The 1961 Club has started! Karen and I are asking everyone to read and review books published in 1961 – share your links below, or put your review in the comments.
Marry in Haste by Joan Aiken Hodge
Staircase Wit
The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs
Fanda Classiclit
My Reader’s Block
Rose Under Glass by Elizabeth Berridge
Stuck in a Book
The Streetwalker by Luciano Bianciardi
Brona’s Books
War Isn’t Wonderful by Ursula Bloom
Stuck in a Book
The Mystery of Banshee Towers by Enid Blyton
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
A Stranger at Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
Calmgrove Books
One Hand Clapping by Anthony Burgess
Somewhere Boy
The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
What is History? by E.H. Carr
Brona’s Books
Daughters-in-Law by Henry Cecil
Literary Potpourri
Abbie and Arthur by Dane Chandos
Stuck in a Book
Just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
A Lotus for Miss Quon by James Hadley Chase
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
Staircase Wit
The Mighty and Their Fall by Ivy Compton-Burnett
Somewhere Boy
Stuck in a Book
The Scene of the Crime by John Creasey
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
Heat Wave in Berlin by Dymphna Cusack
ANZ Lit Lovers
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Literary Potpourri
Calmgrove Books
Provincial Daughter by R.M. Dashwood
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson
JacquiWine’s Journal
Just Reading A Book
David’s Book World
The Witch of the Low Tide by John Dickson Carr
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
Faces in the Water by Janet Frame
Stuck in a Book
Pen to Paper by Pamela Frankau
Stuck in a Book
Seven Lean Years by Celia Fremlin
Cross Examining Crime
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
Kaddish and other poems by Allen Ginsberg
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Voices in the Evening by Natalia Ginzburg
Book Around the Corner
Marnie by Winston Graham
AnnaBookBel
My Sad Captains by Thom Gunn
Somewhere Boy
Underfoot in Show Business by Helene Hanff
Stuck in a Book
The Lime Twig by John Hawkes
Typings
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
She Reads Novels
Wicked Witch’s Blog
Little Bear’s Visit by Else Holmelund Minarik
Calmgrove Books
Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosain
What? Me Read?
Household Ghosts by James Kennaway
Somewhere Boy
Pull My Daisy by Jack Kerouac
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Life and Love in the Henhouse by Irena Krzywicka
This Reading Life
The Siren by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Brona’s Brooks
Call for the Dead by John Le Carré
Words and Peace
Books Please
Quaestrio de Cantauris by Primo Levi
Brona’s Books
The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz
What? Me Read?
Winston’s Dad
Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seichō Matsumoto
JacquiWine’s Journal
Conscience by Ana María Matute
Brona’s Books
The Chateau by William Maxwell
Stuck in a Book
Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers
746 Books
1st Reading
Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry
Somewhere Boy
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
Fanda Classiclit
A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch
Calmgrove Books
Janet – LoveBooks, ReadBooks
Adventures in reading, running and working from home
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Buried in Print
The Methods of Sergeant Cluff by Gil North
Stuck in a Book
My Reader’s Block
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor
Rose Reads Novels
Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen
Madame Bibi Lophile Recommends
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
746 Books
Owls and Satyrs by David Pryce-Jones
Stuck in a Book
No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym
The Middle Shelf
Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque
Book Around The Corner
The Day of the Owl by Leonardo Sciascia
1st Reading
The Sneetches by Dr Seuss
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Maigret and the Idle Burglar by Georges Simenon
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
Literary Potpourri
Betty by Georges Simenon
Winston’s Dad
Epidemic by Frank G. Slaughter
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
The Ballad of the Running Man by Shelley Smith
A Hot Cup of Pleasure
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
What? Me Read?
She Reads Novels
Reading Matters
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Words and Peace
Bel Lamington by D. E. Stevenson
Adventures in reading, running and working from home
Hopewell’s Public Library of Life
The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
Staircase Wit
Fanda Classiclit
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Volatile Rune
I Was Going Anyway by Robert Switzer
The Dusty Bookcase
Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichirō Tanizaki
Winston’s Dad
In A Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor
Somewhere Boy
Stuck in a Book
Treasure of Hemlock Mountain by Virginia Frances Boight
My Reader’s Block
The Blood of the Lamb by Peter de Vries
Typings
Somewhere Boy
The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth
Staircase Wit
A Grave Undertaking by Lionel White
Words and Peace
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Madame Bibi Lophile Recommends
Bookish Beck
What? Me Read?
D. E. Stevenson’s Bel Lamington is my excellent first read for the Week https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/a-book-for-1961club-d-e-stevenson-bel-lamington/
Here’s my review of A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2026/04/13/a-civil-contract-by-georgette-heyer-1961club/
Here’s my 1st review for the club: Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat https://klasikfanda.blogspot.com/2026/04/owls-in-family-1961-by-farley-mowat.html
Here’s my review for Georgette Heyer’s A Civil Contract. That’s the second review for this one already so it might be a popular choice for this week
https://witchyreading.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/a-civil-contract-1961club/
Here’s my first: James and the Giant Peach
https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/book-review-james-and-the-giant-peach-1961-by-roald-dahl/
I’ve started 1961 with a Polish short story – https://bronasbooks.com/2026/04/13/life-and-love-in-the-henhouse-irena-krzywicka/
I’ve got one: The Blood of the Lamb by Peter de Vries.
https://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2026/04/peter-de-vries-blood-of-lamb-1961club.html
Thanks!
Read and recommended! I Was Going Anyway by Robert Switzer.
https://brianbusby.blogspot.com/2026/04/bringing-it-all-back-home.html
Here’s my review of The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz: https://whatmeread.com/2026/04/13/review-2713-1961club-the-thief-and-the-dogs/
Although I’m not really participating, my favorite book from 1961 is Catch-22 and I reviewed it on my blog a while back. Here’s the link, in case you’re interested. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/02/13/my-300th-post-review-of-a-modern-classic/
Here’s my review of Marnie by Winston Graham. https://annabookbel.net/marnie-by-winston-graham-for-the-1961club/
I’ve just read The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson
https://justreadingabook.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/the-ha-ha/
Here’s one for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark: https://whatmeread.com/2026/04/14/review-2714-1961club-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/
Here are two from Staircase Wit:
The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart and
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-ivy-tree-by-mary-stewart-for-1961.html
The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-girl-in-cellar-by-patricia.html
Here is my review of The Winter of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/04/14/book-review-for-the-1961-club-the-winter-of-our-discontent/
Thanks so much for hosting this event
An impressive list of reviews already! Thanks for including my piece on The Ha-Ha – it was the perfect opportunity to read it!
My second read is a Golden Age detective story: The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs https://klasikfanda.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-body-in-dumb-river-1961-by-george.html
I got a little bit over-eager (I thought we started on the weekend for some reason this spring…)–hope you’ll accept my first read: Treasure of Hemlock Mountain by Virginia Frances Voight: https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2026/04/treasure-of-hemlock-mountain.html
as well as my second: the Methods of Sergeant Cluff by Gil North https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-methods-of-sergeant-cluff.html
A trip down memory lane with one of my university texts – What is History? by EH Carr
https://bronasbooks.com/2026/04/15/what-is-history-e-h-carr/
Here’s my review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2026/04/15/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-by-muriel-spark-1961club/
My second review is Call for the Dead, by John Le Carré: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/04/15/book-review-for-the-1961-club-call-for-the-dead/
One more on Friday
A second entry: John Hawkes’ The Lime Twig
https://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2026/04/john-hawkes-lime-twig-1961club.html
An Italian short story this time – The Siren by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
https://bronasbooks.com/2026/04/16/the-siren-giuseppe-tomasi-di-lampedusa/
I’m reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I’ve read several of the others already which I all mention in my list:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-1961-club.html
And here is my review. I found out in the meantime that it is labelled incorrectly on Goodreads and only was published in 1962. I will read another one from 1961 and review that later.
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-1961-club.html
And I finally managed to read and publish the review of my 1961 book. Sorry this is late but as I read a wrong one first …
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/rawls-wilson-where-red-fern-grows.html
My second is Maigret: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2026/04/16/book-review-maigret-and-the-idle-burglar-1961-by-georges-simenon/
Here’s my review of Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosain: https://whatmeread.com/2026/04/16/review-2715-1961-club-sunlight-on-a-broken-column/
Hi, I’ve reviewed The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson here: https://www.davidsbookworld.com/2026/04/16/1961club-the-ha-ha-by-jennifer-dawson/
#3 The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs (https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-body-in-dumb-river.html)
My third and last review: The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart https://klasikfanda.blogspot.com/2026/04/the-ivy-tree-1961-by-mary-stewart.html
Thanks for hosting! As always, I’m having a good time reading, reviewing, (and most especially) finding more books to read. ;)
Two more Italian short stories – Quaestio de Centauris by Primo Levi and The streetwalker by Luciano Bianciardi.
https://bronasbooks.com/2026/04/17/quaestio-de-centauris-primo-levi/
It’s a Barbara Pym from me: No Fond Return of Love
https://open.substack.com/pub/leepaula73/p/no-fond-return-of-love?r=1ii1wm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Two more from Staircase Wit:
Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/04/emilys-runaway-imagination-by-beverly.html
Marry in Haste by Jane Aiken Hodge
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/04/marry-in-haste-repent-at-leisure-for.html
I have one more but it is very long! We shall see if I finish it in time.
My 3rd and last review: A Grave Undertaking, by Lionel White: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/04/17/book-review-for-the-1961-club-a-grave-undertaking/
My 3rd and last review: A Grave Undertaking, by Lionel White: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/04/17/book-review-for-the-1961-club-a-grave-undertaking/
Hmm, the comment box says I have already said that, and won’t accept it. But this is my first time
Here’s my review of Call for the Dead by John Le Carré together with notes of some other books published in 1961 that I’ve read previously:
https://booksplease.org/2026/04/14/__trashed-2/
Here’s my last book for the club: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates: https://whatmeread.com/2026/04/17/review-2716-1961club-revolutionary-road/
My last short story for the week – this time a Spanish one – Conscience by Ana María Matute
https://bronasbooks.com/2026/04/18/conscience-ana-maria-matute/
Here’s my third and last one: Daughter-in-Law by Henry Cecil
https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2026/04/18/book-review-daughters-in-law-1961-by-henry-cecil/
I did a post on earlier 1961 reads, including Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Patrick White’s Riders in the Chariot.
https://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2026/04/some-previous-1961-reads.html
Thanks!
Here’s my contribution. Thanks, as always, for hosting!
https://bookishbeck.com/2026/04/18/revolutionary-road-by-richard-yates-for-1961club/
Here are seven crime novels, all in one post:
The Ballad of the Running Man by Shelley Smith
Epidemic by Frank G. Slaughter
just Another Sucker by James Hadley Chase
A Lotus for Miss Quon by James Hadley Chase
the Scene of the Crime by John Creasey
Seven Lean Years by Celia Fremlin
The Witch of the Low Tide by john Dickson Carr
https://ahotcupofpleasureagain.wordpress.com/2026/04/18/1961club-classicsclub-crime-reads/
Thanks for hosting
I managed to fit in Iris Murdoch’s “A Severed Head” https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2026/04/18/book-thoughts-iris-murdoch-a-severed-head/
I’ve just reviewed the rather strange and peculiar The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie here: https://readingmattersblog.com/2026/04/19/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-by-muriel-spark/
Thank you for including my review, I completely missed the fact it fitted your year. Good example of serendipitous timing!
One final book from me:
When Love Speaks by Amelia Elizabeth Walden
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/04/when-love-speaks-by-amelia-elizabeth.html
Thanks for a fun week, and thank you to the Jennifer Dawson fans. The descriptions of that book don’t necessarily make me want to read it exactly but they are very interesting and I am glad to learn a Ha-Ha is not a summerhouse, which I had always imagined.
Sneaking in one last: Nicholas Blake’s The Worm of Death
https://reesewarner.blogspot.com/2026/04/nicholas-blakes-worm-of-death-1961club.html
Thanks for hosting! It’s been fun.
Great fun! I was looking on my shelves for something I already owned and never thought of Nicholas Blake! Oh well, next time.