The 1952 Club

Published on by Margaret

 Simon and Karen are holding the next bi-annual even from 21st to 27th April 2025, when we’ll be reading books from 1952! They are asking readers across the internet to join together to build up a picture of the year 1952 in books – you can read, share, review and comment on any book from the year in question; you can get involved as much or as little as you like. You could read one book or several; it’s low pressure and you have a wide choice of reading matter! There will be a dedicated page for the club where Karen will share links to other people’s posts and reviews.

I’ve previously read and reviewed read these books published in 1952:

Mrs McGinty’s Dead (Poirot and  Mrs Ariadne Oliver)

They Do It With Mirrors (Miss Marple)

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham

Murder in the Mill Race by E C R Lorac

The Man on a Donkey by H F M Prescott

I have other books published in 1952 to read in my TBRs, so I’ll read one or more of the following books:

Sword of Honour – the first book in the Men at Arms series by Evelyn Waugh

Five Have a Wonderful Time by Enid Blyton

The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey – this was the last of Josephine Tey’s Inspector Grant mysteries, published posthumously by Peter Davies Ltd in 1952

The Birds and other stories by Daphne du Maurier

20 thoughts on “The 1952 Club”

  1. These are such fine choices, Margaret! Mrs. McGinty’s Dead was the first Agatha Christie novel I ever read, so it has a special place in my heart. The Tiger and the Smoke is one of Allingham’s better efforts, so it’s good to see that one, too. Ooh, and an Enid Blyton as a du Maurier. Yes, you’ve got some of the cream of the 1952 crop!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I loved East of Eden! Such a phenomenal book! It’s in my plans to re-read it when I get to it in my reading of Steinbeck’s works. I have Birds and Other Stories on my shelf that I’ve been wanting to read. I think I may try to participate in this! I’m going to see if I’ve got any other books on my shelf published in 1952. :)

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’m very tempted by Excellent Women. I have a feeling I have a copy of it somewhere but where is the question – we’ve just had to put the contents of two bookcases into bags while we re-decorate the room so the chances of finding it are slim…

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I enjoyed Excellent Women. I don’t think it’s laugh-out-loud funny, but it is most entertaining, subtly and gently comic. I hope you find your copy.

      Like

        1. That’s good. I think of my Kindle as a black hole – books go into it some of them never to be seen again! I’m glad you’ve retrieved Excellent Women!

          Like

  5. Crikey, there were some great books published in 1952! I haven’t started on Josephine Tey yet but she’s been on my list for ages, East of Eden is on my classics list but there’s no way I’ll get that read in time!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I wondered about reading The Mousetrap as I have a copy – it’s the 70th Anniversary Edition of the play 256 pages. But I don’t think I’ll have enough time to read it for the 1952 Club event. At some time though I will read it.

      Like

      1. Luckily, it’s a short one. But they take longer than novels, so I suppose it’s the same as reading a normal novel. But yeah, we all have to see how to fit our reading into our lives. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it once you get to it.

        Like

Comments are closed.