This month we decided to follow the publishing trend by immersing ourselves in Fairytale Retellings! Unfortunately, because this is such a popular choice right now among publishers and readers, there are a LOT of retellings to choose from, but you lovely ladies didn’t disappoint with your choices. Speaking of choices, let’s get into the nominees! (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 – Alice Takes Back Wonderland
Flavia – Geekerella
Darque Dreamer – Mechanica
Thai  – Cress by Marissa Meyer
Lauren  – Fables vol.1-22 by Bill Willingham
Deanna  – Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Sophie – Cinder by Marissa Meyer (no post)
Katie  – Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Mandy – Cress by Marissa Meyer
Dawlyn & Krista – Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Woah! So many choices, both well-known and those needing a little love from some amazing book bloggers. This is such an awesome list and Melanie and I loved how many different fairytales were represented this month and how so many different genres were also represented! It goes to show fairytale retellings can be fun reads for every reader, wouldn’t you agree?

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 book cover or 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 July poll! It was a pretty close pick, but there was still a unanimous winner for ‘Best Fairytale Retelling!’

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

*drum roll*

Fairytale retellings have been taking the world by storm in the last few years. So much so that they’ve become the trend in YA fiction, which means there is no shortage of books to choose from. However, there is one that I do believe every reader has at least heard of, and that’s Cinder by Marissa Meyer. No wonder it was the most popular choice for Best Fairytale Retelling!

If you haven’t heard about it yet, though, Cinder is a fantastic take on the age-old fairytale of Cinderella. But the best part is: leave what you know about a glass slipper and magical fairy godmothers behind. This is a brand new take that thrusts us squarely into the realm of sci-fi! Complete with androids, robots, and a dash of space opera, it’s a unique story that still stays true to the original and has swept up the hearts and minds of many YA readers. Perhaps if it sounds interesting to you, it’s time to give it a shot too if you haven’t already!

– #CGBChat –

On Sunday, July 16th, some lovely ladies joined us on the hashtag to discuss fairytales, their retellings, potentially making book-specific chat groups, and Dr. Who. Wait! What was that last one? Hahahaha! It was so much fun that Melanie and I couldn’t bear to cut you lovely bloggers it after just one hour, and pushed it to an hour and a half. 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, August 20th at 8PM EST where we’ll be discussing historical fiction novels, their basis in actual history, and why they’re so unique! 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 –

Say what?! That’s right! You voted and we are answering with our second Calendar Girls read-a-long. Last month, a couple of you lovely bloggers joined Melanie in reading and discussing RoseBlood by A. G. Howard.

The second Calendar Girls read-a-long is in August! And I will be hosting while we read My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows! But… how’s it gonna work?

Details

We’ll be reading the selected book you all voted for over the course of the month. Every week (starting on Wednesday, August 9th, I will host a discussion on my blog regarding the chapters that were scheduled (see schedule below), and I invite everyone to share their thoughts and chat with the other read-a-longers… (Melanie made that word up and now it’s a real word!)

You are welcome to comment and chat whenever is best for you! Even if that’s not on the day the post goes live. Below is a list of the discussion dates. Oh! And while you’re reading, feel free to share your progress and/or non-spoilered thoughts on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CGBReadalong so other readers can see what you think and chime in.

Schedule

August 1, 2017 : Start reading!
August 9, 2017 : Chap 1 – 8
August 16, 2017 : Chap 9 – 15
August 23, 2017 : Chap 16 – 23
August 30, 2017 : Chap 24 – 30

Click here to read the announcement and sign-up post! If you will be joining, please be sure to sign up (using the image saying “sing up” which will lead you to a Google Forms sign-up page). Your information will not be shared with anyone, but is mainly for me to keep track of who’s participating, and also who is who regarding blogs, email, and Twitter.

– August’s Theme –

Please remember that August’s theme is:

Best Historical Fiction Novel

And we look forward to seeing the books you will all
be choosing in your reveal posts on August 7th (next Monday)!

– Thank You –

That’s all for July! 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 August! We also hope you had so much fun 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 way 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 OF CALENDAR GIRLS, WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN IN THE FUN AND ALSO PROVIDE ANY FEEDBACK WHICH MAY COME TO MIND! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT EITHER MELANIE OR MYSELF, OR LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!