WordPress: Add number of post excerpts via shortcode

_functions-excerpts.php

<?php
/**
 * Excerpts Shortcode
 */
//[excerpts display="3"]
function kedc_shortcode_excerpts($atts) {
	extract( shortcode_atts( array( 
		'display' => ''
	), $atts) );
	 
	$query_posts = new WP_Query('posts_per_page=' . $display);

	$list = '<ul class="excerpts">';
		while($query_posts->have_posts()) : $query_posts->the_post();
	$list .= '<li>' . '<h4 class="excerpt-header"><a href="'. get_permalink() . '">' . get_the_title() . '</a></h4>' . '<p class="excerpt-date">' . get_the_date() . '</p>' . '<p class="excerpt-content">'  . get_the_excerpt() . '</p>' . '<a class="read-more" href="'. get_permalink() . '"> Continue reading &#8594;</a>' . '</li>';
		endwhile;

	wp_reset_query();

	return $list . '</ul>';
}
add_shortcode('excerpts', 'kedc_shortcode_excerpts');
?>