Calendar Girls (#8 / August 2017): Best Historical Fiction Novel

How is this the 8th monthly Calendar Girls?! And how is it already August! It feels just like yesterday that Melanie and I were putting our heads together trying to figure out what we wanted our blog event to be. Before we know it, our baby will be turning 1 year old! *sniffle* Well, maybe not quite yet. But anyway! This month it’s all about that historical fiction, and I cannot wait to see what all of you will have picked / will pick!

Also, for those of you who might have missed it, we have made some updates to Calendar Girls Books, specifically to when our monthly #CGBchat is happening on Twitter. I am also hosting a readalong this month, to go with our historical fiction theme, and the book I myself and other participants are reading is My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. Although we  have already started reading, I will continue to accept participants until the first discussion (August 9th). Or maybe longer. I will see how things go. For more info on the readalong and the sign up form, please go here. You can read more about these updates here! I also have an info page about the event now, which is all up to date and everything, and you can go here and bookmark it if you’d like!

For those of you new to Calendar Girls, it’s a blog event which I am co-hosting with my friend Melanie, and is inspired by Neil Sedaka’s 1961 song Calendar Girl. Just like in the song, we decided to use a specific theme for each month and choose a book based on these themes! The event is meant to incite discussions with other bloggers about books we’ve read and loved, is meant to help bloggers meet other bloggers, and also for bloggers and readers to find out about blogs and books which they normally may not have come across!

If this sounds like your cup of tea, please check out my info page for more details, and sign up for the newsletter, and/or let us know that you will be participating if you are still interested after reading everything. Also, if you would like to see examples of past posts, you can look at Melanie and I’s July posts here and here, where the posts of other participants will also be listed. We’d love to have you join in the fun!

And now…without further ado, here is my choice for August’s theme…

– Best Historical Fiction Novel-

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Synopsis: Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Those of you who have been following my blog even for just the last month or so, shouldn’t be surprised that I picked this book! I’ve been rambling about it here on the blog, as well as all of my social media quite a bit. Even while I was reading it, followers would have seen me gushing over how perfect it is, and even more so after I turned the last page and wrote my review. And I will say it all again here. This book was so so good! It was witty, very well-written, with a great plot, great pacing, contains my newest OTP, action, adventure, travel, gender rights, diversity, and matters of race. It was pure perfection, and if you enjoy historical fiction (or even if you don’t, or simply haven’t tried it out yet) I recommend that you read it!

Other Participants:

Melanie –> The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis

Katie @ Never Not Reading – The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Shanah @ Bionic Bookwork – City of Thieves by David Benioff

Darque @ Darque Dreamer Reads –> The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

Lauren @ Two Birds One Blog –> Outlander by Diana Galbadon

Deanna @ Deanna Writs About… –> The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
by Mackenzi Lee

Sophie @ Beware of the Reader – Fall of Giants by Ken Follet

Little Blind Book Finds – The Book Thief by Markus Zusack

And now for the September theme which
you picked through the use of the poll!

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and the September theme is

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BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL!!!

The GIF above is from the film adaptation of Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon! And I wish I’d read it! But maybe someday soon!

THANK YOU FOR READING MY CALENDAR GIRLS POST! HAVE YOU EVER READ ANY OF THE BOOKS OTHER PARTICIPANTS AND MYSELF HAVE MENTIONED? IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THEM YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOWCOME? IF YOU ARE A CALENDAR GIRLS PARTICIPANT (AND EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT), YOU ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT ON ANYTHING REGARDING MY POST BELOW! ALSO, WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT ALTHOUGH THE EVENT HAS THE WORD “GIRLS” IN THE TITLE, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL GENDERS, SEXUALITIES, ETC. ARE NOT WELCOME! ALL ARE WELCOME! I LOOK FORWARD TO READING ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS!