Here are the books I've read so far from the 1940s. Links are to my reviews on this site.
• The Canyon by Peter Viertel. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1940), 288 pp.
• Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. Alfred A. Knopf (1940), 275 pp.
• The Girl at the Crossroads by Gregory Jackson. Dodd, Mead (1940), 225 pp.
• High Sierra by W. R. Burnett. Alfred A. Knopf (1940), 292 pp.
• Moon Tide by Willard Robertson. Carrick and Evans (1940), 309 pp.
• My Name Is Aram by William Saroyan. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1940), 220 pp.
• November Grass by Judy Van Der Veer. Longmans, Green and Co. (1940), 246 pp.
• The Paesanos by Jo Pagano. Little, Brown and Co. (1940), 231 pp.
• Solitaire by Edwin Corle. E. P. Dutton and Co. (1940), 351 pp.
• "The Siren Smiled" by H. Vernor Dixon. American Magazine (July - November 1940), 60 pp.
• Tumbleweeds by Marta Roberts. G. P. Putnam's Sons (1940), 294 pp.
• Webs in the Sky by Marjorie Roberts. Wilfred Funk (1940), 299 pp.
• A Homicide for Hannah by Dwight V. Babcock. Alfred A. Knopf (1941), 334 pp.
• I Wake up Screaming by Stephen Fisher. Dodd, Mead and Co. (1941), 231 pp.
• The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Charles Scribner’s Sons (1941), approx. 163 pp.
• Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain. Alfred A. Knopf (1941), 388 pp.
• Simon Lash, Private Detective by Frank Gruber. Farrar and Rinehart (1941), 281 pp.
• Storm by George R. Stewart. Random House (1941), 349 pp.
• What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg. Random House (1941), 303 pp.
• Broken Melody by Ronald Kirkbride. Coward-McCann (1942), 328 pp.
• Deep Valley by Dan Totheroh. L. B. Fischer (1942), 312 pp.
• Dig Me a Grave by Cleve F Adams. E. P. Dutton and Co. (1942), 255 pp.
• 48 Saroyan Stories by William Saroyan. Avon (1942), 313 pp.
• The High Window by Raymond Chandler. Alfred A. Knopf (1942), 240 pp.
• I Remember Christine by Oscar Lewis. Alfred A. Knopf (1942), 266 pp.
• Now and on Earth by Jim Thompson. Modern Age Books (1942), 306 pp.
• A Place in the Sun by Frank Fenton. Random House (1942), 314 pp.
• Suds in Your Eye by Mary Lasswell. Houghton, Mifflin Co. (1942), 184 pp.
• There Is a Happy Land by A. I. Bezzerides. Henry Holt and Co. (1942), 279 pp.
• The Time Between by Gale Wilhelm. William Morrow and Co. (1942), 208 pp.
• Turn off the Sunshine by Timothy C. Turner. Caxton Printers (1942), 288 pp.
• The Vineyard by Idwal Jones. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1942), 279 pp.
• Against a Darkening Sky by Janet Lewis. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1943), 301 pp.
• The Bride Saw Red by Robert Carson. G. P. Putnam’s Sons (1943), 246 pp.
• Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. Alfred A. Knopf (1943), approx. 125 pp.
• The Embezzler by James M. Cain. Alfred A. Knopf (1943), approx. 109 pp.
• The Happy Man by Robert Easton. Viking Press (1943), 221 pp.
• Her Best Man by Ethel E. Bangert. Gramercy (1943), 256 pp.
• The Hill by David Greenhood. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1943), 266 pp.
• The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1943), 291 pp.
• If I Come Home by Nellise Child. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1943), 311 pp.
• The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler. Alfred A. Knopf (1943), 216 pp.
• Mama’s Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1943), 204 pp.
• Tomorrow Is Forever by Gwen Bristow. Thomas Y. Crowell (1943), 259 pp.
• Trio by Dorothy Baker. Houghton Mifflin Co. (1943), 234 pp.
• Flint by Charles Norris. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1944), 354 pp.
• I Hate Actors! by Ben Hecht. Crown Publishers (1944), 221 pp.
• Married at Leisure by Virginia Lederer. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1944), 213 pp.
• No Good from a Corpse by Leigh Brackett. Coward-McCann (1944), 202 pp.
• Shore Leave by Frederic Wakeman. Rinehart and Co. (1944), 310 pp.
• They Dream of Home by Niven Busch. D. Appleton-Century Co. (1944), 307 pp.
• Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Viking Press (1945), 208 pp.
• East of Midnight by Forrest Rosaire. Alfred A. Knopf (1945), 372 pp.
• If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1945), 249 pp.
• Miss Dilly Says No by Theodore Pratt. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1945), 214 pp.
• Not a Joy Forever by Buena Vista Stine. Wetzel Publishing Co. (1945), 200 pp.
• Sleep in the Sun by Alan Moody. Houghton Mifflin Co. (1945), 137 pp.
• Stallion Road by Stephen Longstreet. Julian Messner (1945), 303 pp.
• Three Short Biers by Jimmy Starr. Murray and Gee (1945), 232 pp.
• The Uncertain Journey by Oscar Lewis. Alfred A. Knopf (1945), 253 pp.
• With Sirens Screaming by Ernest Booth. Doubleday, Doran and Co. (1945), 294 pp.
• Day of the Conquerors by Niven Busch. Harper and Brothers (1946), 276 pp.
• Deliver Me From Eva by Paul Bailey. Murray and Gee (1946), 237 pp.
• Desert Town by Ramona Stewart. William Morrow and Co. (1946), 248 pp.
• Flight of an Angel by Verne Chute. William Morrow and Co. (1946), 246 pp.
• The Glass Heart by Marty Holland. Julian Messner (1946), 192 pp.
• It Ain't Hay by David Dodge. Simon and Schuster (1946), 218 pp.
• The Shade of Time by David Duncan. Random House (1946), 244 pp.
• Valley Boy by Theodore Pratt. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1946), 331 pp.
• What Way My Journey Lies by Frank Fenton. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1946), 243 pp.
• The Condemned by Jo Pagano. Prentice-Hall (1947), 215 pp.
• Die by Night by M. S. Marble. Rinehart and Co. (1947), 182 pp.
• Dirty Eddie by Ludwig Bemelmans. Viking Press (1947), 240 pp.
• The Face of the Clam by Luther Whiteman. Alfred A. Knopf (1947), 248 pp.
• Glorious in Another Day by Arthur Foff. J. B. Lippincott Co. (1947), 246 pp.
• Greener than You Think by Ward Moore. William Sloan Associates (1947), 358 pp.
• If You Have Tears by Howard Browne. Mystery House (1947), 255 pp.
• In a Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1947), 217 pp.
• Incorrigible by Karl Brown. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1947), 214 pp.
• King of This Hill by Nathaniel Meserve. Doubleday and Co. (1947), 250 pp.
• Lonely Crusade by Chester Himes. Alfred A. Knopf (1947), 398 pp.
• Low Tide by John Truesdell. Dodd, Mead and Co. (1947), 240 pp.
• Naomi Martin by Clarkson Crane. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1947), 228 pp.
• The Pitfall by Jay Dratler. Thomas Y. Crowell (1947), 177 pp.
• Something Wonderful to Happen: A Charivari by Darwin L Teilhet. Appleton-Century-Crofts (1947), 275 pp.
• The Squirrel Cage by Edwin Gilbert. Doubleday and Co. (1947), 256 pp.
• Transfer Point by Kathryn Forbes. Harcourt, Brace and Co. (1947), 195 pp.
• Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck. Viking Press (1947), 312 pp.
• What D’Ya Know for Sure by Len Zinberg. Doubleday and Co. (1947), 278 pp.
• White Shadows by Guy Nunn. Reynal and Hitchcock (1947), 246 pp.
• Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley. Harper and Brothers (1948), 205 pp.
• The Bramble Bush by David Duncan. Macmillan Co. (1948), 215 pp.
• The Cleft Rock by Alice Tisdale Hobart. Bobbs-Merrill (1948), 376 pp.
• Fire by George R. Stewart. Random House (1948), 336 pp.
• “An Invasion of Privacy” by Katherine Albert. American Magazine (1948), 19 pp.
• The Inward Voyage by Peter Packer. McGraw-Hill Book Co. (1948), 234 pp.
• The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. Little, Brown and Co. (1948), 164 pp.
• The Road through the Wall by Shirley Jackson. Farrar, Straus (1948), 271 pp.
• Three Roads by Ross Macdonald. Alfred A. Knopf (1948), 223 pp.
• Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. Random House (1949), 373 pp.
• Framed in Guilt by Day Keene. M.S. Mill Co. and William Morrow & Co. (1949), 218 pp.
• The Journey of Simon McKeever by Albert Maltz. Little, Brown and Co. (1949), 250 pp.
• The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler. Houghton Mifflin Co. (1949), 249 pp.
• Lovely Lady, Pity Me by Roy Huggins. Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1949), 221 pp.
• The Madrone Tree by David Duncan. Macmillan Co. (1949), 230 pp.
• The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald. Alfred A. Knopf (1949), 245 pp.
• A Private Killing by James Benét. Harper and Brothers (1949), 240 pp.
• Teach the Angry Spirit by Cornelia Jessey. Crown Publishers (1949), 249 pp.
• Thieves’ Market by A. I. Bezzerides. Charles Scribner’s Sons (1949), 233 pp.
• Yokohama, California by Toshio Mori. Caxton Printers (1949), 166 pp.