Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - May 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 May, there were 59 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 21 participants. There were 57 individual titles reviewed, written by 56 different authors. There were 4 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 9 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in May? There were two books that were reviewed twice!

Six Days in Bombay was reviewed by two Laura's: Laura at Reading Books Again and Laura at Laura's Reviews.

Traitor's Legacy by S.J. Parris was read by Helen at She Reads Novels and by Cathy at What Cathy Read Next. This is the first book in a new series which is a spin off from the long running Giordano Bruno series.

Laura from Laura's Reviews is working her way through Jane Austen's books in honour of her 250th birthday. This month she shared reviews for Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was announced this week. The 2025 winner is The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. This has been reviewed for the challenge by Cathy at What Cathy Read Next where she said

Although things do happen, some of them quite dramatic, The Land in Winter is essentially a beautifully crafted, character-led novel.

I wonder what books will be featured next month! In next month's post I will share some statistica for the year so far given that we will be half way through the challenge at that point! Hard to believe but it is true!

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

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - April stats

 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 61 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. There were 54 individual titles reviewed, written by 52 different authors. There were 6 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 6 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in April ? There were actually two books that were reviewed three times each, and then a further 3 books that were reviewed twice!

The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry was reviewed by Jenia at Story for Dessert, Barbara at Stray Thoughts and at Laura's Reviews. Interestingly, there was also a short audio story called which was also written by this author, although this time the name it was published under was just Patti Callahan which Barbara also posted about!

The other book reviewed three times was Nancy Bilyeau's new book The Versailles Formula which was reviewed three times by Laura at Reading Books Again, Helen at She Reads Novels and by Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.

The books that were reviewed twice were A Slash of Emerald by Patrice McDonough reviewed by Kim and Bev at My Reader's Block, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall which was reviewed by Cathy from What Cathy Read Next and at Laura's Reviews. The third book was The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie which was reviewed by Shellie from Shellie Loves Books and Laura from Laura's Reviews.

There was also another Patrice McDonough book reviewed by Kim which was Murder by Lamplight.

Kerry Greenwood was the other author who was reviewed more than once this month with Bev at My Reader's Block reading both Blood and Circuses and The Castlemaine Murders. I also read a Kerry Greenwood book this month, but the review won't be up until next week...probably!

In other news, the shortlist for the Sir Walter Fiction Prize for Historical Fiction was announced in April, and they shared a cool video announcement

The shortlisted books are:


The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

I know that we have a couple of participants in the challenge who are reading the nominated books. Have you read any of these?

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

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge February Statistics

 

For the last couple of years I have been sharing statistics each month for the Historical challenge, and my plan is to continue to do this again this year. I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! Having visited most of February's posts, I can tell you that there are some very interesting books being reviewed - unusual times and places, translated fiction and more - and I have added several books to my TBR list!

In terms of the books, there were 56 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 22 participants. This is less than for the same month last year but I am sure we will catch up!  There were 56 individual titles reviewed, written by 55 different authors. There were 3 reviewers who reviewed more than 5 books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 6 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in February? Well, none actually, which I think is a good indicator of the wide variety of historical fiction books there are out in the reading world!

There was one author who was reviewed more than once, and I am very pleased to say that she is an Australian author by the name of Melissa Ashley

Tracey at Carpe Librum reviewed Melissa Ashley's 2019 book The Bee and the Orange Tree which tells the story of Marie Catherine D'Aulnoy and is set in the French courts in the 17th century. You can find her review here.

The book that I read was The Naturalist of Amsterdam which was once again set in the 17th century but this time in Amsterdam and Suriname. My review is here (safe to say I enjoyed it a lot!)

Last week I shared the longlist for the Sir Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction as my Top Ten Tuesday post. 

The only book from the longlist that has been reviewed so far this year is Cuddy by Benjamin Myers, which Helen from She Reads Novel reviewed this month. It sounds like a really good read. 

My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor is also on the longlist, and this was one of the most reviewed books of the 2023 challenge.

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here and you can add your links to the March link post here.

I am linking this post up with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz!

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - June - and the year so far!

 

Each month I share the statistics for the previous month for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I always find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! This month I have haven't had time to visit the reviews that have been shared. I will do better in the coming month. Given that we have just gone past the half way point of the challenge for this year, I thought I would also share the statistics for the year so far as well

First, the statistics for June.

In terms of the books, it was a quieter month in June for reviews with 64 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. However, this is only 1 less than for the same month last year so maybe June is always a bit quieter. There were 60 individual titles reviewed, written by 55 different authors. There were 4 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 8 or just 1. 

Let's move onto the books. There were 4 books that were reviewed twice during June. Interestingly, one of these books was also on our most reviewed list for last month, which is quite unusual. 

The 4 books that were reviewed twice were

The Heiress Bride by Madeline Hunter is the third book in the A Duke's Heiress series. This book was reviewed at Laura's Reviews and also by Susan at Reading World,

The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor was reviewed at What Cathy Read Next and by Helen at She Reads Novels

 

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson was also reviewed by both Helen and Cathy.

The final book to mention is Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry which was reviewed by Helen and Cathy again.

In addition to these authors, there were 5 authors who had multiple titles reviewed. 

Agatha Christie

Alexis Hall

D E Stevenson

Lydia Travers

Sandra Dallas

So how about for the first 6 months of the year. Well, we have had more than 500 reviews so far which is A-maz-ing! Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. 

There are books that have been reviewed more than once, but these are the books which have been reviewed more than twice

Homecoming by Kate Morton  (4 reviews)

My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor (4 reviews)

Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb (3 reviews)

The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor (3 times)

In addition to those mentioned above there are also 15 other authors who have been reviewed more than twice.

Finally, I thought I would mention the winner of the Sir Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction which was announced in June. The winner was These Days by Lucy Caldwell, which was reviewed for the challenge by Helen at She Reads Novels back in March.

It's not too late to join the 2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. The sign up post is here, and you can find the June linky to add your reviews here.

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

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

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge March statistics

 

Last year I started sharing statistics each month for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, and my plan is to continue to do this again this year. I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! This month I have been around and visited most of the reviews and added several books to my TBR list.

In terms of the books, it was another really good month for reviews with 88 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 25 participants. This is 12 more than for the same month last year. There were 85 individual titles reviewed, written by 83 different authors. There were 8 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 7 or just 1.

Let's move onto the books. There were three books that were reviewed twice during March.

 

The first is Goodnight from Paris by Jane Healey which was enthusiastically reviewed by Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review and by Susan at Reading World

The next book to be reviewed twice is Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb which was also reviewed by Davida as well as at Laura's Reviews. This book is the story of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner's tempestuous relationship.

The third book to be reviewed twice was The Book Spy by Alan Hlad. I have requested this one from my library based on the reviews I read at Laura's Reviews and also Becky's Reviews. WWII librarians who are spies sound like my kind of read!

There are two authors who both had two books reviewed being Lauraine Snelling and Trish MacEnulty. Barbara from Stray Thoughts reviewed 2 books which actually comprise 5 novellas, all set in North Dakota in the early 1900s and featuring Norwegian immigrants. The first collection comprised 3 novellas called Dakota Dream, Dakota Dream and Dakota Dusk. The second collection is the final 2 novellas called Dakota December and Dakota Destiny.

Yvonne from A Darn Good Read reviewed two books by Trish MacEnulty which are the first two books in the Delafield and Malloy Investigations historical mystery series. The first book is The Whispering Women and the second is The Burning Bride.

Recently the shortlist for the Sir Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for 2023 was announced, so I thought I would share the books from the longlist which have been reviewed for the challenge so far. I have noted the books which have made the shortlist

The Romantic by Willian Boyd

These Days by Lucy Caldwell (Shorlisted)

My Name is Yip by Paddy Crewe

The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan (Shortlisted)

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris (Shortlisted)

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph

The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry (Shortlisted)

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk

The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane (Shortlisted)

Ancestry by Simon Mower (Shortlisted)

I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnanbalam (Shortlisted)
The Settlement by Jock Serong

Cathy from What Cathy Read Next has read several of the listed books including The Romantic, I am Not Your Eve and The Settlement.

Is anyone else planning to read any of short or longlisted books for the Prize?

It's not too late to join the 2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. The sign up post is here, and you can find the March linky to add your reviews here.

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

Top Ten Tuesday - Sir Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction longlist

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week it is a genre freebie, so I thought I would share the longlist for the Sir Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. I have been tossing around the thought of doing some kind of mini challenge within the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge but I haven't yet worked out what that is going to look like! Maybe I will have figured out by the time the shortlist is announced

To be completely transparent, I haven't read any of these books, or even these authors but there are a number of them that have caught my eye. There are also a wide variety of settings amongst this list, from Tahiti to Australia, to Belfast and London and more.

The Romantic by William Boyd

These Days by Lucy Caldwell

My Name is Yip by Paddy Crewe

The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph

The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk

The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

Ancestry by Simon Mower



And given that the long list has twelve books on it, here are two bonuses

I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnanbalam
The Settlement by Jock Serong

If you love historical fiction, you are more than welcome to join other fans of the genre in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2023. The sign up post is here.

Have you read any of these books?