#theunreadshelfproject2018 - Summer update

Friday, August 31, 2018
One of my reading goals this year is to read more books from my shelves, whether they be my physical shelves, the shelves on my Kindle or Nook, or the shelves on my Goodreads account. To help keep me accountable, I will be loosely joining in with #theunreadshelfproject2018 on Bookstagram and checking in here, on my blog, monthly (sometimes seasonally) to see how I am progressing with my goal. Here's how my shelves look today.

PHYSICAL (14)
Between Shades of Gray 
Salt to the Sea
The Alice Network
Reading People
The Chemistry of Calm
Jane and the Wandering Eye
Kristin Lavransdatter
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
Gilead
A Share in Death
The Five Love Languages
How to Hug a Hedgehog
I am Malala
For Times of Trouble

KINDLE (5)
Brideshead Revisited
Whose Body
Cloud of Witness
Unnatural Death
Angelfall

NOOK (2)
A Timeless Romance Anthology - Mail Order Bride collection
Murder on the Orient Express 

GOODREADS (163)
The Book Thief
The Thorn Birds
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Jayber Crow
An Ember in Ashes
The Once and Future King
The Wednesday Wars
The Beekeepers Apprentice
The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery
I Capture the Castle
Sense and Sensibility (The Austen Project #1)
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
Flight of the Sparrow
The Gilded Years
Dead Wake
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Amy Snow
Hannah Coulter
The Sea of Tranquility
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The Girl in the Castle
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
The Eyre Affair
Gift from the Sea
Poison Study
Northanger Abbey (The Austen Project #2)
Emma (The Austen Project #3)
My Brilliant Friend
The Year of Living Danishly
The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap
The Penderwicks
Honeymoon Hotel
The Night Circus
Home
Lila
Code Name Verity
The Marvels
Moon Over Manifest
Enchanted Islands
At Home in Mitford
The Sweetness of Forgetting
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Into Thin Air
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper 
My Life in France
My Berlin Kitchen
The Professor and the Madman
Quartet in Autumn
The Muse
A Clearing in the Distance
Winter Solstice
Wolf Hall
Gods in Alabama
The Historian
The Winds of War
Team of Rivals
One True Loves
Atonement
The Tea Rose
The Night Watch
Night
Life After Life
Saint Maybe
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Mindset
Walk on Earth a Stranger
The Anatomist's Wife
A Portrait of Emily Price
Grave Mercy
Death at La Fenice
A Study in Charlotte
A Beautiful Blue Death
Flight of Dreams
I Was Anastasia
From Doon with Death
The Coroner's Lunch
Raven Black
A Test of Wills
The Cater Street Hangman
The Crossing Places
Whispers Beyond the Veil
The Mangle Street Murders
The Kitchen House
First Impressions
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
Legendary
Another Day in the Death of America
The Essex Serpent
Caroline
The Other Alcott
Big Stone Gap
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Name of the Wind
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Possession
The Atlas of Forgotten Places
Uncharted
Force of Nature
Birds of a Feather
The Likeness
Loving Lucianna
Terms of Endearment
Three Wishes
Still Me
The Horse Dancer
The Dark Inquiry
A Perilous Undertaking
The Austen Escape
The Precious One
A Fall of Marigolds
Margarettown
Lady Crenshaw's Christmas
Origin
The Dollhouse
The Secret of the India Orchid
The Lady of Bolton Hill
The Fairest Beauty
The Silent Songbird
My Cousin Rachel
The Goose Girl
The Suspect's Daughter
Jane Austen's First Love
Prodigal Summer
Orphan Train
Dawn at Emberwilde
The Hearts We Mend
44 Scotland Street
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window
The Forgetting Time
The Sea House
A Conspiracy in Belgravia
Magpie Murders
Hum if You Don't Know the Words
Caleb's Crossing
For Darkness Shows the Stars
The Moonstone
The Day the Angels Fell
Six of Crows 
The Princess Bride
Rules of Murder
The Hate U Give
Eleanor Oliphant is Just Fine
The Mountain Between Us
Luck, Love and Lemon Pie
The Madwoman Upstairs
The Bean Trees
The Aviator's Wife
East of Eden 
In Dubious Battle
Britt Marie was Here
The Seven Sisters
Jane of Austin
Unequal Affections
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
A Wilder Rose
Everything I Never Told You
The Great Halifax Explosion
Emma in the Night
Dark Matter
The Railway Children
The Time In Between
The Darkling Bride 

2018 Reading Goals - Summer update

Despite my busy summer, I was able to keep up with my reading goals. Here is how I did.

READ MORE CLASSIC LITERATURE
  • I read three classic books - Kristin Lavransdatter, O Pioneers! and The Blue Castle
READ MORE NONFICTION
  • I read three nonfiction books - How to Hug a Hedgehog, Why I Don't Hide My Freckles Anymore and The Five Love Languages
READ MORE FROM MY SHELVES (PHYSICAL/KINDLE/NOOK/GOODREADS)
  • I read three books from my shelves - The Suspect's Daughter, Origin and Legendary

What I've Been Reading - Summer 2018

Welcome to What I've Been Reading, where I share my quick and personal thoughts on what I've been reading this past month (or season). For specifics about each book, click on the provided book images.

How to Hug a Hedgehog - 3 stars

I was hoping for more from this book. It had helpful ideas, but I had heard all of them before.

Why I Don't Hide My Freckles Anymore - 3 stars

I enjoyed this collection of essays.

The 5 Love Languages - 4 stars 

This book had been sitting on my shelf for one too many years. I am so glad I have finally read it. All these years I have assumed my love language was physical touch. I was wrong. It is quality time.

The Bridal Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter #1) - 3 stars

I was expecting to love this classic book. I didn't. It was just okay.

O Pioneers! - 4.5 stars

I went into this classic book knowing nothing. It was fantastic. I can't wait to read more by Willa Cather.

The Blue Castle - 4.5 stars

I love L. M. Montgomery. This book was very different from her Anne and Emily books, but I loved it.

The Suspect's Daughter (Rogue Hearts #4) - 4 stars
Unmasking the Duke (Rogue Hearts #5) - 4 stars
Courting the Countess (Courting #1) - 4 stars
Courting the Country Miss (Courting #2) - 4 stars




Donna Hatch wins my personal award for best books with the worst covers. She writes clean, romantic, regency-era books. I really enjoy them. I just wish they had different covers.

My Dearest Enemy - 3 stars

This book was simple, but sweet.

My Dearest Love (Hope Springs #0.5) - 5 stars

Sarah M. Eden can do no wrong in my book. I loved this novella.

A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell #3) - 3 stars

Deanna Raybourn's books are a lot of fun. This one was no different.

Kiss of the Spindle - 3 stars

This book was different, but a lot of fun.

Legendary (Caravel #2) - 3.5 stars

This book was a highly anticipated read for me. It didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the third in the series.

The Widows of Malabar Hill - 3 stars

I learned so much from this book and it was a really good mystery.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - 5 stars

If you are a book lover and you haven't read this book yet, please do. It is wonderful. This was a re-read for me and I think I fell even more in love with it this second time.

Origin - 2 stars

I picked this one up on a whim at the library. I wish I hadn't. I don't believe I will be giving Dan Brown another chance.

Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad #3) - 3 stars

I haven't yet decided if I like Tana French or not. Her writing is fantastic, but at times it is a little too gritty for me. The jury is still out. (Language warning!)

I'll Be Your Blue Sky (Love Walked In #3) - 4 stars

I loved this book. It was smart, but simple and sweet.