is still highly regarded (and is one which my Offspring studied at school) is “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. Again, that’s another title I read pre-blog, actually alongside my Offspring reading it; it’s a powerful and bleak book, and I suspect I would have to be in the right frame of mind for a revisit.

Then there’s George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier”, a wonderful book that I’ve read a couple of times and will no doubt go back to again. The great Agatha Christie was very prolific in 1937 and at least two of her books are titles I’ve read pre-blog, and more than once!

As for 1937 books featuring on the Ramblings, well there are many! A recent title was “The Case of the Late Pig” by Margery Allingham which featured in the collection above and was a brilliant read. Golden Age crime was at its height in 1937, and other mysteries from that year include “The Cheltenham Square Murder” by John Bude and “These Names Make Clues” by E.C.R. Lorac, to name just a couple.

Other works I’ve written about here include “The Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass” by Bruno Schulz, “After Midnight” by Irmgard Keun, “Mona Lisa” by Alexander Lernet-Holenia, “The Nutmeg Tree” by Margery Sharp, and “Journey by Moonlight” by Antal Szerb – truly, some brilliant books!

So if you’re still unsure as to what to read for the #1937Club, there are a few ideas for you. Please do join in – the event is a low-pressure one, where you just read as few or as many works from 1937 during the weeks and share your thoughts. We very much look forward to hearing about what you read! 😀