Monday, April 19, 2010

CHALLENGE: The 1930s


Nymeth thinks if she puts Mini-Challenge in the title it won't seem so imposing. Ha. I still like reading challenges - it's a way for me to decide which book to read next. There are so many books I want to read, and having a list, and deadlines helps me pick the next book. I only use books I want to read anyway, or have on hand.

Here are the 'rules' for the 1930s Mini-Challenge


  • Three months (April 18th – July 18th);
  • You’d only need to read a minimum of one book, though you’re of course be welcome to read more;
  • No need for a sign-up post or a reading list;
  • Just enter your name, read your book(s), and then come back and leave me a link to your post about what you’ve read from, set in, or about the 1930’s.

Books I'd like to read:
from 1930s
Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh (1937)
The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson (1931)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934)
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1936)

set in 1930s
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldneko
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
When We Were Orphans by Kazou Ishiguro

Pulitzer Winners from the 1930s
1939 - The Yearling - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1938 - The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand
1937 - Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
1936 - Honey in the Horn by Harold Lenoir Davis
1935 - Now in November by Josephine W. Johnson
1934 - Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
1933 - The Store by Thomas Stribling
1932 - The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
1931 - Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
1930 - Laughing Boy by Oliver Lafarge

Newbery Winners from the 1930s
1939 Elizabeth Enright, Thimble Summer
1938 Kate Seredy, The White Stag
1937 Ruth Sawyer, Roller Skates
1936 Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn
1935 Monica Shannon, Dobry
1934 Cornelia Meigs, Invincible Louisa
1933 Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
1932 Laura Adams Armer, Waterless Mountain
1931 Elizabeth Coatsworth, The Cat Who Went to Heaven
1930 Rachel Field, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years


Books I recommend that fit this challenge:
Clara Callan by Richard B Wright
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
The Green Mile by Stephen King
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (not really reccing, but it fits the time and other readers like it)
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelson


The Books I Read:
1. Maisie Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear (set in 1929 - close enough!)
2. Vintage Murder - Ngaio Marsh (published in 1937)
3. Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie (published in 1934)
4. The Brontes Went to Woolworths - Rachel Ferguson (published in 1931)
5. Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Ryrie Brink (published in 1935)

6. Thimble Summer - Elizabeth Enright (published in 1938 )
7. Invincible Louisa - Cornelia Meigs  (published in 1933 )
8. A Tangled Web - LM Montgomery (published in 1931)
9. Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear (set in 1930)