Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge June Statistics (and for the first 6 months of the 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.

In terms of the books read in June, there were 70 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 20 participants. There were 69 individual titles reviewed, written by 66 different authors. There were 5 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more 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 June? 

Last year The Women by Kristin Hannah was the most reviewed book for the whole year. This month, it was reviewed by both Bree from All the Books I Can Read and by myself. This book certainly made both of us feel a lot! 

There were also two other authors who had more than one book reviewed. 

I reviewed The Diamond Eye and Margaret from Books Please reviewed Signal Moon which is a short story. Both are by Kate Quinn.

Bev from My Reader's Block has been working her way through the Redmond and Haze mystery series by Irina Shapiro and reviewed the first three books. They were Murder in the Crypt,  Murder at the Abbey and Murder at the Mill.

I wonder what books will be featured next month!

It is hard to believe but we are half way through the challenge already for 2025, so I thought it would be interesting to look at the stats for the first 6 months and see what stands out. 

So far this year there have been 366 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 32 participants. There have been 335 individual titles reviewed, written by 292 different authors. There are 3 reviewers who have reviewed 25 or more books each with Laura from Laura's Reviews having contributed an astonishing 53 reviews so far! Thank you to everyone who has shared their links with the challenge.

There are 3 books that have all been reviewed 3 times for the challenge. They are The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn, The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry and The Versailles Formula by Nancy Bilyeau.

Agatha Christie tops the list of authors who have been reviewed most with 10 reviews, followed by Kerry Greenwood who has been reviewed 6 times, and Kate Quinn and Patrice McDonough who have both been reviewed 4 times. 

And so far there have been 29 books reviewed that have the words death or murder in the title! What a bloodthirsty bunch of readers we are!

It will be interesting to see what changes over the next 6 months when I do the statistics for the whole year!

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

Weekend Cooking: The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods

 

Last year I listened to The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods and I thought it was an okay read, a tad on the underwhelming side, but okay. That didn't stop my from jumping at the opportunity to read this book the second I saw it on Netgalley. A mysterious bakery in France - yes please. And I am so glad that I did as I really enjoyed this book! 

When Irish woman Edie Lane sees an ad for a job in a bakery in Paris where the only requirements are that the person speaks English and has some experience working in the service industry, she knows this is the job for her! So what if she doesn't know anyone in Paris. It[s Paris, and it will help her get out of the rut she has been in for a while.

Things start to go wrong when she finds out that she isn't going to be working in a bakery on rue de Compiegne in Paris but rather she has accepted a role at the bakery on rue de Paris in Compiegne, about an hour north of Paris by train. So much for living the Paris dream.

When she finally arrives at her destination, she is given a less than warm welcome by the owner of the bakery, Madame Moreau. The one thing that was made very clear is that under no circumstances was Edie to mention the kitchen downstairs where all the baking happened. That area was very much out of bounds to everyone except Madame Moreau and the delivery boy Manu.

Thrown straight into work in the bakery, Edie realises that is going to take some work to get her French up to scratch enough to understanding most of her customers. But while the cafe is busy, there is also a black cloud hanging over it's futures. Developers are buying up all the buildings on the street and they want the bakery too. Maybe this is why Madame Moreau is always so surly, except for when she is serving the customers. Then she is very friendly with everyone except Edie..

As Edie's time in Compiegne continues she gradually begins to make some friends who slowly help bring the charms of the town to the fore. There is Geoff who gives tours of the area, Nicole the hairdresser whose boyfriend is in a band, and then there is Hugo who keeps on turning up. Hugo loves taking photos of old buildings and he and Edie just click straight away, All the while, Edie senses that there is something strange going on in the bakery, a touch of other worldliness, and she needs to work out what it is. 

Sprinkled throughout the story there are small sections which tell the story of Pierre Moreau, who originally founded the bakery, including some of the events in the town during WWII. Some of the actions taken at that time continue to shape the town and relationships even now.  

This is a book that you don't want to read when you are hungry. There are so many delicious sounding foods mentioned that you can almost smell them as you read. And there was a passage that just made me crave a proper French hot chocolate. Or Dutch. Something from that Northern part of Europe. I wouldn't be that fussy.

Inspired by a recipe book that she found in her room, Edie begins to cook some of the recipes, but also to make some of her own concoctions, a mixture of French and Irish flavours, to sell to the locals and tourists alike. 

Music is also very important in this book, often being used as a tool to change the moods of the characters, to inspire memories and to draw people together.

The town of Compiegne has an important place in 20th century history. In a train carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, the Germans signed the armistice which ended WWI. Years later, Hitler made the French sign their own surrender in the same train carriage in the same location. There is also a chateau nearby with links to Napoleon.  I am always drawing a mental map of what our next trip to France might look like, and Compiegne is definitely on the route I have in my head after reading this book. 

It turns out that this isn't a new book. It was originally released around 10 years ago and has been revised and rereleased this year. Either way, I am so glad that I found this book as it brought me a lot of joy as i read it!

I am sharing this review as part of Paris in July, with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge that I host. 

Rating 4.5/5

Weekly meals

Saturday - Baked Ratatouille with beans
Sunday - Meatballs
Monday - Chicken Parma with chips and broccoli
Tuesday - Sausages, mash, vegies and gravy
Wednesday - Greek Style chicken with smashed potatoes
Thursday - nothing
Friday - Tonkatsu Ramen

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Paris in July: Three books by Antoine Laurain

Thanks to Paris in July, over the last couple of years I have been making my way through the backlist of popular French author Antoine Laurain.  Last year, I shared a review of what is still my favourite, An Astronomer in Love, as well as mini reviews of three other books. Today, I am back with another three mini reviews of the books that I have read since last years Paris in July event.

I was trying to get French Windows read for last years event, but I ran out of time. In this book, Nathalie is a photographer who is having therapy as she can no longer do her job after she accidentally photographed a murder. Her doctor, Doctor Faber, sets her the task of writing stories about the people who live in the building opposite her. Soon he is having to wonder whether she is making up the stories, or if they might be true. And if they are true, how is she finding everything out. One of the things that I notice regularly in these books is the smoking, and here Doctor Faber is a self proclaimed gifted smoker and this is central to the plot. This seems pretty French to me!

The President's Hat is probably my second favourite story from this author. One night accountant Daniel Mercier is having dinner in a Parisienne restaurant when the President comes in to dine. At the end of the night, Mercier realises that the president has left his hat behind. Daniel takes it home and realises that when he wears it he feels empowered to behave differently. However, it isn't long before Daniel loses the hat himself and other people get to feel the power of the hat!  What follows is almost caper-ish as various parties try to locate and obtain the hat. It's a lot of fun.

My most recent read was French Rhapsody which was published in 2016. This was a little deceptive as it started out as though it was going to be very nostalgic about music and about the different lives that people can lead when they start from a similar point in time. It did, however, end up being quite political, talking about right wing politicians in French politics. Structurally, it is very interesting, and the starting premise for the book is very clever. A doctor named Alain receives a letter through the post that should have been delivered 30 years previously. At the time, he was a member of a cold wave rock band and they had submitted a demo tape in the hope that they would get picked up by a record company. When they didn't get any interest, the band all went their separate ways. Now Alain is trying to contact them all again. Whilst we get perspectives from the band members, there are also additional perspectives from other characters as well. It does have some trademark Laurain elements in here from unusual meetings and unseen connections to silly humour. 

I love that whilst there are some trademarks in his writing, each of the books is very different.  

I think I still have The Portrait and Smoking Kills waiting for me on my Kindle, and then hopefully there will be an English translation of his latest book which is called La Dictee in French (The Dictator) coming soon as well.

A shout out to the translators for these books. French Windows was translated by Louise Rogers La Laurie. She also worked on the translation of The President's Hat along with Emily Boyce and Jane Aitken. These last two also translated French Rhapsody.

French Rhapsody was one of my Twenty Books of Winter and also counts for the Books in Translation Challenge

Paris in July: A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont

 

Last year I read and enjoyed Sophie Beaumont's novel The Paris Cooking School (review here) so as soon as I saw this one I knew I was going to read it. It just took me a bit longer than I intended it too. That does, however, mean that it is still fresh in my mind so that I can review it as part of Paris in July! Hoorah!

When Sydneysider Emma Taylor's French born mother Corrinne passes away, Emma believes that Corrinne was on the verge of telling her the truth about her life in France before she ran away, most notably who Emma's father is. The only clue that she has is a photo of her mother lying in a field. Corrinne has always refused to talk about her past and Emma has had very little to do with her French grandparents. Emma is determined to repair those relationships, although she does wish that could have done that before her grandfather died. Now, she has come to Paris to get to know her grandmother Mattie, and to try and find out why Corrinne ran so far away and never looked back.

Charlotte Marigny has returned to her native Paris from England to take stock of her life. She is a successful garden designer and together with her husband Tom they have their children and created a great life together. However, Charlotte feels like Tom is drawing away from her and has been for some time. Facing the end of her marriage, she needs some time and space. 

Florist Arielle Lunel has had to start her life over. When she was widowed she also lost her business and she was left with two young children and no assets. Fortunately, she was able to move in with her sister in Paris and now works in one of the market stall at the flower markets where she gets to use her knowledge behind the meaning of flowers to create meaningful and beautiful displays. She doesn't have time to even think about a new romance, especially not after her domineering parents in law seem to be determined to take her children away from her as they believe they can provide them with a better life. 

In both of her Paris books Beaumont does a great job of drawing together several people who are, at first, completely separate but there are invisible webs which connect them all. In this book, those webs all draw the characters to the flower markets. 

Emma decides that she is going to start working on her grandmother's garden, a task that is now too much for Mattie. It also gives her a place to hide when she keeps on butting heads with Marc-Antoine, a successful businessman who has been close to her grandparents for years. There she meets Arielle. Charlotte is also drawn to the markets because of her work and she is impressed with Arielle's design style. And with Charlotte having been Emma's mother's best friend as a teenager the circle is complete.

The closer the circle becomes the closer the three women are to be being able to answer all their questions, even if they didn't know all the questions they needed to ask yet!

There are some lovely little cameos from some of the characters in The Paris Cooking School, but they are things like there is a cheesemaker buying milk from the farm that two of the characters visit. If you haven't read the first book you probably won't even notice the moments, but I did and I appreciated them. 

When we did a walking tour in Paris, we were constantly reminded that behind many of the gates and doors on the streets that we were walking along, if you looked through you might see a gorgeous mansion or a lovely courtyard. This book takes it to the next level and says that beyond those you might find gorgeous gardens. Some are public, and others, like the one at Sophie's grandparents house, is private. I love that there was a version of the gorgeous hand drawn map drawn by Mattie which shows some of the public gardens in Paris. Maybe next time we go to Paris, because there will be a next time, we can use the map to find a little piece of garden paradise. We did go to the flower markets although it was January so everything was a little quiet but it was still beautiful.

There is something about Sophie Beaumont's writing that just really works for me. I find it very relaxing to read. There are some lovely romantic connections for a couple of the characters, a lot of Paris sights, some great food and of course flowers everywhere. I am already looking forward to her next book, In the Paris Fashion, which is due to be released in November.

I am sharing this review with Paris in July. This was also one of the books I nominated to read as part of 20 Books of Winter and this is the sixth book I have read this year with the word Paris in the title!

Rating 4.5/5

Blog Tour: The Magic of Provence by Alison Roberts

 

The Magic of Provence is the third book in the A Year in France series and we finally hear more about Fiona Gilchrist. In the first two books in the trilogy, Fiona was always off stage, one of the family but choosing to stay away and it was never really clear to the family or the reader why that would be.

The book opens when there is an incident at Fi's work and she is given an ultimatum which ultimately sees her escaping to the south of France where she knows her two sisters will welcome her, and hopefully not ask too many questions. Fi doesn't know if she will ever be ready to talk to her sisters about the things that have happened to her in the past that have caused her to withdraw from everyone but she knows this is where she needs to be.

To say her sisters are surprised to find her sitting near the donkeys Coquelicot and Marguerite in the early morning is an understatement but they try to give her the space she needs. There is something about the little cottage which has helped each of the sisters in their time of need, and Fi is not immune to its magic. The donkeys also play a big part in that.

Fi is a farrier by trade and soon finds herself helping out the local vet with a herd of wild donkeys that he volunteers to take care of. Fi is attracted to Christophe but she knows that she cannot let himself in because she knows that no one will ever want her and that she can't normally trust men in general. Christophe has his own issues. He was hurt very badly as a young man and he is determined that he won't ever allow that to happen again, despite the best efforts of his mother and ailing grandmother to try and guilt him into finding someone to love.

In addition to Fi's story, we also find out more about why their dad disappeared all those years leaving them to be raised by their mother.  

There is a lot of past trauma in this book, and so it is probably a bit heavier than the previous books in the series. Having finished it now though, I am glad that we got to see all three girls come to a place in their lives where they can move on from their individual and collective traumas. Of course, it won't ever truly be gone, but they are in a place where they can deal with it all better than they could previously. Importantly, they can do it together!

This book had me searching on the map for the town of Menton which is one of the places the characters visit. It is a town that is right on the border with Italy so it has a real mix of cultures. I would love to visit for the lemon festival which is held each year in February and also take the train ride from Puget-Theniers to Annot. 

In her author's note, Alison Roberts talks about part of the reason for writing this trilogy was wanting to bring Provence to life, and I would say she was very successful in this regard. All the way through the trilogy I found myself wanting to visit the places mentioned in the book like St Paul de Vence and Menton, to try the food, see the local art and the crafts and to just generally enjoy the Provencal atmosphere

Here are the links to my previous reviews for this trilogy

Falling for Provence

From Provence with Love

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and with Paris In July hosted by Words and Peace. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the Book

The Magic of Provence

Sometimes facing your fears can be the start of something wonderful

Fiona Gilchrist has spent years running from her demons. But deciding to take back control, she packs up her life and makes the trip to Provence to be reunited with her sisters. And almost instantly, there is something about La Maisonette which is healing and Fi knows she’s ready for a chance to start again.

When an opportunity arises to work alongside vet Christophe Brabant, Fi, although hesitant cannot resist saying yes. Because immersing herself in what she loves is the ultimate distraction. And while Christophe may be utterly charming, he’s also committed to his job so Fi knows she’s in safe hands. Yet, what starts as a blossoming friendship quickly turns to something deeper. Because for the first time in her life, Fi begins to feel relaxed and completely at ease. Could it be that Christophe’s heart is more like hers than she realises? Or has she allowed him to penetrate the boundaries she always considered unbreachable?

Coming to France took a leap of faith, but in doing so it has allowed these two damaged souls a chance to find each other while Provence works its magic…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/TheMagicOfProvence

About the Author 

Alison Roberts is the author of over one hundred romance novels with Mills and Boon, and now writes romance and escapist fiction for Boldwood.



Social Media Links –

Twitter: @RobertsAli54060

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/AlisonRobertsNews

Bookbub profile: @rosi3

Top Ten Tuesday: Rereads

 

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’d Like to Re-read (Share either your favorite books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to read again!) (Submitted by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog)

I am not normally a re-reader so originally I was thinking that I would do something different this week and actually have a post started on a different theme where I have got 10 books selected. Then when I thought about it some more I did wonder if I could make it to a list of 10 books that I have re-read, and I could! I guess that means my next freebie post is pretty much already done! Yay for me!

Here are 10 books I have re-read.

Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I could actually include most of the Virgin River series in this post, with the exception of the last book which I still haven't read yet. I read all the original books in the series back in 2010-2011, and then proceeded to re-read the first 7 books in the series over the course of two weeks in 2012. Here is a post about the whole series and how it made me break several of my own rules

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley -  I have re-read this book three times so far, twice by reading the book and once on audio with the most recent time being earlier this year, and I still loved it! Note the words so far. There is every chance I will read this again at some point. It is a bit odd though. I have other Kearsley books that I have loved but I haven't re-read any of those. Maybe I should. Here is my most recent post about this book 

Hogfather by Terry Pratchell - Listening to this in the lead up to Christmas has become one of my Christmas traditions over the last four years. I first read it back in 2007 which means that so far I have read it 5 times. 

The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson - This is now part of my Christmas tradition too. I first listened to in 2023. I enjoyed it so much that I forced my husband to listen to it too so in the end I listened to it twice in a week. My original post about this book is here

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas - Ah, Sebastian and Evie! What a book. What an author! I wish she was still writing. (my review)

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - Ah, Thomas Mackee, you break my heart. I have actually read a few of Melina Marchetta's books a couple of times but my favourite thing is to listen to the audiobook of The Piper's Son. I have listened to it five times now, including three times in about a month. It just affected me that much! I haven't listened to it for a few years now, but I have thought about listening to it again. 

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - If I had to describe my idea of aural bliss it is Richard Armitage narrating Georgette Heyer's books. I have relistened to Venetia three times and Sylvester four times after initially reading it! (original review)

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie - I had forgotten that I had re-read this one until I was searching through my blog looking for inspiration for this post. (My review)

Relish by Lucy Knisley -  I had read this years ago and then it was selected for Cook the Books a couple of years ago. I did enjoy revisiting it! (My Cook the Books post)

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - Years ago I read and loved the first three books in the series. A couple of years ago I decided that it was time to read the whole series. I started by rereading the first two book and never got any further. One day I will read that whole series. One day! (my original review)

Are you a re-reader?

This week...

I'm reading

It's been another busy reading and blogging week! I feel like I have had a lot of different books in my hands and this list will confirm that!

I finished The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson as I had to return it to the library. My review is here. This is the second book in the Tea Ladies series and I have already requested the third book.

I had to put Beartown by Fredrik Backman down in order to finish The Cryptic Clue. Once I picked it up again I was absolutely absorbed. This is one of my 20 Books of Winter and counts as a Big Book of Summer. It was a 5/5 read for me and I have already requested the next book in the trilogy.

Then I started a couple of books but I will need to go back to them again this week. I started The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl because of Paris in July.  I also started Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, which is another of my 20 Books of Winter reads.

Once again, the library conspired against me and said I couldn't renew Secrets of the Huon Wren by Claire van Ryn so I read that. This was Claire van Ryn's debut novel, but I had already read her second book. I hope to have a review for this one up shortly.

In order to try to get in front of the library I then read Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee who is from South Korea This is also one of my 20 Books of Winter. It's a different read for me but I did like it enough to request the second book in the series. The idea is that in our sleep we all go to the dream store to purchase the dreams that we want. We then pay for them using our emotions. 

Finally, I started reading A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan which is the current Cook the Books selection.

I did do a summary of the books that I read for June for the 20 Books of Winter . You can read my recap post here.

Bookish Travel

I did a fair bit of travelling through the pages of books during June. Here's some of the places I visited.

Australia 

Melbourne  - The Butterfly Women

Sydney - The Cryptic Club

America

Maine- The Mirror

Washington - The Diamond Eye

Michigan/New York - The Page Turner

Europe

England - The Silver Ladies Seize the Day, Once Upon a Thyme, The Storytellers

Scotland - Over the Seas to Skye, the Woman Who Got Her Spark Back

Ukraine/USSR -- The Diamond Eye

France  - A Secret Garden in Paris, French Rhapsody, The Girl from Normandy

Greece - The Island of Hope and Dreams, Not My Greek Wedding

Portugal - The Lost Story of Sofia Costello

The Cruise Club (visited several countries!)

Africa

Morocco - Half Truth

Best of June

In June I read 19 books and these 6 are the ones I rated as 4.5/5 reads. 

I'm watching

I finished watching Gary Barlow's Wine Tour: Australia. I will finish watching his South Africa show this week I think. 

I also re-watched The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan this week. I originally watched it last year as part of the French Film Festival (and I posted about it here). I was surprised to see it on the normal movie channels on our cable provider as normally if I want to watch any foreign language films you have to go searching for it. 

Life


After 3 weeks, I still sound a bit husky but finally feel like I am getting better. 

We did have a busy weekend as our kids were down from Brisbane for the day on Saturday so Robert was being dad's taxi service driving all over the city while I cooked dinner. Then we had my sister and her family around for dinner on Sunday along with my mum who is over from Adelaide. 


Posts from the last week

20 Books of Winter: June

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: July links
Paris in July 2025!

Paris in July/Top Ten Tuesday: Books with the Eiffel Tower on the Cover
Paris in July: Since the last Paris in July
The Lost Story of Sofia Castello by Siobhan Curham

Paris in July: Mini Movie Reviews
Blog Tour: The Cruise Club by Caroline James
The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - June
Six Degrees of Separaton: Theory & Practice to Sisters of the Resistance

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