This month we kicked it old school with some historical fiction novels! And woman, is there a lot of history to choose from. We had books from a variety of different eras, countries, and cultures, but enough of my rambles! Check out the picks yourself! I would also like to personally apologize (Flavia here), for not having been as active on all of your posts this month! As some of you may know, I started a new job at the beginning of the month, and I was also hosting a readalong for Calendar Girls. With all of those things, and other stuff, going on, I’m sorry to say that I have not yet had the time to comment on everyone’s posts! I do promise that I have seen them all though! (If this is your first time hearing about Calendar Girls and are interested in finding out more, you can read my info page about the blog event here!)

– Best Fairytale Retelling –

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
Dawlyn & Krista @ Little Blind Book Finds – The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
Mandy @ Book Princess Reviews – Out of the Easy by Ruta Septeys

Daaaang! What a wide variety of time periods represented this month, (although it makes total sense). I mean, history isn’t just the last decade or just the renaissance. History is a long and diverse topic and these book choices are a perfect representation of that! And maybe these books are some good picks to find a new favorite time period to read about? *hint hint* *nudge nudge*

By the way, if you haven’t had the chance to comment and discuss with other Calendar Girls about their pick, you can go and do so now. Just click a link above, and it will take you right to that blogger’s post where you can leave a comment! Remember: It’s never too late to discuss books!

– Most Popular Pick –

Holy woah! So many choices to pick from this month! Thank you to everyone who voted in the August poll! While there were a couple of contenders, there was most definitely a unanimous winner for ‘Best Historical Fiction Novel!’

And without further ado, here is the winner by popular vote…

*drum roll*

The Book Thief has been picked to fit a Calendar Girls theme time and time again. It’s been picked for historical fiction, romance, and war time. It would seem to be a ‘Jack of all Trades’ book with a unique story that has captured the hearts of many readers. I’ve also heard rumor that it’s quite sad, and will wrench on those heartstrings of yours. So, if you haven’t taken the time to delve into The Book Thief and explore this magnificent story set in a very dark part of history, I highly recommend that you find a copy, and join Liesl on her adventure.

– #CGBChat –

On Sunday, August 20th, some lovely ladies joined us on the hashtag to discuss history, historical eras, and fiction set in those time periods! We were a little late, but that didn’t keep us from having fun, to the extent that Flavia and I couldn’t bear to cut you lovely bloggers off after just one hour. But don’t take my word for it, check out the chat through Storify here.

Miss this month’s #CGBChat? No worries! There’s another one coming up on Sunday, September 17th at 8PM EST where we’ll be discussing contemporary novels, their unique aspects, and the realism behind them! We really hope to see you there.

P.s. We have a Calendar Girls Twitter Group Chat and would love for you to join us! If you are not part of it already, tweet @NoellBernard or @FlavBibliophile to be added! Hope to see you there!

– Read-A-Long –

Thank you to everyone who participated in July and August’s readalongs. Unfortunately, as many of you saw in our poll last week, there will not be a readalong in September. Flavia and I are both very busy at the moment (switching jobs / starting school / etc.) and cannot guarantee that we’ll have enough time to devote to reading and hosting discussions for another book on top of our current reading schedules. We are sorry for this inconvenience and plan to clear our schedules to host a readalong in October! (P.S. Flavia is also a traitor and has a not-Calendar-Girls related readalong (for A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab) planned for September! If you haven’t heard about it yet, you can learn more about it here.

– September’s Theme –

Please remember that the September theme is:

Best Contemporary Novel

And we look forward to seeing the books you will all
be choosing in your reveal posts on September 4th (next Monday)!

– Thank You –

That’s all for August! Thank you so much for participating again this month. Calendar Girls wouldn’t be here without you and we hope you’ll join us again for September! We also hope that you had so much fun with us, that you can’t help but wrangle up a few more friends to join. Because I think we can all agree that bookish discussions are a lot more fun with more people, right? To help spread the word, please use the hashtag #CalendarGirlsBooks on Twitter & Instagram, and feel free to use the Calendar Girls logo. Click here for the url.

P.s. Just because it’s called Calendar ‘Girls’ doesn’t mean only girls can join! Invite everyone you know, whatever gender they may be!

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN CALENDAR GIRLS! THIS EVENT WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT ALL OF YOU! SO THANK YOU, AND WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL STAY WITH US AS 2017 CONTINUES! FOR THOSE OF YOU THINKING OF JOINING, OR WHO HAVE JUST HEARD ABOUT CALENDAR GIRLS, WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN IN THE FUN AND ALSO PROVIDE ANY FEEDBACK AND/OR SUGGESTIONS! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT EITHER MELANIE OR MYSELF, OR LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!