Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: July statistics

Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.

July was a big month. There were 70 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 18 participants. There were 69 individual titles reviewed, written by 62 different authors. There were 5 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 9 or just 1.

In the recap posts for May and June we had no books that were reviewed more than once in May and only one in June. We didn't have any authors who had more than one book reviewed in either month which was quite unusual. This month is unusual because we had a LOT of authors who had more than one book reviewed. 

First though, there was one book that was reviewed twice this month. It is the new one from Lisa See, Daughters of the Sun and Moon which was reviewed by Deb at Readerbuzz (on Goodreads) and Laura from Reading Books Again. 

We had 6 authors who had more than two books reviewed, with two authors having three books reviewed and linked up. The first was Laura Ingalls Wilder. Deb from Readerbuzz had just completed reading all nine books in the Little House on the Prairie series. Coincidentally, the second was the author combo of Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie (yes, another Laura). Laura from Reading Books Again read My Dear Hamilton, America's First Daughter and A Founding Mother.

There were quite a few books read on American history in July, which I guess makes sense when you consider that America was celebrating a big birthday (you know, one ending with a 0!)

The other authors who had more than one book reviewed were Jean Plaidy, Lee Strauss and Manda Collins.

If you enjoy reading Historical Fiction why not join us? You can find all the details here.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Hopewell's Library.

Top Ten Tuesday: Island time!

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This week the theme is Books About/Set In Places on My Bucket List (submitted by Rachel @ Sunny Side). In theory this is an easy topic for me as I read a lot of books set in places I would love to visit. I have done entire posts just on Paris alone, France, and Greece, Japan, previous holiday destinations, armchair travelling and more. As I start this post, I am away for Easter on a island called Phillip Island which is a couple of hours away from home. So, my twist this week is that I am going to focus on books set on islands, however, I am limiting it to islands that are not countries. To be fair, I could probably do this topic several times over! I am saving islands that are also countries for another time.

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett - This book is set on Bruny Island which is in Tasmania. I just read this one recently!

The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns - A lot of this story takes place on Norfolk Island which is a place I would love to visit (my review)

The Secrets of the Huon Wren by Clair van Ryn - This is another book set in Tasmania (my review)

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa - This one is set in Sicily (my review)

The Islander's Daughter by Patricia Wilson - I am currently reading this one which is mainly set on a Greek island called Milos during WWII

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - I think a lot of islands are magical but this one is set in a magical world!

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See - This book is set on the island of Jeju in South Korea

The Sweet Life Cafe by Helen Rolfe - Set on an island in the Channel Island (my review)

The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman - Takes place on a tiny island just off the Australian coast where the only structure is a lighthouse

Over the Seas to Skye by Sue Moorcroft - This is the third book in the Skye Sisters trilogy which are all set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland (my review)

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated books in first half of 2026

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

I am pretty sure most of us could do at least 20 books that we are looking forward to but the rules say ten. I am sure when I visit other posts I will find even more books that I wish I had included on the list! It happens every year. 

The Hobart Hotel by Mary-Lou Stephens (March) - I have enjoyed Mary-Lou Stephens previous books and I think this one sounds good too!

The Model Murder by Amanda Hampson (April) - This is the fourth book in the fabulous Tea Ladies mystery series set in the late 1960s in Sydney

Start at the End by Emma Grey (April) - I read both of Emma Grey's previous books last year and gave them both 5/5 stars. I have high hopes for this book!

Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama (February) - I have read a couple of this author's books now. In the first one there was one element which annoyed me but I was charmed by the second one. This is the start of a series!

A Far-Flung Life by M L Stedman (March) - It's been 13 years since M L Stedman's debut novel, The Light Between Oceans, was released! I was very surprised when I saw that she finally had a new novel coming out. 

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See  (June)  -  I am always excited at the prospect of a new Lisa See book. 

Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (May) - This is the sixth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. 

Don't Brake My Heart by Leonie Mack (June) - I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Head Over Wheels, so I am looking forward to this one

The French House Share by Gillian Harvey (January) - Gillian Harvey has become an auto-read author for me over the last couple of years.

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (February) - I have absolutely loved the last few Kate Quinn novels I have read. Excited for this one!

Are you excited for any of these books?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best books of 2024

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Best Books I Read in 2024

The first three are easy! These are the three books that I rated as 5/5 reads.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath - I knew from the first couple of pages I was going to love this book! And I did! (my review)

The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley - This was my very first read of 2024 and I loved it! (my review)

The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson- This book is the book that I recommended to the most people this year. I loved the whole concept! I also gave 4.5/5 to another book from this author. Can't wait to read her next book which I have waiting for me to read soon. (my review)

After that, it gets a bit harder as I had 15 books that I rated as 4.5/5 but I can only choose 7 more, so here goes!

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - This was a big book, and I read it in a day! Can't remember when I last did that! (My review)

A Wedding in the Sun by Leonie Mack - Given that I had two books by Leonie Mack that I gave 4.5/5, I had to have at least one of her books in the top ten today. (My review)

Funny Story by Emily Henry - Emily Henry is consistently good!

An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain - I read several books by this author this year so it is only right that he is on this list. (My review)

Summer at Santorini Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin - I love the way that Rebecca Raisin writes about food, books, places! (My review)

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - I pretty much always enjoy Lisa See's books! This was no exception!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - I gave this a 4.5 just because of the fact that I could not put it down! I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series when it comes out!

Are any of these books on your favourite list?

Countdown to 2025: Day 13

 This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 12 and the prompt for today is Feast – a book that was magnificent

I struggled with this prompt a little bit. What makes a book magnificent? Is it noble characters, is it just a great reading experience. I ended up choosing Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See which has both!

Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas pudding – if you could squeeze in just one more book for 2024.

Six Degrees of Separation: Kairos to A Nurses Life

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

This month's starting point is Kairos by Jenny Eckenberg. This book was recently announced as the winner of International Book Prize for 2024. The book was translated from German.

The last book I read that was translated from German was Carsten Henn's The Door-to-Door Bookstore which I read last year. (my review)

Another translated book about bookstores is Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum who is a Korean author. I am reading this at the moment.

A couple of years ago I read Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, which is set on the Korean island of Jeju. We are doing a cruise next year which will take us to Jeju which we are very excited about.

Recently I have been listening to Song of the Sun God by Shankari Chandran. What is the connection? Well, this book is set in the island nation of Sri Lanka so they are both set on islands.. We know that we will visit Sri Lanka in the next couple of years. We know who we are going with, we just have to find the date! So the other connection is Jeju and Sri Lanka are both places we intend to visit.

For the next connection, I am using the sun connection as my link and choosing Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson, which is partially set in Nigeria.

For my last choice, I am selecting a book I just learned about the day I was writing this post, so I haven't actually read it yet. The book is A Nurses Tale by Ola Awonubi and it feaatures a Nigerian nurse in WWII London. Christie Watson used to be a nurse, so that's another connection between these two books.

I need to stop here which is a shame as I straight away thought of another book about WWII nurses.

Next month the starting point is with The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose

Where did your chain take you this month?

This Week....

I'm reading

Last week I mentioned I was reading Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. I finished it while we were away and thoroughly enjoyed it! Because I finished it while we were on the plane I couldn't download anything new so I had to choose from any books I had already downloaded. I mean, that is still more than a hundred books but it's a narrower choice than I might otherwise have had.

In the end I decided to start reading The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont. I mean Paris and food! Sounds like a winner to me!

I also finished listening to The Inheritance by Nora Roberts. I can't really decide which audiobook to listen to next. I am sure I will find something!

I'm watching

Not much really!

Life

We spent the weekend in Sydney which was a lot of fun. We had a few flight issues going both ways so we were a bit late landing - us and all the Swifties who were flying in for the Taylor Swift concerts that were happening this weekend.

Our main reason for going was to watch SailGP. On Sunday we were on an island in the middle of the course and so the boats were sailing very close to us. It was very cool.

 

We did learn though that it would be best to stay in Sydney for the Sunday night if we do it again. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare but it was still a bit angsty!

We also went to see an artist exhibition at the new Art Gallery of New South Wales. The new building was extraordinary and so cleverly done. One of the galleries is actually a WWII storage tank that has now been made into an exhibition space. For this exhibition, the Tank was left quite dark which was very unusual. As for the artist, Louise Bourgeois,I am not sure she was our kind of artist, but you don't know until you try right?

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: You Already Own That Book

Blog Tour: A French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet

Weekend Cooking: That's a Bit Strange 

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

This week....

 

I'm reading

I am pretty pleased to have finished reading two books this week. The first was A French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet which I read for a blog tour. My review will be up in a couple of days. I also finished reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. I started it a couple of weeks ago, but had to put it aside. When I picked it up again I read it very quickly and liked it, although I did think that it  ended very abruptly.

I think I now have a few days where I can read whatever I like so I started reading Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. I am about 15% in and so far I love it! I can't wait to go and read some more tonight!!

I would like to point out that I posted 5, count them, 5 reviews in the last week! I can't remember the last time that happened!!

I do have two blog dilemnas at the moment. Whilst I always post on my Facebook page, I still, after all this time, have not quite figured out what to do on Instagram. I mean, do I want to post every post, or is it just some, or is it none at all?

My other blog dilemna is that I have been thinking about getting a new blog layout for approximately 4 years. I think my husband even gave me a blog redesign for Christmas one year, but I still haven't done anything about it. I would like it to reflect books, baking and travel. One day, I will surprise myself and just get it done. Anyone have a great blog designer they can recommend?

I'm watching

My husband has been very good since we met and always ensured that we go out for a nice dinner every year for Valentine's Day. I think it may have kind of crept up on us this year, so instead of going for dinner, we went to the movie to Anyone But You which stars Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. We still had dinner but it was only a burger and chips from Hungry Jacks. I was very pleasantly surprised by how funny the movie was. Yes, it was a bit silly, but we did laugh out loud. It took me quite a few minutes to realise that the movie was inspired by Much Ado About Nothing! The movie is set in Sydney, and it was a good taster for our upcoming visit to the city this weekend!

One of the key songs in the soundtrack for Anyone But You is Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, and it has been stuck in my head for days!!

Here's the trailer

I started watching One Day on Netflix on the weekend, which is based on the novel by David Nicholls. I am about half way through and so far, so good. The story starts in 1988 and works it's way through the 90s. I think I am up to 1994. Watching this is giving me lot of memories from the music and fashion, and even the fact that there was no such thing as a mobile phones yet. How on earth did we manage back in the day!!  

We also watched several episodes of a series called The Secrets of the Imperial War Museum which was really interesting. We will definitely be spending at least one day at the IWM when we are in London later this year!

Life

I've been listening to Inheritance by Nora Roberts. Last week I listened to a section of the book where the main character tested her cooking skills by cooking a pot roast. Despite the fact that it is not really the right weather for it, I convinced my husband that we needed to make pot roast on the weekend, and it was delicious!! Have you been inspired to cook something just because you read about it? 

I was talking to one of my colleagues on Friday. She was at the hairdresser and I was like it must be about time for my cut and colour. Turns out it was last week! Ooops. Luckily I have been able to make a new appointment for Wednesday this week. I hope I remember this appointment!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Love

Blog Tour: Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen

Blog Tour: Shout Out to My Ex by Sandy Barker

Blog Tour/Weekend Cooking: The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath

Sunday Salon: Two Japanese Literature Challenge Reviews

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Didn't Get to in 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Didn't Get to in 2023.  In order to find these books, I looked at previous posts of books that I was looking forward to. I did just have a thought that I should have just looked at this post form last year and see if i read any of those books! Next time!

So here are ten books I meant to read in 2023 but I never got to it!

Daisy and Kate by Meredith Appleyard - I have wanted to read this since I first saw the cover at the reader's retreat I went to last year.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - I can't believe I haven't read this year. I usually love Lisa See's books.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy - I was given this beautiful hardcover book at a work event, but I haven't actually read it yet.


The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - Last year Pa Salt's book was released but I didn't read it as I still haven't read this book.

Inheritance by Nora Roberts - This is the first book in the The Lost Bride trilogy, and came out in November. I bought the audio straight away but haven't listened to it yet.


Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - I actually started listening to this over the weekend but when I started writing this post I had not so I am leaving it in!

A Woman's Work by Victoria Purman - I had a proper plan to read this before I went to the Australian Women Weekly exhibition in rural Victoria. However, one of these things happened and the other did not!


Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I intend to read this in the next couple of weeks.

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker - I was very excited when this book came out. Still haven't read it.

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati  - I even got to meet this author when I was in the US last year, but still haven't managed to read this book.

Have you read any of these books? Which book would you recommend I prioritise?

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge December stats (and full 2023 stats too!)

 

 

Each month I share the statistics for the previous month for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. Given that we have now finished with 2023 this month's post will be all the statistics for December and then the statistics for the full year! I always find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I think I have visited everyone who shared a link for December. although I think I moved away from some Wordpress blogs before the comments loaded due to the pop-up they have. Even if it looks like I didn't leave a comment, I still visited I promise!!

In terms of the books, it was a good month in December for reviews with 55 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 1 participants. This is 7 more than for the same month last year.   There were 4 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 10 or just 1. 

There was just one book that was reviewed more than once this month and that was The Romantic by William Boyd, a book that was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction this year. This month it was reviewed by both Kay at What Me Read and Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog.

There were 2 other authors who had more than book reviewed. 

Agatha Christie who had 3 different books reviewed this month. Sleeping Murder was reviewed at Shellie Loves Books, Murder on the Orient Express was reviewed at Laura's Reviews (in graphic novel form) as was Endless Night. Interestingly, there was another book that features Hercule Poirot but by another author, which is part of a series authorised by the Agatha Christie estate.

Verity Bright's books Murder on the Cornish Cliffs and Death on a Winter's Day were reviewed at A Darn Good Read and Shellie Loves Books respectively. I do love the covers on these books.

And that's it, so let's look at the stats for the whole challenge year. Are you ready?

During 2023 there were a total 846 reviews added to the challenge. This compares to 841 reviews in 2022 and 775 reviews during 2021. The 846 reviews were for 748 individual titles written by 609 authors and submitted by 43 different reviewers.

Let's start with the month by month numbers: 

February was the month with the highest number of reviews at 91 and October was the lowest with 34.

In terms of the books, there was one book that was reviewed more than any other during 2023, with 5 reviews submitted. That book was .....

There were 3 books that were reviewed 4 times. They were

And then there were 5 books reviewed 3 times, 75 books reviewed twice and 664 titles that were each reviewed once.

In terms of authors, one author was reviewed significantly more than any and that was Agatha Christie who was reviewed 26 times, partly because quite a few of the participants were participating in the Reading Christie year long challenge. And yes, I am putting aside the discussion of whether she counts as historical fiction or not as I leave that to the participants discretion.

The next most reviewed authors, who were all reviewed 7 times were Kate Morton, D E Stevenson, Georgette Heyer, Roseanna M White and Verity Bright.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the challenge during 2023. Our highest number of reviews submitted was a whopping 70, but whether you contributed that many or just 1 I am grateful to you all for your participation.

It's not too late to join the 2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. The sign up post is here, and you can find the January link post to add your reviews here.

I am looking forward to seeing what people share during 2024.

I am also sharing this post with Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023.  Normally I have to go looking for books for this prompt but there are so many good books coming out over the next few months!

Codenamed Charming by Lucy Parker - I read the first book in this series a couple of years ago and have been waiting for this ever since.


Daisy and Kate by Meredith Appleyard - This author was at the retreat I went to last month and the book sounds good. It doesn't hurt that the cover is gorgeous.

The Girl from Portofino by Siobhan Daiko - I read The Girl from Venice a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I am on the lookout for this one.

Back on Track by Tricia Stringer - Another author who was at the retreat, this book is primarily set on the train that goes from Adelaide to Darwin,  The Ghan, which is a trip I would love to do at some point.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo - This is this author's first adult book. I loved the YA book I have read by her so hopefuly that this would be good.

 

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber - I have enjoyed this authors previous books!

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - So looking forward to this one. I really enjoyed her last book.

System Collapse by Martha Wells - The fact that I still haven't read the last book in the series doesn't mean that I can't be excited about this one!

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang - Kate Quinn. Need I say more!


The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer - Very excited about this one!

Do you have any of these books on your list this week?