Back in January, I asked for your help. I was determined to read all of the books off of one shelf in my library. I've only read about half of the books I own, so I thought this was a good way to get a few more knocked off that list. I asked you, my lovely readers, to choose one shelf for me to read. You picked Shelf #2, and here it is:

I finished the last book I needed to read precisely one week ago. Hooray! That's more than a month before my goal, even!

Because I'm nerdy and I like numbers, here are some stats about my shelf-reading venture:

I was pretty curious to see how well I do at picking out books I'll really like. Half of the books got 3-star ratings. But there was only one book I didn't really care for, and five 4-star ratings! Not too bad. :)

This was a lot of fun and definitely something I will do again. My hope is do this every January through June until my entire bookshelf has been read. For right now, though, I am happy to say that my pick-a-shelf goal for this year is complete!

I love the water. Sitting on the beach, watching and listening to it, that is. Being on the water - well, that's another story. Let's just say that I feel much better if I stay on land.

So if I want to experience life on the water, I need to live vicariously. And that's just what reading allows you to do. I recently read two books (very different from each other) about life on a boat. One is a classic, written in Victorian England. The other tells of a more recent adventure.

On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone is an inspiring book. Studying maps as a child, Nat figured out that the eastern United States is essentially an island. And in his 20s, he decided to row around that island - from the Hudson River to the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It was a trip of nearly 6,000 miles, and it was all done by rowing. It makes me exhausted just thinking about it. But Nat found that he liked life on a boat, even turning it into a tent for the second half of his voyage so he didn't have to leave it. More importantly, though, he discovered so many friendly people that cheered him on and helped him out. This book gives you hope for mankind and an uncommon perspective on the United States.

The second boat trip book I read was Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome. I think you can gather the general style simply from that amusing title. Three young British gentlemen (and their dog) decide to escape the daily grind by taking a leisurely boating trip down the Thames. It goes without saying that it ends up being anything but relaxing. Nothing goes right, not even making a good breakfast of scrambled eggs. Their antics are hilarious and full of slapstick humor that will have you laughing out loud. Picture Bertie Wooster on a boat, combined with two of his useless friends and without Jeeves to help him out, and you have a pretty good idea of this book. This is a boat trip that I would certainly not want to participate in, but would greatly enjoy watching the show from the shore.

Whether you are on the water or just the beach this summer, you can experience two boat trips that you may not want to live through - but will definitely enjoy reading about.

To me, the definition of a beach read is a page-turner, a book that sucks you in, but is also a light read with a happy ending. To compile my list of beach reads for this summer, I scoured my Goodreads to-read list to find books that met this description. I don't visit beaches very often, so I'll call these my front porch reads!

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren
A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman
Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
Love Comes Calling by Siri Mitchell
The Night Garden by Lisa van Allen
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The weather here is warm and sunny again, after a week or two of cooler temperatures. We just had a three-day weekend filled with lots of fun family time. There are just two weeks of school left. All of these things are combining to make me very eager for those lazy summer days of reading in the sun. . . They can't come soon enough!

Walk the Lines by Mark Mason (I can't gush enough about this book. It was full of interesting and random and ridiculous London trivia. I absolutely loved it!)

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais (Our book club pick for May. Since it's about a chef, I have a feeling this will be one of those books that makes me hungry. . .)

Ivy Days by Susan Allen Toth (A Midwesterner's experience at Smith College.)

I know most people posted their pictures of spring flowers weeks (or months) ago. But here in Michigan, spring takes a bit longer to show up. :) Here are my springy pictures from my own garden over the past couple of weeks.

I have no idea what this plant is called, but apparently it holds raindrops quite nicely!

Kate Morton's books are well-known and typically well-liked. I've always heard good things about her, but I hadn't read any of her books until I picked up The Forgotten Garden over spring break. I thought I would do a should/should not post (although it may be heavily biased toward one side. . .) in case there are people out there like me who are wondering if Morton really lives up to the hype. As always, these opinions are solely my own thoughts. Feel free to add your own opinion and to agree or disagree in the comments!

-  It's on the long side. Nearly 550 pages, so make sure you want to make that commitment.
-  It's told from multiple points of view in multiple time periods, which I occasionally found rather confusing.
-  (I'm trying desperately not to give anything away here.) One of the major plot points is kind of disturbing and, well, wrong in a couple of ways.

Why You Should Read The Forgotten Garden

-  Morton sucks you in on page one and doesn't let go of you until the very end.
-  Though a long book, it's a quick read. You don't want to set it down.
-  Plot twists galore!
-  The multiple points of view, while sometimes confusing, also kept you intrigued and guessing. I have no idea how she was able to weave everything together that seamlessly without giving it all away somewhere along the line.
-  It's filled with characters you can't help but care about.

I try to keep the sides balanced in a post like this, but you might be able to tell which side I landed on. I think The Forgotten Garden has gained Kate Morton another fan! :)

Little known fact about me - I'm a music history geek. I started playing piano when I was five-years-old. I've been in band and choir pretty much my whole life. I was a music minor in college and briefly contemplated pursuing a Master's in Music History (what I would do with that degree is a whole different question). Music is still one of my passions, but my interest in music history has settled down enough to be satisfied by reading an occasional music-related book. For this freebie Top Ten Tuesday, I thought I would share some of the books about music that I've read and loved.

Symphony by Jude Morgan (Historical fiction, telling the story of Hector Berlioz and the woman who inspired his most famous work, the Symphonie Fantastique.)
Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness Singing with Others by Stacy Horn (An exploration of the physical and emotional wonders of choral singing.)
A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano by Katie Hafner (As a pianist myself, I found this book absolutely fascinating. Who knew you could tweak the sound of a piano in so many different ways? My review.)
Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations by Joanne Lipman & Melanie Kupchynsky (We've all had teachers who inspire us. When it's a music teacher, so much the better!)
The Cello Suites by Eric Siblin (This was a five-star read for me. It tells the story of Bach's Cello Suites, the Spanish cellist who rediscovered them, and Siblin's own journey to learn how to play the cello. My review.)

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart (Pianos and Paris. What a perfect combination!)
Beethoven Remembered by Franz Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries (A book about Beethoven, written by two of his good friends. A music history lover's paradise!)
The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 by Harvey Sachs (Beethoven's most famous symphony - the one with Ode to Joy - put into its historical context.)
Bach, Beethoven, and the Boys: Music History as it Ought to be Taught by David W. Barber (For those who like a little humor with their history.)
The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach by Peter Schickele (P.D.Q. Bach is the little-known 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach's 20 children. In other words, he's completely made up. And completely rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. Any music lover has to read this book!)

Bout of Books was last week. I didn't have high hopes for getting a lot of reading in, but I set modest goals and was able to meet them every day. I am very pleased about that! Even if I can't participate a lot, I still love the community feeling of reading all together. If you want to see how I did, you can check out my update post that I added to every day.

On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone (Even though I get seasick, this book still made me want to explore the country in a boat.)
Old School by Tobias Wolff (A prep school where the coolest boys are the writers. That doesn't happen often. Also, cameo appearances by Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway. A quick literary read.)
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (Goofy and hilarious!)

Walk the Lines by Mark Mason (I love London, and I love random travelogues. So this book is a perfect match!)

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais (Our book club pick for May)

It's Bout of Books time! I'll be updating this post each day with my daily progress. Here are the goals I'd like to accomplish (but wouldn't be too upset if I didn't accomplish):

- Read at least one hour a day
- Comment on at least 3 blogs a day
- Participate in 2 challenges

Ready, set, read!

Time spent reading: One hour and 17 minutes
Total time spent reading: Three hours and 46 minutes
Number of pages read: 94
Total number of pages read: 240
Book I read from: Old School by Tobias Wolff
Blogs commented on: 6
Challenges completed: One (Book Haiku)

Rowing to nowhere
The end is the beginning
Discover yourself
based on On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone

Time spent reading: One hour and 6 minutes
Total time spent reading: Four hours and 52 minutes
Number of pages read: 88
Total number of pages read: 328
Total books completed: Two (On the Water & Old School)
Book I read from: Old School by Tobias Wolff
Blogs commented on: 3
Challenges completed: None today

This challenge was made a lot harder by the fact that I am currently cut off from the majority of my books (see this post for explanation). I had a very limited selection to choose from, so the color I'm going with is "whitish." That's the best I could do!
Red Rover by Roger Wiens
Ivy Days by Susan Allen Toth
On the Water by Nathaniel Stone
Walk the Lines by Mark Mason

Time spent reading: Twelve hours and 1 minute
Time spent listening: Two hours and 5 minutes
Number of pages read: 661
Number of books completed: Three
Blogs commented on: 30
Challenges completed: Two (Book Haiku & Cover Color)

Hard to believe, but I actually met all of my goals. It's amazing how much reading you can squeeze in if you make it a priority. If only I had this excuse to read during every spare moment every week!

It is Bout of Books week! I don't know how much reading I'll be able to get in, since school is still in session. But I'm certainly going to try to fit in as much as I can! Anyone else participating in Bout of Books this week?

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (I love this book!)
The Princess by Lori Wick (Apparently it was a week for rereading some old favorites.)

On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone (He starts and ends in New York City, via the Mississippi River and New Orleans and the Atlantic Ocean. That takes quite a commitment.)

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (I ordered this one online last week, so I could read it for the Birthday Month Challenge in May. I figured it was a good follow-up to On the Water. :) Now I just need it to get here in time to be my next read!)