Share Your Shelf #29-- The Books I Read in August 2026

It's the first Thursday of the month and time for Share Your Shelf with Dara and I. I hope you all look forward to this monthly link up as much as I do. I just love getting new ideas for books to read or listen to.  

 I was surprised I had as many books as I do on this month's wrap-up. There was a good week or so that I just could not concentrate to read much of anything!  

1. Two Truths and a Life by Sara Shepard (Lying Game Novel #3) -- While each book in the series is slightly different in plot the underlying story concept remains the same.. Emma is trying to figure out who killed her twin Sutton before someone tries to kill Emma. Each book goes through a new suspect but no real obvious answer is given. I'm enjoying them.. but I'm not sure I can hang in there another 3 books before knowing what truly happened the night Sutton died!  

2. Fields of Asphodel by Carrie-- This was a pretty cute novel about how Asphodel, daughter of Persephone and Hades discovers she's been betrothed to Thanatos, the God of death. Asphodel, Del for short, is enraged and kidnaps Thanatos and traps him on her garden filled island. This action sets off a ton of world changing reactions which then forces them to work together.

3. Helen Keller: Her Life in Pictures-- A lovely picture book about Helen Keller and her life with far more facts than I had expected.  

4. The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate-- I love that Lisa Wingate always includes some actual bits of real life history in her historical fiction novels. This book is told in 2 timelines-- one in Louisiana in 1875 during reconstruction where freed slave Hannie is hoping to become a sharecropper but finds herself on the way to Texas to hopefully locate missing family. The other-- also in Louisiana but in 1987 where a new school teacher Benedetta struggles to relate to her students and to fit into the town she's found herself making home. Each chapter starts with an actual "Lost Friends" advertisement that appeared all over in southern papers after the war as newly freed slaves tried to find family and friends that had been sold. 

5.  Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedland-- A cute and sweet story. The 4 Jacobson siblings are working together to help their dad through the loss of his wife and find that their dad has sold their summer home so they must clean it out over 4th of July weekend. While on the island 3 of the 4 siblings go in on a Powerball ticket together and win. From there they each find that money really can't buy happiness and eventually learn that family is what is most important.  

6. Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel-- I loved this one so much! It was utterly adorable... even if I found the storyline quite unbelievable. Pepper, who has got to be the cutest 77 year old ever, finds herself pregnant and in a state that does not allow abortions. If you are firmly pro-life you probably will not like this book but I read it in just over 24 hours because I could not put it down. 

 

7. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth-- Weird to say about a story that involves a murderer but this was really such a sweet and heart-warming story. Mad Mabel did not have an easy life and has been painted as a villain and possible serial killer for years but when we finally hear her own story in her own words it's just sad. I know this is toted as having so many twists but I just did not find this to be the case as I pretty much predicted everything... but that did not in any way take away from my total enjoyment of the story. I loved it! 

8. Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica-- I listened to this one on audio and I enjoyed it a lot... even if I did kind of lose the thread of the story a time or two (I can be easily distracted when listening sometimes!). That said I got all the major plot points and really enjoyed it. What a story. I didn't see so many of the twists and turns coming. Such a twisted tale about a few missing woman and a missing child. Shelby goes missing then a few weeks later Meredith disappears with her daughter Delilah it shocks the community and the police have little to go on. Then suddenly 11 years later Delilah returns and everyone has questions. Told in alternating timelines we learn bits and pieces of what happened until the very end when the whole puzzle comes together. 

9. Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline-- Allie is heading to a funeral for a childhood friend but is filled with dread over seeing two other childhood friends that will also be in attendance. Twenty years prior a terrible prank gone wrong resulted in the death of one of the 5 teens who had been drinking and partying in the woods but the resulting 4 vowed to keep it a secret. Allie has struggled with guilt and questions for 20 years and is determined to get some answers. The story starts in the present and then goes back to the beginning of the story. We learn of everything going on in these 5 kids' home lives, town, minds, etc. as we learned what really happened and why.  

10. Caught Up by Liz Tomforde (Windy City book #3)-- In this book single dad Kai is searching for a nanny for his son, Max after going through them one after another. When his coach decides for him and places his own daughter Miller up for the job. Kai can't fire her but he's not sure he can work with her either. Miller is a pastry chef who is taking the summer off to find her passion for baking once again. She's not happy when her dad ropes her into helping out by being a nanny for one of his players. Kai is a bit uptight for her. But both Kai and Miller are attracted to one another and the more time they spend together the more they can't deny that that attraction is growing. Even knowing they are together just for the summer, the two end up tumbling into a relationship knowing they are destined for heartbreak. It was cute and sweet and held my attention to well at a time when nothing really was. 

 

11. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory-- Alexa and Drew meet in an elevator when it breaks down and the next thing Alexa knows Drew has gotten her to agree to accompany him to a wedding that he's been dreading. The two have an incredible time together but have lives on opposite ends of the state. Drew is a pediatric surgeon in LA and Alexa works for the Mayor in Berkeley. They decide to try the long distance dating thing which obviously comes with a few problems. It was a really cute listen.  

12. The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware-- I've been anticipating this sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10 for quite some time. I enjoyed the audio but I honestly couldn't remember much about the previous book or the characters in it. In this book, the main character, Lo has been invited to the opening of a grand luxury hotel. She assumes this could be her big break back into the world of writing after taking time off to become a wife and mother of 2. But soon finds herself helping a women escape the clutches of a domineering, and very wealthy man... and Lo can't help but wonder all along if she should have just walked away from the start when that wealthy man ends up dead and Lo becomes the police's prime suspect. 

13. Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune--  A super cute story! Frankie and George have been friends since they were kids but when Frankie is dumped by her groom to be at her wedding weekend, George talks her into taking her honeymoon with him. He turns up with a whole break-up remedy plan, determined to help Frankie through this. It's obvious almost from the start that these two best friends have deep feelings for one another and belong together but both are so hesitant to move beyond friendship and mess up what they have but with all the fun rom-com tropes like only one bed and what not it was really well done and such a great read.  

14. Compulsively Yours by Allison Raskin--  I enjoyed this ARC from NetGalley so much! Nate and Libi met in group therapy. They both suffer from different forms of OCD so when their therapist suggest they join forces to tackle a few of them together Nate finds himself on a plane headed to Mexico with Libi to meet up with her whole family for a week long vacation celebrating her grandparents wedding anniversary. Libi is dreading seeing her dad's new girlfriend and has also learned that her cousin is dating (and bringing) Libi's ex. Nate, meanwhile, suffers from contamination OCD so hasn't stepped foot on a plane in years, has zero desire to step foot in the sand and yet has harbored a crush on Libi since day one and really wants to support her. The two end up devising a plan to fake date and find that in their proximity to one another sparks start to fly. It was so interesting to read about their individual struggles with their mental illness but also to see the family dynamics and how many of the characters grow/change. I read the whole thing in just under 24 hours. 

 15. We Are Never Ever Solving This Murder by Sarah Fox--I was thrilled to get an ARC for this second book in the series from NetGalley. I really enjoyed book 1; Definitely Maybe Not a Detective so much. In book 2 Emerysn and Wyatt are getting their detective agency off the ground and are hired by a woman who wants them to look into the death of her brother. Her brother had started acting weird as soon as he began his job working at a local funeral parlor and while the police think her brother's death was an accident his sister is not sure she believes that. But as Emersyn and Wyatt struggle to work together and believe the funeral parlor is a front for some unknown shady dealings, it's starting to look like they will never manage to solve their first real case. But yet you know they somehow will! It was cute and playful and suspenseful... all things I love in a good cozy mystery read.  

16.  The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland--  Oh I wanted to love this one so much-- 3 generations of Feldmans are setting out on a family cruise but boy, does this family ever put the dysfunction in dysfunctional family. No one is happy. It seems like each person is harboring secrets, resentments, and weird family grudges/dynamics that mostly made it uncomfortable to read. Thankfully they all do change and come around and seem to become closer by the conclusion of the book (which is what I assumed and why I kept reading). I thought it was just an okay read. 

* This next book I don't really "count" as I didn't read all that much of it; mostly just skimmed through the first chapter and a few others but it made me more anxious than anything else since it was not at all helpful.

What to do When a Loved One Dies; Taking Charge at a Difficult time by Steven D. Price. -- It would be a huge and helpful resource if it didn't assume you know just about everything there is to know about/for said loved one. The example they gave is for "Uncle Fred" but then by page 3 it mentions letting all family members, co-workers, ex-coworkers, Christmas card list friends, everyone in his address book, his favorite waiter/waitress from his favorite hangout, etc. know of his passing. I don't know about you but I would not and do not know any of this information about any uncle or aunt of mine. Then it talks about contacting "Uncle Fred's" lawyer and finding a copy of his will.... there are no sections addressing what to do if you don't know any of the answers to any of these things. From there the book just takes over as if you the reader are the executor of the will. Many of the things listed to do are on my list but they don't really go over how to get any of it done-- especially not if you weren't all that close to the loved one. Both chapters on probate talk endlessly of the will and don't really mention what to do if there is no will. All in all it was useless to me-- at least this time around. 

 I nearly finished my 52 book challenge but I'm still waiting on one last book to come in through my local library. 

 

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