Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - March 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.

In terms of the books read in March , there were 64 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 20 participants. There were 61 individual titles reviewed, written by 57 different authors. There were 6 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 8 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in March? There were actually three!

First is Pam Jenoff's latest book Last Twilight in Paris which was reviewed by Jenia at Story for Dessert and Laura from Laura's Reviews.

Frances Quinn's book The Lost Passenger was reviewed by Helen at She Reads Novels and by Constance at Staircase Wit

Finally, as part of the Read Christie challenge, Laura from Laura's Reviews and Shellie from Shellie Loves Books both read Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

We also had some other authors who had multiple books reviewed this month. Bev from Readers Block is working her way through the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood and so reviewed three books, The Green Mill Murder, Murder on the Ballarat Train and Death at Victoria Dock. This is timely as during the week it was announced that Kerry Greenwood has passed away. The final book in the series is due to be released later in the year.

There were also two books reviewed by Amanda Dykes. Barbara from Stray Thoughts reviewed both Up from the Sea and All the Lost Places.

Finally, Erica Ruth Neubauer also had two books reviewed. Shellie from Shellie Loves Books reviewed Murder at Wedgefield Manor and Mark from Carstairs Considers reviewed Homicide in the Indian Hills (yay Mark!). These are both part of the Jane Wunderly mystery series.

I wonder what books will be featured next month!

If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, it isn't too late to join us! All the details can be found in the sign up post.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Top Ten Tuesday: Short stories

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a freebie so we can pick topic whatever we like. I am choosing to share the last ten short stories I have read or listened to, as the case maybe

The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson - I listened to this last year, but decided to listen to it again this year. There's every chance that this might become an annual event. It's full of really interesting facts about the history of Christmas.

The Ex Proposal by Rachael Johns - This was originally published in an anthology but the author has just got the rights back so published it for her fans to read. It's available from her author facebook page.

The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan - I got this as part of Amazon First Reads. I think it is now released and it was a bit of fun.

The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke - This was an Audible only book, with about 4 hours of listening time.

Amelia's Shadow by Marie Benedict - This is part of a collection called Blaze about lesser known but interesting female characters. This one was about Ruth Nichols who was close friends with Amelia Earhart

The Tasting Menu by Stuart Macbride - I was tempted because this was set in Scotland, where I was when I read the story, and it was foodie, but it was a bit too much horror for me.

The Forgotten Chapter by Pam Jenoff - Another entry in the Blaze collection. 

Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon - This is another Blaze book and I really enjoyed it. This one was about a woman who changes the way that people thought about criminal investigations.

The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman - I haven't read any of Alice Hoffman's full length books, but I have enjoyed these linked short stories 

How Captain Found the Anywhere Hotel by Gisele Stein - Last year I read an imaginative book called The Anywhere Hotel and Captain was the dog in the book. This story tells how he came to be at the hotel. I think this was only available to newsletter subscribers so I can't find a cover image for this one.

This week

I'm reading

We have a great life in Australia. One of the less positive things is that it takes a long time to get anywhere, but of course you can find some silver linings if you look hard enough. For example, this week we had around 20 hours of travel time which means I got a few stories read and watched a couple of things.

While we were on the plane, I finished reading The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva and then I read a few short stories. I will post my review for The Secret Keeper next week.

I was introduced to a historical fiction short story collection which is being published as a collection called Blaze by The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. It is spotlighting interesting stories about women. So far I have read Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon and The Forgotten Chapter by Pam Jenoff. I have had Lawhon on my radar for a long time but never actually read her. I will definitely read more. And I have read Pam Jenoff but it has been many, many years. I have some more long flights in my future so I will probably read more.

The other short story I read was by a new to me Scottish author, Stuart MacBride. The story was called The Tasting Menu. I don't read a lot of crime these days, so this was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I picked it up as part of the Amazon First Reads. If I had to pick a word to describe it, it would probably be gruesome.

Finally I started read The Map Maker's Secret by Catherine Law, which is another book predominantly set in Scotland. So far I am enjoying it a lot.


I'm watching

Before we left home, we were still watching a lot of Olympics, and that has continue since we arrived, except now we have to cheer for Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands.

On the plane there were a number of things on offer that I would like to watch. First up I watched a French/Japanese movie called Umami which stars Gerard areu. It is about a French chef who nearly dies and decides on a whim to go to Japan in search of the mysterious qualities of umami. It wasn't bad.

The next movie I watched was called Just One Small Favour. This is a Spanish comedy where a dysfunctional family is called to their summer home when the maid dies, and suddenly lots of secrets are being revealed. It was a bit of fun.

The final thing I watched was a cooking series called Simple Spices by British chef Nadiya Hussain. I have enjoyed a few of her books and series, and this was really good as well. I am not sure this is on in Australia so it was a bit of a find, and there are definitely 

Life

Can you tell I didn't get much sleep on the flight? We are here for my parents-in-laws 60th wedding anniversary, but on Friday we did a walking tour of Soweto which was very interesting, and now we are at a game lodge where we have been on a game drive so far and this morning a massage. The place we are staying is really 1beautiful, with this lovely pool. I am not sure it is quite hot enough to get in the pool but we will see

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Holiday Countdown!

Blog Tour: An Island Promise by Kate Frost 

Weekend Cooking: Greek-ish by Georgina Hayden

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - July statistics

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Unread Books on My Kindle

 

 

 

  

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

Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon (Bonus points if you tell us how long it’s been sitting on your shelf waiting for you.). I don't know about you, I could probably do this topic every week for a year and still have some books left to share about!


I thought I would go to my Kindle an see what books are the oldest on there however, there are a lot of books on their that I would have bought for a reason but now I have no idea. So these are the books that caught my eye as I scrolled through. Books that I would potentially still buy!

The War Bride Club by Soraya Lane - I have several Soraya Lane books on my Kindle but I have never actually read any of them

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman - I was reminded of this authors books when we visited Hawaii last year.

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia - I think I picked this one up as part of a World Book Day promotion or something like that!


The Tea Planters Daughter by Janet Macleod Trotter - I think I have all the books in this series.

The Little Cafe in Copenhagen by Julie Caplin - I have read another Julie Caplin now so I will read more from her. Maybe I will start from the beginning which is this book!


The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - I have heard such good things about this book!

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Maintenance by Olivia Waite - I picked this book up after a session at Melbourne Writers Festival a few years ago.


The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis - Fiona Davis is one of those authors that I have been meaning to read for year!

The Cottage at Rosella Cove by Sandie Docker - Another author I own several books by but I haven't read yet


The Orphans Tale by Pam Jenoff - Pam Jenoff wrote WWII before it was cool. I have read a few of her books but it has been many years!

I could definitely do this topic a few more times without trying too hard.Do you recommend any of these books

Top Ten Tuesday: Places I visited which reminded me of books I have read

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Bookish Goals for 2023, I really only have two of those (and I am already behind on one of those) so instead I am twisting the topic to have the opportunity to share some photos from my trp!

My theme for this week is places I have visited which reminded me of books I had read. Obviously, I need to work on the title to make it a bit snappier, but it is what it is right now.

For context, I am currently in Italy, having visited The Netherlands, France and Italy. We will be travelling home via Singapore so there will be more, but for now, these are just some of the places where I found myself thinking about books I had read while I was away

Bayeux - There is so much history in Normandy, whether it be medieval or WWII or somewhere in between. I found my self thinking about Elizabeth Chadwick's books as well as Sharon Kay Penman's books. However, for the purpose of today, I am choosing to match with The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

Saint Chappelle - Amy Plum introduced me to this place and it has been on my bucket list ever since.

St Malo - When we were planning our route we were looking for somewhere to stay between Normandy and the Loire Valley and I chose this place purely and simply because of Anthony Doerr's wonderful book All the Light We Cannot See.

Chennonceau - I first blogged about wantiing to visit Chennonceaux back in 2011! This book tells the story of Catherine de Medici who left her mark on this chateau.

Louvre - I have read a number of books now which talk about the saving of art from The Louvre. One passage which came to mind was from The Riviera House by Natasha Lester where they talked about the processs of getting The Winged Victory of Thamocrace out of the Louvre. Interestingly, at Chambord in the Loire Valley there is a new permanent exhibition which talked about saving the art from The Louvre during WWII.

Musee D'Orsay - We loved visiting Musee D'Orsay - we definitely did not have enought time thher. Whilst Renoir's painting Luncheon of the Boating Party is not one of the ones we saw, I did find myself thinking of this book while I was there.

Musee D'Orsay - I really wanted to get a photo of the clocks at Musee D'Orsay. They are on a number of covers but this it the one that comes to mind.

Naples - The obvious choice for Naples would be Elena Ferrante but instead I am choosing The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella

Puglia - As I started this post I was staying in a trullo in Alberobello. I was inspired to want to visit Puglia thanks to this book. We did a walking tour of the town and the guide asked why we chose to stay here and I shared the title!

Rome - We arrived in Rome late on Monday so our main tourist day is tomorrow so no pictures yet!

Top Ten Tuesday: Lost books

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

week the theme is supposed to be Books I Loved So Much I Had to Get a Copy for My Personal Library. Now, I am sure that I have some of those books but I am going rogue today. 

I have had this idea for a TTT post for a while now so today is the day I am going to do "Lost" books.This idea originally came about when I noticed how many girls get lost in various places around the world but I haven't limited this post to the places girls get lost.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff


The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O'Neal

The Lost Sister of Fifth Avenue and The Lost Girl of Berlin by Ella Carey

The Lost Village by Daniele Sacerdoti


The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah

The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke

The Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

The Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans


The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister

Maybe next time I should do a list of found books!