Calendar Girls: Back to School (Best Novel Set in a School)

September 2, 2018September 3, 2018 Fitness Mermaid Adri

~Happy September, Calendar Girls Participants~

Where did Summer go? August seemed to fly by, and now it’s school time again! I hope you had a great first day if you started back this school year. Just in time though, the Calendar Girls is here to celebrate with this month’s themed post!

~Back to School (Best Novel Set in a School)~

And, my pick is…

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

Synopsis: ”It’s one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.”

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia Temminnick is a great trial to her poor mother–her atrocious curtsy is an embarrassment to the family name. So Mrs. Temminnick enrolls her daughter in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, young ladies certainly learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion and espionage–in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year’s education.

So, you have to be laughing at this point, just from the synopsis! This book is so incredibly fun! Sophronia, and all the girls, at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality learn how to properly spy and assassinate without misplacing a hair on their heads. There is a polite and proper way to deal in espionage as a lady!

“Assess any damage to one’s attire. A lady is never disreputable in public, unless intended for manipulation of sympathies.”

Etiquette and Espionage is prim and proper fun! This one is full of danger, mystery, and cheeky laughs! For lovers of Jackaby and My Lady Jane, E & E will fit right in and will have you coming back for more!

“We are going to try to address first the best and most deadly application of wooden stakes, hatpins, and hair sticks.”

Etiquette and Espionage takes steampunk and historical fiction to such a new level! It is like Jackaby and Stalking Jack The Ripper combined! The writing is elegant and entertaining, and the plot is so well written. I love how this one combines the best parts of steampunk with comedy and historical fiction aspects of proper ladies in the Victorian Era. There are even supernatural aspects to the story! And, the reason it fits as the Best Novel Set in a School is because the it combines the idea of finishing school from the time period with learning how to become a deadly assassin!

“‘Sister Mattie also covers medicinal cures and proper poisonings for every occasion.’ Preshea looked positively animated… ‘Preshea can’t wait until she gets to poison her first husband…’”

Quotes are from the book, written by the author.

(Theme image created by Katie @ Never Not Reading.)

September Calendar Girls Participants:

Katie @ Never Not Reading – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling	Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm – Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Samantha @ Modern Witch’s Bookshelf – Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell	Dani @ Mousai Books – Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
Dawlyn and Krista @ Little Blind Book Finds – By Your Side by Kasie West	Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads – Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
MDW @ Plot Monster – The Cruel Prince by Holly Black	Astrid @ Follow the White Whale – A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Lucinda @ Lucinda is Reading – Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty	Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile – American Panda by Gloria Chao
Sophie @ Beware the Reader – Heart on a Chain by Cindy C. Bennett	Carolina @ Fictionologyst – Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

For those who are new to Calendar Girls, it is a monthly blog event, created by Melanie at MNBernard Books, and Flavia at Flavia the Bibliophile, that was inspired by the Neil Sedaka song Calendar Girl. Just like the song, each month has a specific theme, voted on by the participants, where we get to talk about a particular book we love or think fits the theme the best. The blog event was created to incite fun bookish discussions and to spread the blogger love by introducing us to new bloggers and/or books that we have not come across before.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy, make sure to head to my Calendar Girls info page! Drop a comment and let me know if you are interested in joining us, and sign up for the newsletter if you would like monthly updates on the chosen themes and blogger picks! We’d love to have you join us!

If you are joining on the fun today, make sure to link back to this post AND Katie’s post so we can add your name and choice to the list of participants for all to enjoy!