Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in another time

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books Set in Another Time. You may be aware that I host the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, so I have decided to share 10 books that were reviewed more than once in last year's Historical Fiction Reading challenge. Most of these were reviewed three times during 2024, with the last two being reviewed four and five times respectively! There were 600 individual titles reviewed for the challenge which is impressive! You can find more statistics from last year's challenge here.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

The Household by Stacey Halls

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

James by Percival Everett

Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Have you read any of these? I have several of these on my TBR pile.

Do you love historical fiction? Do you love reading challenges? It's not too late to join us. All the details can be found here!

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - January 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 January, there were  reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 22 participants. There were 55 individual titles reviewed, written by 52 different authors. There were 3 reviewers who reviewed more than 5 books each. There were also a couple of people who contributed their first reviews for the challenge! Welcome to you all. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 11 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in January?

There Were Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak was reviewed by myself and Bree from All the Books You Can Read.Now you would be right to wonder if this is a coincidence as we did have a conversation where one of us said we were reading it and the other said maybe I will too. You can read Bree's review here and mine is here.

The other book that was reviewed twice was The Night on the Darling River by Darry Fraser. I am so excited to see this book by an Australian historical fiction author reviewed by two American reviewers! The first review was from Laura at Laura's Reviews and the second was from Sarah at Reading the Past.

There was also one author who had two individual books review which was Mary Balogh. Laura from Laura's Reviews reviewed Under the Mistletoe and Susan from Reading World reviewed Remember When.

I'll be back next month with the statistics for February!

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

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - February links

 

Well, that's the first month of the year done. Who's going to be the first person to say where did January go? Maybe it's me!

hank you to everyone who contributed a review in January for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. Currently there are around 50 links for the month! I will be back next week with all the statistics for the month!

I am looking forward to reading your reviews throughout the rest of the year! I am sure there is going to be a lot of great historical fiction discovered and shared with fellow HF lovers over the course of this year!

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month I will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

• add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). A direct link to your Goodreads review is also acceptable
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...)
• if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books!

You can also join the challenge group on Facebook which you can find here and don't forget to use the #histficreadingchallenge hashtag on the socials.

Let the reading begin!!

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

A couple of years ago now I read the amazing The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak which I reviewed here. Right then and there I knew that I wanted to read more from her! I do have a couple of her books waiting to be read on my Kindle, but as soon as I heard about this latest book, I decided that was going to be the one I read!

This is a big, rambling story. It is told in three timelines, and linking them all together is a single drop of water.

The first, and most interesting, story is that of a young baby who is born on the banks of the Thames and is named King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums, which is obviously quite the mouthful.  Arthur is born in poverty to an alcoholic father and a mother who struggles to keep food on the table for her children at the best of times, but is also plagued with mental health episodes.. From a young age, Arthur has to bring in money, however, he can. What he lacks in worldly goods though, he more than makes up with his prodigious memory. He can recall the tiniest detail of a meeting with someone, of something he has seen. Eventually he finds work at a printer which gives him the opportunity to read across a wide variety of subjects. 

One day, he finds himself at the gates of the British Museum as tow large sculptures known as lamassus are hauled into the museum, which leads to his lifelong obsession with Mesopotamia, eventually including work at the museum translating clay tablets which previously were unintelligible. He becomes obsessed with finding the missing fragments of the poem we now now as the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Whilst Arthur's life story sounds too unlikely to be true, it is in fact inspired by the life of a man named  George Smith, which makes the novel even more fascinating 

The second strand of this story starts in 2010 with a young Yazidi girl named Narin, who has a disorder which means that she is losing her hearing. Her grandmother, who has the ability to divine water and other skills as a healer, knows that they are going to have to leave their home on the banks of the River Tigris very soon as the Turkish government is going to be building a dam and their village will be destroyed. This is not the first time that the Yazidi have been displaced. They have long been persecuted, believed to be devil-worshippers and idolaters.

Narin's grandmother is determined to take her back to Iraq, for her formal baptism, a journey that is fraught with dangers. Once they do get back to Iraq, they find that the Yazidi's are still being persecuted, but this time it is by ISIS, with heartbreaking outcomes. At times, this part of the book was quite hard to read, but also compelling so hard to put down.

And finally, we have the story of Zaleekhah in 2018 London. She is a hydrologist, and she has just separated from her husband, and is moving into a canal boat moored on the Thames. She has very little furniture, is still trying to recover from her marriage, and she is searching for something more. Zaleekhah's parents were tragically killed when she was a young child, and she has been raised by her rich uncle and aunt. She knows that she owes them a lot, and she also knows that by the choices she is currently making, she is causing them disappointment.

I found Zaleekhah's story to be the least interesting of the three, but it was her story that really pulled two of the threads together at the end of the book, in quite a shocking way.

Obviously, there is a lot of focus on water in this novel, from the Thames to the Euphrates and Tigris. It seems timely as there are plenty of water related issues around the world, from lack of water in drought stricken parts of the world, to more regular flooding. 

This was one of the first books I read on my new Kindle Scribe and I wrote so many notes and highlighted so many passages. This was not only because I could, but because the way that Shafak puts a sentence, a paragraph, a page, together is so fabulous. There are layers and layers of story.

 Sometimes, there might be something small that is there to delight the reader, and sometimes you might wonder why it is there. And then, much later in the book, the connection that pulls through different parts of the story becomes clearer. There are also some very interesting cameos, particularly in the historical part of the story.

I am sure you can tell I really liked this book. Is it as good as The Island of Missing Trees? Not quite, but it is still a book, and an author, that I would recommend whole-heartedly. Now I just need to find some time to read Elif Shafak's backlist.

I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge statistics for December and the whole year!

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.

This month I am also sharing the stats for the whole of the 2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge!

First, December. 

In terms of the books read in December, there were 58 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. There were 56 individual titles reviewed, written by 52 different authors. There were 4 reviewers who shared 5 or more reviews this month. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 12 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in December? There were two.

The first, somewhat fittingly given the Season, was Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. This was reviewed by Barbara from Stray Thoughts and Laura from Laura's Reviews. Click on the links to see their thoughts!

The second was Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd which was reviewed by Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and Helen at She Reads Novels. The links take you to their reviews.

I do have to be careful when I do these statistics as this month we had two different books with the title Euphoria, so it did look like there was another one, but there wasn't!

I already shared this in the Facebook group but there were a lot of books with a variation of the word murder in the title this month. Maybe there is every month, but it jumped out at me this month. There were 8 of those titles, plus another one with the word Death!

There were a number of authors where there were reviews shared for more than one of their books.

Barbara from Stray Thoughts shared two novellas from Amanda Dykes, and I have to say that the Tin Can Serenade one sounds really good to me!

Barbara also shared her thoughts on two books by Roseanna M White - An Honorable Deception and Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor. 

Finally, there were two reviews shared for stories written by Charles Dickens. Alexis at Goodreads read La battaglia della vita which is The Battle of Life. I read The Chimes, which is one of Dickens lesser known Christmas stories. And yes, I do read for this challenge, I just don't often get to highlight myself in these posts (;-))

So those were the stats for December. Let's get to the stats for the whole of 2024!

In terms of the books read and reviewed in 2024, there were 665 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 34 participants. There were 600 individual titles reviewed, written by 502 different authors. There were 7 reviewers who shared 30 or more reviews this month with our top contributor being Laura from Laura's Reviews who contributed an amazing 101 reviews!. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 101 or just 2.

This compares to 846 reviews in 2023, 841 reviews in 2022 and 775 reviews during 2021

So which book was reviewed the most during 2024? To be honest, I am not completely surprised given that this book one the Goodreads Choice award for Historical Fiction and has appeared on many best of lists. I will say though, it does seem to be a very divisive book. People either really, really love it, or they really don't!

Drumroll please!

The book with the most reviews during 2024 was The Women by Kristin Hannah

The next highest number of reviews was for The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonsen which was reviewed 4 times.

There were then 8 books that were reviewed three times:

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd

James by Percival Everett

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhorn

The Household by Stacey Halls

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

As I mentioned earlier, it can be a little tricky sometimes with books with the same title. Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein was reviewed 3 times, but there was also another book with the same title as well by C J Barker.

Here's a breakdown of review by author numbers

5 reviews - 1

4 reviews - 1

3 reviews - 8

2 reviews - 84

1 review - 548

If we look at the authors who were reviewed multiple times, then Agatha Christie is the runaway winner with 19 different reviews contributed. I don't think that is a surprise given that quite a few people are doing both this challenge and the Read Christie challenge.

Other honourable mentions go to Roseanna M White who had 6 stories reviewed. Amanda Dykes and Verity Bright both had 5 stories reviewed!

There are a couple of little anomalies here. Kate Quinn writing solo was reviewed 3 times, but she was also reviewed 3 times for her collaboration with Janie Chang! Similarly, Hazel Gaynor and Aimee K Runyan were reviewed both as individuals and for their collaborative novels. There are probably others as well, but those are the ones that stood out to me.

Here's a breakdown of review by author numbers

19 reviews - 1

6 reviews - 1

5 reviews - 2

4 reviews - 6

3 reviews - 27

2 reviews - 56

1 review - 408

And here is the breakdown for the number of reviews for month

Oh, and for the record, there were 42 different books reviewed that had some variation of the words death and murder in the title! I am thinking of adding this into the monthly stats!

This year I added a column for the times I thought "oh, I would like to read that" when I read someone's review. That happened 68 times! And how many did I actually read - just one. Just goes to show that this challenge is bad/good for your TBR pile, depending on your perspective!

So now we look forward to the 2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. If you are interested in joining us, the sign up post is here. We would love to see what you are reading!

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

2025 challenges!

The beginning of a new reading year means thinking about which challenges you are going to be participating in. 

I am very much committed to making the challenges fit my reading as opposed to specifically reading for a challenge. Of course, the first challenge I am going to mention is one where I will go exactly opposite but never mind!

The first I am going to mention is Japanese Literature Challenge 18, hosted by Dolce Bellezza. I have several books in mind to read during January and February for this challenge!  I am also intending to post a few other things during January about all things Japanese which will be for my own January in Japan, but we will see how we go!

The next challenges are all year long challenges. 

The first is the Bookish Books challenge hosted by Susan at Bloggin' Bout Books

The levels are

Toe in the Door: 1-10 books read
Picking and Perusing: 11-20 books read
Lost in the Stacks: 21-30 books read
Living in the Library: 30+ books read

And I am choosing Picking and Perusing!

The challenge is the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog, where you can add any books you read that have been released in 2025.

The levels are

1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie
31-60 books per year – New Release Pro
61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran
101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast
200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed

And I am aiming for New Release Veteran

Of course, I need to also participate in my own challenge, the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge! You can find out more about the challenge here.

The levels are

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

I am aiming for Ancient History!

 I reserve the right to add more challenges at any time. I am also declaring now that ,of course, I am going to be participating in Paris in July when the time comes!

Oh, and I have set my Goodreads Challenge at 104 books!

What challenges are you participating in this year?

Blog Tour: Casa Paradiso by Francesca Scanacapra

This is the fourth book in the Paradiso series  by Francesca Scanacapra Now, I haven't read the first three, which tell the story of a family starting in WWII, then in the 1950s and then 1960s. Normally, I wouldn't read a series out of order, but this book takes place before the first book so I thought I would give it a chance.

I love it when a house plays a pivotal role in a book, to the point of being one of the characters. In this case it is not so much one of the characters but rather the main event! This book is almost a series of vignettes telling the story of the house itself, Paradiso, and its various owners through the years.  This starts with the man who built the house in 1637, Cristo Lovetta, who moves into the village of Pieve Santa Clara and falls in love with the location. He is a stonemason who builds a house where he raises his family. The main feature of the house are huge fireplaces and an impressive cantilevered staircase which show his skills as a stonemason. From there, we witness his children and their children as they live in the house. We read about tragedies, some fun stories, the changes in society such as the coming of trains, and more. Through each individual story, we see the house as it is changes hands, as it deteriorates over the centuries, falls into a state of disrepair, and is bought back to life. It is interesting to see that many of the chapters are focussed on the stories of the women who own the house.

We also see how several families in the town are tied together, and I suspect if I had read the first three books, these would all be very familiar names to me. I guess the question is, whether having now read about the house, am I interested in reading the rest of the series. And the answer is yes! I am looking forward to doing so.

It is amazing to me that you could follow a house's history for nearly 500 years. Bear in mind that I am Australian and therefore the oldest buildings you would see in my city would be late 19th century. One of the reasons I love to visit Europe is to see the history that is just visible everywhere. Walk down a street in Paris and there are houses from the 13th century. Head to London and see buildings that have been around for hundreds of years. Amazing!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by me on this blog.  Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

About the book

Lombardy, Northern Italy, 1637

Cristó Lovetta, a skilled stonemason, arrives in the rural village of Pieve Santa Clara to work on a nobleman’s house.

Haunted by a tragic past, Cristó wonders if he will ever find happiness again. However, as he immerses himself in his work, the warmth of the community and the beauty of the landscape convince him to begin a new life there.

Cristó designs and builds his own house, which he names Casa Paradiso. Over the centuries, Casa Paradiso becomes home to many generations, standing testament to lives beginning and ending, and witnessing the everyday challenges and triumphs of its inhabitants – from love lost and found, to the tragedies of war, the far-reaching consequences of political decisions made by powerful men and the evolving role of women in Italian society.

Casa Paradiso – the fourth instalment of the Paradiso Novels – is a shining, evocative saga spanning three hundred years in the life of a very special house, and a book that explores the enduring strength of the human spirit, contrasted with the transient nature of life itself.

About the author



Francesca Scanacapra was born in Italy to an English mother and Italian father, and her childhood was spent living between England and Italy. Her adult life has been somewhat nomadic with periods spent living in Italy, England, France, Senegal and Spain. She describes herself as 'unconventional' and has pursued an eclectic mixture of career paths – from working in translation, the fitness industry, education and even several years as a builder. In 2021 she returned to her native country and back to her earliest roots to pursue her writing career full time. Francesca now resides permanently in rural Lombardy in the house built by her great-grandfather which was the inspiration for her Paradiso Novels: Paradiso, Return to Paradiso, The Daughter of Paradiso and Casa Paradiso. Her novel The Lost Boy of Bologna was also published by Silvertail Books.



​Social media links

Twitter @francescascana2
Insta @francescascana2

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - August 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 July, there were 52 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. There were 51 individual titles reviewed, written by 5 differen0t authors. There were 4 reviewers who reviewed more than 5 books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 11 or just 1.

So which book was reviewed more than once in August?

Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead is the third book in the A Spector-Locked Room Mystery series and was reviewed by both Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy from What Cathy Read Next.

Laura from Laura's Reviews contributed reviews of two novels by Agatha Christie. The first review was for The Mystery of the Blue Train and the second was Taken at the Flood.

I'll be back next month with the statistics for September!

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

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - August links

Thank you to everyone who contributed a review in June for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. Currently there are more than 50 links for the month! I will be back next week with the statistics for July!

I am looking forward to reading your reviews throughout the rest of the year! I am sure there is going to be a lot of great historical fiction discovered and shared with fellow HF lovers over the course of this year!


If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month I will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

• add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). A direct link to your Goodreads review is also acceptable
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...)
• if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books!

You can also join the challenge group on Facebook which you can find here and don't forget to use the #histficreadingchallenge hashtag on the socials.

Let the reading begin!!

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Participants

1. The Wartime Book Club (Laura@RBA) 2. House of Shades (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 3. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (Laura's Reviews) 4. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie (Laura's Reviews) 5. Jackie (Reading World) 6. The King's Witches (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 7. Shadowed Loyalty (Barbara H.) 8. Key to Deceit (Mark @ CC) 9. The Briar Club (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 10. Miss Morton and the Deadly Inheritance (Reading World) 11. Cabaret Macabre (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 12. Stranded with Mr. Darcy by Lin Mei Wei (Laura's Reviews) 13. The Blue Maiden (Sarah @ Reading the Past) 14. A Nest of Vipers (Sarah @ Reading the Past) 15. The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain (Tracey @ Carpe Librum) 16. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Laura's Reviews) 17. Marg @ The Intrepid Reader - The Secret Keeper 18. In the Upper Country (Helen @ She Reads Novels)

19. Saved by the Matchmaker by Jody Hedlund (Laura's Reviews) 20. Berlin Duet (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 21. Hex by Jenni Fagan (Tracey @ Carpe Librum) 22. (Murder at the Boat Club) Bev@My Reader's Block 23. A House Divided (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks) 24. A Court of Betrayal (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 25. Threadbare (Denise Newton Writes) 26. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 27. Crime and Punishment (Reading World) 28. Scandalous Women by Gill Paul (Laura's Reviews) 29. Finding Dorothy (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 30. The Instrumentalist (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 31. The Winged Tiara by J'Nell Ciesielski (Laura's Reviews) 32. The Map Makers Promise - Marg 33. The Lady And Th Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (Reading Matters) 34. Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham (Laura's Reviews) 35. Cabaret Macabre (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 36. The essex serpent (Alexis Drake)

37. The Berlin Apartment (Davida The Chocolate Lady) 38. The Attic Child by Lola Jaye (Tracey @ Carpe Librum) 39. Only The Brave By Danielle Steel(Jenia @ Story For Dessert) 40. Unmentionable (Alexis Drake) 41. Death in a Scottish Castle by Lydia Travers (Yvonne @ A Darn Good Read) 42. The Missionary's Wife by Claire McGregor (Yvonne @ A Darn Good Read) 43. A Perfect Match (Reading World) 44. Lady Tan's Circle Of Women By Lisa Seel(Jenia @ Story For Dessert) 45. Six Lives (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 46. The Cold Light of Day (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks) 47. Intrigue in Istanbul (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks) 48. The invention of wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Cinzia) 49. No Match for Love by Karen Thornell (Laura's Reviews) 50. The Paris Gown by Christine Wells (Laura's Reviews) 51. The Naturalist's Daughter by Tea Cooper (Laura's Reviews) 52. The Deserted Heart (Reading World)

Learn more about Historical Fiction Reading Challenge here.

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - May stats

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! I think I have visited almost all the reviews submitted and have added a couple of books to my never ending TBR list

In terms of the books, there were 62 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 24 participants. This is an increase over the last couple of months. There were 58 individual titles reviewed, written by 58 different authors. There were 3 reviewers who reviewed more than 5 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 April?  There were actually 4 3 books that were reviewed twice, which is the most we have had for a while.

The first one was A Plague of Serpents by K J Maitland, the fourth and final book in the Daniel Pursglove. This book was reviewed by Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy at What Cathy Read Next.

The next book which was reviewed twice was Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner, which is the third book in the Jane Austen Society series. This book was reviewed by Laura at Laura's Reviews and by Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.

Next up we have a book called For a Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer, which is book 3 in the Timeless series. This book was reviewed by Barbara at Stray Thoughts and by Laura at Laura's Reviews

In a strange coincidence we had two book reviewed which both have the title Hungry Ghosts but they were by different authors!

We did have one other author who had more than one book reviewed this month. Bev at My Reader's Block read the two latest books in the Sebastian St Cyr series by C S Harris, Who Cries for the Lost and What Cannot be Said.

I look forward to seeing what everyone reads in June for the challenge

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - June links

 

 

Thank you to everyone who contributed a review in May for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. Currently there are more than 50 links for the month!

I am looking forward to reading your reviews throughout the rest of the year! I am sure there is going to be a lot of great historical fiction discovered and shared with fellow HF lovers over the course of this year!

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month I will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

• add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). A direct link to your Goodreads review is also acceptable
• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...)
• if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books!

You can also join the challenge group on Facebook which you can find here and don't forget to use the #histficreadingchallenge hashtag on the socials.

Let the reading begin!!

If you have more June links, then please add them to the July linky which can be found here.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Participants

1. My Fair Katie (Susan @ Reading World) 2. The Frozen River (Susan @ Reading World) 3. The lost (Alexis Drake) 4. Wonders of the past I (Alexis Drake) 5. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Laura's Reviews) 6. The Comfort of Ghosts (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 7. Black Silk and Sympathy by Deborah Challinor (Tracey @ Carpe Librum) 8. The Champagne Letters (Laura@RBA) 9. Estella's Revenge (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 10. The British Booksellers (Barbara H.) 11. Spitting Gold (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 12. The Black Tulip (Margaret @ BooksPlease) 13. The Hudson Collection by Jocelyn Green (Laura's Reviews) 14. The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 15. The Chocolate Factory (Marg @ The Intrepid Reader 16. Mystery of the Blue Train (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks)

17. Amelia's Shadow; The June Paintings (Davida The Chocolate Lady) 18. Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter (Maphead's Book Blog) 19. Mr Sebastian e l'ombra del diavolo (Alexis Drake) 20. Becoming Madam Secretary (Constance at Staircase Wit) 21. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club (Susan @ Reading World) 22. The House of Doors (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 23. The medium (Alexis Drake) 24. Ra the mighty, The crocodile caper (Alexis Drake) 25. The Burial Plot (Helen @ She Reads Novels) 26. Tigers in Blue by Richard Buxton (Yvonne @ A Darn Good Read) 27. Mark Joseph Jochim 28. Traitor's Arrow (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks) 29. The Ration Book Baby (Constance at Staircase Wit) 30. Murder at an English Seance (Mark @ CC) 31. Long Island (Susan @ Reading World) 32. Forgotten Chapter, Fires to Come, Tune in Tomorrow (Davida The Chocolate Lady)

33. The Santa Klaus Murder (Shellie@ShellieLovesBooks) 34. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club (Staircase Wit) 35. Pure (Alexis Drake) 36. A Deceptive Composition (Susan@Reading World) 37. The Housekeepers (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 38. Rocky Mountain Journey by Misty M. Beller (Laura's Reviews) 39. The Comfort of Ghosts (Laura@RBA)s 40. The Heart in Winter (Cathy@WhatCathyReadNext) 41. The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray (Laura's Reviews) 42. Husbands & Lovers(Jenia @ Story For Dessert) 43. Husbands &Lovers(Jenia @ Story For Dessert) 44. Whale Fall (Susan @ Reading World) 45. The Queen's Faithful Companion by Eliza Knight (Laura's Reviews) 46. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (Tracey @ Carpe Librum)

Learn more about Historical Fiction Reading Challenge here.

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Blog Tour: The Secret Daughter of Venice by Juliet Greenwood (includes UK giveaway)

 

Kate Arden has always known that she wasn't really an Arden. She had a vague memory of a life before she came to live at Brierley. Those memories are on the periphery of her brain, slight glimpses but nothing solid to grasp on to.

She also knows that she needs to get away from her home. She loves Brierley, with it's grand but crumbling house, the Roman mosaics that are just waiting to be further uncovered, and her three sisters, Rosalind, Cordelia and Bianca. But her father is domineering, determined to marry one of his daughters off to a wealthy member of the aristocracy. It actually doesn't matter which one of them really. More than anything though, she needs to pursue her passion for art.

When her Mama passed away she left each of her daughters an illustrated book of Shakespeare with the hint that there is a clue in the book for each of them.

Kate has looked through her book and could see no clues, until one day, she does find something. She finds an image of a terrace with a mountain in the background, which is something similar to one of the memories she has.  She also finds a picture of Venice.  What could it possibly mean?

And so Kate begins to follow a trail of clues that lead her first to Birmingham where she helps out a charity that is involved with children who have been orphaned during the war, to St Ives in Cornwall and then to Italy. Can this trail of clues help her to find out what or who she is looking for.

This is a dual storyline book, not timeline, but storyline. Whilst we follow Kate as she tries to work out what her story is, we are also following Sofia who has returned to Italy after many years of living in America. She is also searching for her true self, for the facts about what happened many years ago which prompted her to run away to America.

This book is the second book in the Shakespeare Sisters series by Juliet Greenwood. Because I don't like to read a series out of order I actually read the first book, The Shakespeare Sisters, a few weeks ago. From a timeline perspective, The Shakespeare Sisters was set in the years leading up to WWII and the in the years after the war. This book is more firmly set in WWII and it's aftermath.

I really liked both of these books, and will definitely read the next Shakespeare Sisters novel whenever it comes out. I liked the descriptions of the various locations from Cornwall to Venice and to the Bay of Naples. 

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy of this book. I am sharing this link with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Review blog and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host

About the book

The Secret Daughter of Venice

The paper is stiff and brittle with age as Kate unfolds it with trembling hands. She gasps at the pencil sketch of a rippling waterway, lined by tall buildings, curving towards the dome of a cathedral. She feels a connection deep in her heart. Venice.

England, 1941. When Kate Arden discovers a secret stash of drawings hidden in the pages of an old volume of poetry given to her as a baby, her breath catches. All her life, she has felt like an outsider in her aristocratic adoptive family, who refuse to answer any questions about her past. But the drawings spark a forgotten memory: a long journey by boat… warm arms that held her tight, and then let go.

Could these pictures unlock the secret of who she is? Why her mother left her? With war raging around the continent, she will brave everything to find out…

A gripping, emotional historical novel of love and art that will captivate fans of The Venice Sketchbook, The Woman on the Bridge and The Nightingale.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Daughter-Venice-absolutely-historical-ebook/dp/B0CVV7F4N7

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Daughter-Venice-absolutely-historical-ebook/dp/B0CVV7F4N7

 

About the author

Juliet Greenwood is a historical novelist published by Storm Publishing. Her previous novel, The Last Train from Paris, was published to rave reviews and reached the top 100 kindle chart in the USA. She has long been inspired by the histories of the women in her family, and in particular with how strong-minded and independent women have overcome the limitations imposed on them by the constraints of their time, and the way generations of women hold families and communities together in times of crisis, including during WW2.

After graduating in English from Lancaster University and Kings College, London, Juliet worked on a variety of jobs to support her ambition to be a full-time writer. These ranged from running a craft stall at Covent Garden to running a small charity working with disadvantaged children, and collecting oral histories of traditional villages before they are lost forever. She finally achieved her dream of becoming a published author following a debilitating viral illness, with her first novel being a finalist for The People’s Book Prize and her first two novels reaching #4 and #5 in the UK Kindle store.

Juliet now lives in a traditional quarryman’s cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales, set between the mountains and the sea, with an overgrown garden (good for insects!) and a surprisingly successful grapevine. She can be found dog walking in all weathers working on the plot for her next novel, camera to hand.

 

 Social Media Links –

Storm:                 https://stormpublishing.co/

Website:             http://www.julietgreenwood.co.uk/

Blog:                    http://julietgreenwoodauthor.wordpress.com/

Facebook:          https://www.facebook.com/juliet.greenwood

Twitter: https://twitter.com/julietgreenwood

Instagram:          https://www.instagram.com/julietgreenwood/

BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/julietgreenwood.bsky.social

 

Giveaway to Win 3 x Signed copies of The Secret Daughter of Venice (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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