Category: Read My Shelf

Read My Shelf: 50 x 50 Booklist 📚📚📚 {Day 85}

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Hello 👋 Friends ~ a few of you expressed interest in my 50 books off of my owned shelf that I’m trying to read by the time I’m 50! A few stipulations. Two of these are on my Kindle owned shelf, as they hard to find physically. I also reserved the right to use any form to read these as long as I own a physical copy. For example, I own Moby Dick, but if I want to check out the audiobook version from the library, that is fine. I also gave myself two switch outs. If for some reason, I really can’t read a book, I’m allowed to switch it out from my shelves. I started this project in mid-2025?, so I have till June 2030 😅😳 to complete it. The huge nonfiction are the ones I’m mostly concerned about! 😂 I tried to balance a few lighter things, while still challenging myself. I kept most? if not all of these books out of the great book pack-away for our remodeling. ♥️📚🥰

50×50 List ~

  1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  2. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
  3. Dante: Poet, Political Thinker, The Man by Barbara Reynolds
  4. Biography of A Cathedral by Robert Gordon Anderson
  5. Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery ☑️
  6. Any of my Victor Hugo
  7. A Dark Night’s Work by Elizabeth Gaskell (Kindle) ☑️
  8. Tempest Tost by Robertson Davies
  9. Letters from Cuba by Ruth Behar
  10. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
  11. Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories by Jenny Uglow
  12. Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott ☑️
  13. Dr. Wortle’s School by Anthony Trollope
  14. Vicar of Bullhampton by Anthony Trollope
  15. The Shadow Casket by Chris Wooding
  16. Any of my unread Ray Bradbury
  17. The Virginian by Owen Wister
  18. A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
  19. Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
  20. Thoreau and the Language of Trees by Richard Higgins
  21. Any of my Elie Wiesel
  22. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
  23. The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas ☑️
  24. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
  25. Revelation by C.J. Sansom
  26. Jane Austen Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
  27. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
  28. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ☑️
  29. Van Loon’s Lives by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  30. A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
  31. A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond
  32. Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
  33. Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson
  34. A Chaplet of Pearls by Charlotte Mary Yonge (Kindle)
  35. Any of my Edgar Allan Poe
  36. Any of my Nathanial Hawthorne
  37. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
  38. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
  39. You are A Tree by Joy Marie Clarkson
  40. The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein
  41. Any of my unread C.S.Lewis nonfiction
  42. One of my folklore collections
  43. The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton
  44. Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
  45. The Divine Comedy by Dante ☑️
  46. Any of my unread Russian authors
  47. A Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield
  48. Any of my unread L.M. Montgomery short story collections
  49. Make Believe by Elizabeth Goudge
  50. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

What do you think of my list ? Have you read any of these authors or these specific titles? Do you have a list of books you want to read in the near future? Chat books with me below! 👇 🥰📚♥️

Wednesday Wonders {Day 82} 💦🌊💧

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My daughter sent me this! 😻😻😻

~listening to~ ♥️🌿

I happen to notice that I was listening to ‘Swim’ by BTS while reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Serendipity! 😅💦💧🌊 I picked up this narrative poem for Jane Austen July because I believe Coleridge was a contemporary of Austen’s. I think 🤔 it sounds familiar, I may have read it before! The albatross! 😳😂

~watching~ ♥️🌿I did end up watching the 2020 ‘Emma’ film with my daughter and meh. 🫤 It was ok. I liked parts of it. It struck me as sort of goofy. 😂 A n*ked backside right in the beginning was weirdo, too. Oh, well. I liked the actors that played Mr. Knightly and Miss Bates. I’m allowing myself one Booktube video a day in July and it makes me be very choosy. I really enjoyed Chantel’s yesterday.

~reading~♥️🌿 I have massive piles physically and on my kindle, 😂📚 but I’m mostly finishing up The Opt-Out Family and working on Moby Dick. I also just barely dipped into Jane Austen’s Bookshelf of which I enjoyed the first few pages immensely. I haven’t borrowed anything new from public library (July challenge), just reading from my stacks and Kindle!

~noticing~ ♥️🌿

My hollyhocks are wonderful! 😁 I may have mentioned before that they are biannual and these self-seeded, so I forgot about them! 🥰😻😍What happiness!

What are you listening to, watching, reading, and noticing? ♥️🌿📚 Chat below, friends! ~

Top Ten Books I’d Like to Read (or Reread) with a “Nature” Word in Title {Day 81} 🌿🌿🌿

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Joining That Artsy Reader Girl
  1. Is A River Alive by Robert MacFarlane ~ MacFarlane is a beautiful nature writer and poet. He tells the story of three? major rivers interspersed with stories of a small river that he has a personal connection with!
  2. Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer ~ I remember loving this fantasy years ago and want to revisit this water-based world!
  3. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery ~ I’m hopeful about a long-time-overdue reread of this series!
  4. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery ~ slowly making my way through again! Montgomery is my favorite author, so I’m loving it!
  5. Sisters of the Earth edited by Lorraine Anderson ~ I’ve been interested in this nonfiction collection from my shelves for awhile! It’s a collection of prose and poetry about nature by various women writers.
  6. The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge ~ another reread that I’m craving. A older career woman gets a fresh start when an aunt bequeaths her a country cottage.
  7. Into the Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer ~ another beautifully written Meyer reread! I really love her atmospheric fantasy! I remember enjoying the tree spirits etc.
  8. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman ~ gorgeous poetry I want to keep plugging away at!
  9. The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas ~ I so enjoyed The Robe earlier this year and want to try this Biblical Historical Fiction about the Apostle Peter by Douglas as well.
  10. As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Eugene Peterson ~ nonfiction collection of thoughtful and inspiring sermons by Peterson. He was a wonderful writer/speaker.

Have you read any of these? Do you have a favorite nature-themed read? I’d love to hear!

Monday Ponderings 🌿 {Day 80}

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When someone is doing something to hurt you, don’t turn inward, turn toward that person. He is hurting himself. Learn to forgive, knowing that we all need forgiveness. If you want to be true to God, learn from Jesus to be meek, humble, and pure. Learn to forgive.

~ Mother Teresa, Do Something Beautiful for God

Tuesday Haiku ✨{ Day 74}✨

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Follow the light ✨✨✨

“she laughs without fear”
proverbs and Melville school day
praise-pain humid tears.

~

A.M. Pine 🌲♥️

Haiku Holiday ✨ {Day 72} ✨

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What says the USA’s 250th birthday holiday week more than Haiku? 😂😅♥️😍🌿✨ Look for photos and haiku this week! I wanted to try something different. I am also planning a no public library borrowing for the month of July. This doesn’t include what I have already on my pile or on hold. 😂😅 Just no new. I’m planning on reading what I have! ♥️🥰🌿✨📚 Any exciting July plans or goals? Creatively? Personally?

I’d love to hear!

Favorite Second Quarter Reads: 📚2026📚 {Day 71}

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Favorite First Quarter Reads

Happy Saturday, folks!

June is coming to a close and with that I realized that I have another quarters reading favorites to pick! I’m grouping them by loose genre for your convenience!

♥️🌿✨CLASSICS✨🌿♥️

  1. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery ~ continues the story of Anne Shirley! Marilla and Anne have a new challenge of raising two young children of Marilla’s cousin. Davy seriously scares me! 😱 Lavender Lewis and Echo Lodge, The Mrs. Morgan Visit, Paul Irving, the freckle juice, the blue willow ware platter, Mr. Harrison and Ginger, his parrot, not to mention the Avonlea Improvement Society aka A.V.I.S! This book is one of my absolute favorites of the series!
  2. Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery ~ sequel to Pat of Silverbush. Just a delightful story of a young woman dreading change and growing up. The characters, nature, and sweet simplicity are wonderful. A wee repetitive and I don’t love love-triangles, but Judy Blum and the cats make it all worth it!
  3. Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame ~ A timeless story of friendship, bravery, and how anything out of order in our lives can rule us if we aren’t careful. Looking 👀 at you, Toad. I loved listening to this (again) with my children.

♥️🌿✨CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHICAL✨🌿♥️

  1. What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Mishima Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts ~ this is an unique novel of individual stories tied together through random connections and a rather mysterious, cookie-eating, felting librarian. I love how each book helps that individual person find something they needed and how each person randomly shows up in the lives of the others in a way that really helps. Some might find this simple, but it really touched me and made me think. The light splash of magic realism was lovely, too.
  2. Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech ~ Gorgeous, heart wrenching story of a marriage, parenting, love, and contentment. Twins in a group home have had a horrible childhood and get taken in by Tiller and Sari who are disillusioned by the mundane. Dallas and Florida need a home and help the couple realize the beautiful life they truly have. The twins are shown unconditional love for the first time. They all work together to stop villainy they uncover at the children’s home!

♥️🌿✨COZY MYSTERY✨🌿♥️

1. Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave and Tower of the Five Orders by Deron R. Hicks ~ delightful adventures involving a brother and sister trying to help their father save the family publishing company! This is set between Georgia, USA and London, England! Clues, puzzles, mysterious graves, Shakespeare, bookish etc! Just so fun!

2. Gladwynne Grant Gets Her Footing and Takes the Stage by Lisa R. Howeler ~ I absolutely love Gladwynne and her grandmother! Gladwynne comes to live with her grandmother and gets a job as a reporter for the small town newspaper. The mysteries and scrapes Gladwynne finds herself in are intriguing! I love the wonderful town’s people who made these two cozies so sweet! Light faith elements. I have the third on my kindle, I can’t wait to continue!

✨🌿♥️MYSTERY/THRILLER♥️🌿✨~

1. Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon ~ A great installment of this long police mystery series following Venice police detective Guido Brunetti! He follows his nose in this one and uncovers corruption in a religious order! Very creepy and I absolutely loved Guido’s family, coworkers, and the Venice setting. These are gritty with explicit crime violence, fyi.

2. The Crown Conspiracy by Connie Mann ~ I found this one free in my Audible Plus catalog! A morally gray Robin Hood art forger type 🤣, Sophie returns stolen art work to rightful owners by stealing it herself and leaving behind convincing forgeries! The money funds her and her best friend’s rescue group getting women and children out of trafficking. Sound weird? It gets even stranger! 😂 A missing royal painting shows up that has far reaching implications. Lisa and Sophie find themselves running for their lives! A secretive group of women show up to help! Charlie’s Angels anyone? 🤣🙃 This was a bit far-fetched and convoluted, but I ate the audiobook up! 😅♥️ Heavy violence, just fyi.

♥️🌿✨FANTASY/SCI-FI✨🌿♥️~

  1. Deathmark by Kate Stradling ~ Fantasy retelling of The Blue Castle! I found this so intriguing with the cleric/religious villains being extremely disturbing. This one looks kind of dark from its cover, but actually had a sweet, gentleness to story even though the characters found themselves in a difficult situation.
  2. Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine ~ Space-punk pirates running between London and colonized Mars. Great found family, autonomous, strange creatures, and more! This really worked for me! Highly recommend!
  3. Huntress by Carrie Cotten ~ This took me a minute to get into due to flashbacks and story set up, but then I loved it! Told through the eyes of Duncan and Cyrene, two opposing local leaders, one hidden from the other after treachery and betrayal, a generation removed! This was so well-written, and the Christian Faith themes, while heavier, pretty seamlessly woven in. Loved the characters, slow moving, Celtic, medieval world. No overt magic. I’m continuing the series soon with The Viking!
  4. Flame Theory by C.F.E. Black ~ Slow start to this rags to riches, high-stakes, hidden identity dragon rider school story! 😂 I really ended up loving the characters and the sacrifices one character makes for another! Friend group was so great! This has some lovely Harry Potter vibes and it was well-written and the dialogue good!

🌿♥️✨HISTORICAL✨♥️🌿~

  1. Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer ~This was an absolutely ridiculous Regency-era story that I really enjoyed! It just worked for me. Another story where the main male character is secretly a good guy, but comes across cold or indifferent. The jibes at the weathy English. “ton” and the familial relationships were great.
  2. Arabella by Georgette Heyer~ Regency-This was a delightfully silly story about an impoverished beauty who lies to two wealthy gentlemen after overhearing them disparaging her! Hilarious happenings ensue!
  3. Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley ~ Slow start, but lovely story set in the Scottish Highlands based on the life of Martha, one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ancestors. Loved the family, cozy, home-y-ness of this!

✨🌿♥️NONFICTION ♥️🌿✨~

1. Homeschooling: You’re Doing Right by Just Doing It by Ginny Yurich ~ Slow start (again) for me but I grew to love this former public school teacher’s thoughts and evidence on the benefits of homeschooling. Reassuring and encouraging!

Whew! 😅 ♥️ That’s a lot! Hopefully, you will find something for yourself or your family that you’d like to check out! Happy Reading!

June/July Journals ~ Wrap Up & Set Up 📓🖊️📝 {Day 70}

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Sunset reflected ✨

I’m loosely participating in five? July specific Booktube Readathons! I really enjoy just marking off prompts! 📚✅

I decorated some of my July pages ahead in my to-do pocket Moleskine because there’s some travel and family stuff going on. I usually decorate this one the day of use because it’s so small, but I don’t pack all my journaling supplies when going on trips! I especially love the Jane Austen stickers I saved for the start of Jane Austen July! 😍♥️🌸

Deck-a-TBR-a-Thon! Summerween! Private Eye July! Jane Austen July! Zoom in for Prompts, if interested! 😅📚📚📚

These are some summer long prompts! I made a great dent in them in June!

Two June Read-a-Thons that I had a lot of fun with! I just read what I’m in the mood for and make them fit mostly, but I do tailor a few of my choices depending on topic. Read a couple American Revolution type books with my kids etc.

June Reading Journal pages almost full!

I purchased coffee stickers and cute yellow bakery type washi so my July theme is Yellow Coffee & Flower Shop! 🤪😅😍💛🤎💛🤎💛

VERY ambitious health/mental/spiritual/relational goals for July! 🙃😱😂

What are you creating lately? I so enjoy working in my journals.

~

Top Ten Books I Hope to Read ~ Summer 2026📚~ {Day 68}

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I found a new-to-me-blogger Lisa at Boondocks Ramblings that I’m enjoying and am joining her and the host, That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday!

I’m an extreme mood reader, but will make heaps of hopeful piles! Many of these are rereads or books on my 50 books by 50 list! I’m in a cozy, domestic fiction mood with a side of nonfiction and a vague feeling of something else reading mood. 😅🤪😎

  1. I’m slowly rereading the Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery series because my Ann with an E is getting married this year! 😭♥️I’m on the 3rd book now!
  2. Moby Dick by Herman Melville ~ I love the gorgeous word-smithing and hilarious situations Ishmael finds himself in! I got 3/4ths through this a few years ago, but never finished so determined to now.
  3. Unmaking the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth ~ VERY out of my wheelhouse, but an interesting look at the dismantling of Western cultural foundations and the dehumanization of man. This is so fascinating and honestly, a bit sobering. I’m not sure what Mr. Kingsnorth is totally trying to say, 😂 but there’s enough in here to make me really think.

4. The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge ~ I’m due for a reread of this beautiful story of an older woman moving to an inherited house in the countryside and asking herself if she has ever truly been living.

5. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery ~ been craving a reread of this one . If you felt you had a short time to live, how would you live your life? Valency Sterling has lived a stifling existence up to this point and jumps at the chance to buck against it!

6. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery ~ yes, another Maud book! I’m really leaning into the domestic, cozy fiction. Young Emily Starr is taken in by aunts when her beloved father passes away. Her writer’s soul aches with growing pains and trying to find a kindred spirit in her new situation. I’m finally feeling ready to really dig into my reread of this sadder trilogy.

7. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh ~ this is for my in-person book club! We are all busy moms so reading it slowly, but so much to discuss on fading English aristocracy, religion, family and societal pressures.

8. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot ~ this is a book from my 50×50 list and my friend who I trust implicitly with book recommendations said it’s a good summer read! I don’t really know what this is about but looking forward to trying another Eliot!

9. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney ~ I’ve been hoping to read this for a long time and the Booktube reading event Jane Austen July would be perfect. I’m much slower at nonfiction, so we’ll see if I can get to it!

10. Habits for a Sacred Home by Jennifer Pepito ~ I’ve been interested in checking out this home educating title for awhile and am looking for a title to read with our homeschool mom’s group this autumn!

~These are just a few of the ones capturing my attention currently! What about you? What books are on your stack this summer? 🌞✨☕️📚♥️😍

Happy Summer! 🌞✨ {Day 66)

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Click in to read a little boy’s thoughts on jam! 😂♥️🥰😍

Happiest First Day of Summer and Father’s Day! I’m over here at Hearth Ridge enjoying family, sunshine, flowers, and an Anne of Avonlea reread. Church and feasting, too! God is good! ✨

~

Chantel’s Read Your Bookshelf Challenge Wrap Up 📚📚📚{Day 62}

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Happy Tuesday! I’m here to wrap up this Booktuber reading challenge. You can still participate by picking and choosing what books you are reading fulfill the prompts! I don’t follow the monthly delineation because I’m a mood reader, mostly. Small confession: {whispers} Only 3 of these titles were actually on my physical/Kindle shelf! The rest were library check-outs. So I ‘failed’ on the reading my shelf. Oh well! All in good fun!😂🤓

Here’s the prompts!

Check it out here!

Title includes an article ~

A Dark Night’s Work by Elizabeth Gaskell ~

The first half of this story was so dark and depressing. Our main female character gets caught up in covering up a crime. The guilt, fear, and shame are palpable as she barely moves through life. The last 1/4th of the book was better, a bit more hope, but wow, not my favorite from my favorite Victorian author.

Three or More Objects (on cover) ~

The Labors of Hercules Beale by Gary D. Schmidt ~

This was a lovely story of two brothers working through their grief due to the loss of their parents. They are navigating their new relationship and trying to keep the family greenhouse afloat. Hercules transfers to a new school and a strict new teacher challenges him in ways that truly help him grow! Schmidt’s books are fantastic in a rip-your-heart-out-and -put-it-back together way! I also love Wednesday Wars by this author.

Weapon on Cover ~

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw ~ A beautiful classic quest fantasy with an underdog main character! Aedan and his new found family he gathers truly grow in character and love! This was so amazing! Satisfying ending even though sequel never was released due to the authors health.

Title Includes a Conjunction ~

For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black ~ Gal inherits her uncles antique bookshop in this cozy mystery. Unfortunately, a terrible secret awaits her as she wakes up the first morning! Suspicion is aimed at her surrounding a past false accusation. This had an old mansion, treasure, and an old diary as part of the story!

Includes a Place~

Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine ~ Space-punk pirate ships between England and colonized Mars. I loved the main characters and this zany adventure. The crab-like Martians cracked me up! Pure fun! 🤩

Title with Five or More Words~

Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry ~ a beautiful memoir about life & death, philosophy, small town Wisconsin. This was written so well and so true to relationships and culture in the Midwest. Highly recommend with the caveat of some sad explicit emergency situations and descriptions.

Has a Map ~

The Will of the Many by James Islington ~ Roman-like world, epic fantasy with deep themes of love and sacrifice for a son who is driven by revenge for a beloved father. Highly recommend!

Water ~

Dead in the Water by Denise Swanson ~

I thought this was a cozy, but it turned out a bit grittier and with adult themes. I really loved the husband/wife duo in the Chief of Police, Wally and his wife Skye, psychologist. They are expecting their first child and a tornado disaster causes havoc to their small town. A murder, family issues, and the town rebuilding/clean up bring them together.

Animal ~

Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer ~

This was a deeper Red Riding Hood retelling. I loved the kindness and love the main female character lived and the Grandmother was awesome! A bit heavier on romance, but wonderful characters and an unique take on this story! I loved the wolf dog sidekick, too!

Bookish~

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine ~ This is such a unique premise! The Library of Alexandria is the center of all knowledge and special librarians are trained to care for it and guard the knowledge. The new batch of trainees are a mixed bag and full of secrets including Jess our main character. The students uncover corruption at the highest levels. I loved this story and the characters. Unfortunately, a bit of a sneering attitude towards traditional morality, so be aware. Nothing explicit except fantasy violence, so far. I hope to continue with the 3rd in the series soon!

Transportation ~

Hearse and Buggy by Laura Bradford ~

Cozy mystery set in Amish community. I love the bed & breakfast and main characters aunt! This was a little slow and repetitive, but I may return if I want a gentle, quiet mystery. I loved the ex-Amish police detective!

True or False ~

The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco ~ if anything, read this story for the exquisite writing. Hurricane is our main character and she finds her life in upheaval when she is sent to live with her aunt and employee. This books deals with grief, chronic illness, loneliness, found family, traditions, carving a life for oneself out of a whole new experience. The Great Depression, class, and PTSD touch Hurricane and her new friends lives in a big way. I loved the ‘butler’ character in this story! This is very slow but so sweet and poignant.

How ‘bout you? Do you have any recent reads in these categories? Do you participate in bingo boards or reading challenges? We love them here! 😍✨🤩Happy Reading! 📚♥️🌿

Six in Six 🌸📚☕️ {Day 54}

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Beauty in the midst of construction zone! 😅🥰

I’ve enjoyed Jessica’s blog for awhile now and I saw she was joining in a bookish blog hop about our 2026 reading! I used to blog hop a lot and really enjoyed linking up with others over a common topic. 😍 I’m joining her at Words & Peace for this reading meme reflecting about your first six months of reading.

Instructions from Emma at Words & Peace:

In 2021, Jo at The Book Jotter started hosting the meme Six in Six.
She stopped blogging in 2025, so I have decided to host it myself.

What is 6 in 6?

The idea is to look back at the books you have read so far in the six months of this year.
Now, I love plays with numbers, so I’m extending this meme:
you can post any time in July, or as early as 6/6, June 6th.

What do you post?

Choose 6 books in 6 categories.
You can come up with your own category, or choose among the following examples (copied from Jo’s blog):

  • Six new authors to me
  • Six authors I have read before
  • Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of
  • Six books I have enjoyed the most
  • Six books I was disappointed with
  • Six series of books read or started
  • Six authors I read last year – but not so far this year
  • Six books that took me on extraordinary journeys
  • Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past
  • Six books from the past that drew me back there
  • Six books from authors I know will never let me down
  • Six books I must mention that don’t fit nicely into any category
  • Six books I started in the first six months of the year and was still caught up with in July
  • Six trips to Europe
  • Six blogging events I enjoyed
  • Six bookish things I’m looking forward to
  • Six Espionage or Historical Novels I enjoyed
  • Six Cool Classics
  • Six Non-US/Non-British Authors
  • Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf
  • Six books that didn’t live up to expectations
  • Six books that I had one or two problems with but am still glad I tried
  • Six books that are related to The Great War or Second World War
  • Six bookshops I have visited
  • Six books I’ve read in an English translation
  • Six books which are better than the film
  • Six books which are worse than the film
  • Six books that have sport as their major theme
  • Six favourite places to read
  • Six books read on kindle and then went and bought an actual copy
  • Six books I abandoned
  • Six classics I have read
  • Six books I have read on my Kindle
  • Six physical books I have read
  • Six book covers I love
  • Six book covers that bear no resemblance to the story contained within
  • Six books to read to avoid politics
  • Six books I have read but not reviewed
  • Six books I have read in lockdown
  • Six classic mysteries
  • Six books about Royalty
  • Six pretty book covers
  • Six books set in a country other than my own
  • Six books that feature a Pandemic
  • Six books that are great when self-isolating
  • Six books recently added to my wish list
  • Six mysteries, thrillers or crime novels NOT by Agatha Christie
  • Six books with titles connected to rivers, seas and storms
  • Six nature related books
  • Six books about Librarians and Libraries
  • Six books I really want to buy in the next six months
  • Six books that feature a building in the title

My categories I’ve chosen to share about are:

  1. Six favorite genres so far
  2. Six favorite reads so far in 2026
  3. Six favorite Booktube Readathons
  4. Six New-to-Me Authors
  5. Six Mysteries I loved
  6. Six Books I Read from My Shelf

My Six Favorite Genres: (many are a mixture of these below! I’m such an eclectic reader!)

  1. Fairytale/Classic Retellings
  2. Fantasy
  3. Historical Fiction
  4. Mystery
  5. Young Adult
  6. Middle Grade

My Six Favorite Reads so far 2026 (so hard to choose!)

  1. The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco (beautiful, heartwarming Middle Grade)
  2. The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas (gorgeous, Biblical Historical Fiction)
  3. The Will of Many by James Islington (wonderful epic Historical Fantasy)
  4. Through Rushing Waters by Catherine Richmond (Heartbreaking Historical Fiction)
  5. Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery (beautifully written classic)
  6. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw (classic fantasy story of an underdog!)

My Six Favorite Booktube Readathons So Far this Year: (You can still join these! I don’t follow the monthly prompts, I just fill them in as I go!)

  1. Jurassic Reading Challenge
  2. Read Your Bookshelf Challenge
  3. Journey Through Time Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
  4. Passport to Summer Reading
  5. Summertime Bingo
  6. Summer Book Bingo

Six New-to-Me Authors

  1. Carrie Cotten, Christian Fantasy, The Huntress
  2. Derin R. Hicks, Middle Grade, Shakespeare Mystery Duo-logy
  3. Kate Stradling, Cozy Fantasy, Deathmark
  4. Sheri Cobb South, Regency Romance, The Weaver Takes a Wife
  5. Lloyd C. Douglas, Biblical Historical Fiction, The Robe
  6. Michael Perry, Memoir, Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time
Want to try this one from Douglas soon! About Apostle Peter!

Six Mysteries I have enjoyed :

  1. Death in a Strange Country (and Quietly In Their Sleep) by Donna Leon (Commisario Brunetti Series)
  2. For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black (cozy mystery)
  3. Breach of Trust by DiAnn Mills (Romantic Suspense Mystery Thriller)
  4. Alex Rider: Scorpio (and Snakehead) by Anthony Horowitz (mystery/spy thriller series)
  5. Dead in the Water by Denise Swanson (small town mystery)
  6. Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave (and sequel Tower of Five Orders) by Deron R. Hicks (Middle Grade)
My library is currently all dismantled for remodeling! 🥲📚♥️

Six Books I actually Read from My Own Shelf (Physical/Kindle Shelf):

  1. Caddie Woodlawn (reread) by Carol Ryrie Brink (Middle Grade Historical Fiction)
  2. Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen (Cozy Mystery)
  3. This is Happiness by Niall Williams (hauntingly beautiful Historical Fiction)
  4. The Road Past Altamont by Gabrielle Roy (beautiful book in translation about Mother/Daughter relationships)
  5. Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg (charming reimagining of Disney’s Frozen, YA Fantasy)
  6. Persuasion (reread) by Jane Austen (Regency)
Polyphemus Moth on our deck!

How has your reading year been so far? 📚📖