The juxtaposition of unread books amongst old (and new) favorites on the filled shelves nearby. Stories that were lovingly written, waiting to be picked up, enjoyed, and cherished. Stories that were dreamt up, drawn out, and labored over. Stories that will engage, inspire, and ruin in the best way.

Blank shelves are like a fresh canvas waiting for that first flick of paint.

I love that I can rearrange my shelves and contemplate and plan out where my books will all live. Do I refresh what I already have by arranging my fiction alphabetically by publisher and then alphabetically by author within, do I go classic with alphabetizing by author only, or do I go full whimsical and create a rainbow of spines? The last one is visually stunning but would make it too difficult to find anything. 

I'm leaning towards organizing my fiction alphabetically by publisher, my nonfiction by genre, and because I enjoy having my up next TBR shelf in rainbow order, I think I'll keep that going as well. Essentially a refresh of the system I had in place that worked until my shelves began overflowing into bookish chaos. But then I think that classic alphabetical by author only would make the most sense. And do I mix in my subscription books form Book of the Month, Allurial, and Aardvark? Do I keep a separate display section for winter holidays and halloween witchy books? Do I keep a display section with sprayed edges? Oh decisions, decisions.

On the flipside of working on creating a beautifully refreshed library, I now have a dozen piles of books waiting to be sold or donated -- to be more precise I have about 26 dozen books now begging to be rehomed. I blame all of this on the need for spring cleaning that recently hit me. I’ve already donated a stack to my local friends of the library but I’ve still got a ridiculous amount of books to get through. (Thinking of doing a Substack share giveaway for a small stack… let me know if you’d be interested!) Although it's given me more work to do, I do appreciate that it pushed me to purge books I know I'll never get around to reading, giving them a new home and a new opportunity to be read and enjoyed.

Q: How do you have your bookshelves organized?

With joy from the stacks

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Good Morning Joyful Readers!

How on earth is September almost here?! I can hardly believe August is almost over and that Halloween is only (frantically checks calendar) 9 weeks away. On the topic of Halloween, our kiddo’s current costume request is Ghost Spider. We’ll wait to see where we’re at in a few weeks before buying it but I have a feeling it won’t change!

Bookish Notes

This past week brought TONS of book mail my way. Some amazing publisher book mail and a few preorders and purchases as well. Needless to say my TBR shelves are overflowing with great options to choose from.

My most anticipated book that arrived last week was a special edition of Soul of Shadow by Emma Noyes from the YA Once Upon a Book Club Box subscription of and I must confess that it’s even more gorgeous than I imagined it would be. I coincidentally also snagged a pretty copy for $1 (plus shipping) from Allstora from signing up for a trial Romantasy membership (and yessss if you didn’t know Emma Noyes has a book club!) so I now own two beautiful copies.

Ares decided to join my photoshoot. 🐾

At no cost to you I may receive a commission for items purchased through links. Note: many of the books featured were received as gifted free copies from publishers.

Most Anticipated: This Week’s New Releases

The sheer number of new releases that come out every week (and honestly, every month!) makes my head spin. To help narrow it down here’s the top new books released this week that were on my radar.

Fiction Released 8/26

• Graciela and His Grace by Liana De La Rosa

• Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino

• The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends by Jaime D’Amato

Nonfiction Released 8/26

• How the Hell Did I Not Know That? by Lucie Frost

• Children of the Book by Ilana Kurshan

• Everyone’s Seen My Tits by Keely Hazell

What I Preordered Last Week:

• Preordered from B&N | Strong Ground by Brené Brown - Pub date Sept. 23rd

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If you’re an online shopper check out my top finds {books from B&N and LibroFM, fun finds from Wayfair, Michael’s, TJ Maxx, Sur La Table, and World Market} on my Shop My affiliate page.

What’s bringing me joy:

• Writing this weekly substack blog post and celebrating milestones - I had two new paid subscribers this week and I can’t even tell you how excited I am about that! It’s such a cool feeling to have support for my writing and creative endeavors. Thank you!

• Discovering that H&M carries little kids clothes. We were out with our kiddo and she picked out a few things she liked.

• Playing in the neighborhood parks with our kiddo. Taking a walk and going to the park is her current favorite activity — aside from swimming day with dad of course.

• The rainbow of bookish candles from Novelly Yours. They all smell good and they brighten up my day every time I see them on my bookshelf. P.S. I’m currently a rep for her shop — use code JOYFULBLOGGER to save at checkout!

If anything here resonates, leave a comment below. I love hearing how you’re finding joy in your life too!

The Shelves of a Mood Reader

Am I truly in the middle of six books right now? Yes, why yes I am!

Finished Reading

📖 Summer in the City by Alex Astor ✨ Special hardback edition with sprayed edges gifted from the publisher ✨

Quick take: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Enjoyed the book, loved and connected with so much of the commentary throughout, and would absolutely recommend it. (🔥 warning: it has a few steamy scenes)

Started Reading

📖 Soul of Shadow by Emma Noyes ✨ Special hardback edition with special book jacket and sprayed edges

Continued Reading

📖 How The Hell Did I Not Know That?: My Midlife Year from Couch to Curiosity by Lucie Frost ✨ Nonfiction humor ✨ I received an early finished copy from Kaye Publicity. A few pages in and it’s already got my laughing along.

📱 My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak ✨ eBook available in Kindle Unlimited ✨ I’m reading the books for the first time before season 2 airs on tv

🎧 Loud by Drew Afualo ✨ Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby ✨ I’ve never heard of her before but she is funny and so real. Great listen so far.

📱 You Can’t Have It All by Stassi Schroeder ✨ eBook available in Everand ✨Nonfiction mom humor - I’m reading the ebook but imagine the audiobook is a fun way to enjoy it!

📖 Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found by ✨ Hardback purchased at Always Here Books in Portland ✨Nonfiction memoir

📖 UpWorthy Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity ✨ Hardback copy gifted from TLC Book Tours ✨Nonfiction feel good short stories

DNF’ed

None last week!

Friendly reminder that a paid subscription costs less than a latte once a month. If this weekly column brings you joy, I appreciate you supporting my work!

Random things on my mind:

One of my favorite small businesses Epilogue Book Shop makes the cutest printed bookish items. I just placed an order for a bunch of fun little bookish ghosts and signs for my bookshelves and I cannot wait for everything to arrive!

I’m obsessed with the items and highly recommend checking out her shop. She does custom order printing based on the items and colors you want. The shop owner Amber graciously shared a 15% off coupon code HOCUSPOCUS that everyone can use through September 15th.

Next week’s daily holidays:

The full September daily list is available exclusively to paid subscribers for those interested in seeing the full list in advance and to have a fun printable version.

As a free subscriber you have access to the printable fun extras below!

If you enjoy reading The Joyful Weekly Edit every week, there are a few ways to show your support & let me know you enjoy my work: leave me a comment below, upgrade or gift a paid subscription, or screenshot & share your favorite bits on your Instagram stories and tag me! @TheJoyfulBookBlogger

With joy from the stacks

Good Morning Joyful Readers!

Creating a habit takes time and dedication. And I’ll be honest, I forgot what day of the week it was — hence the delayed posting time today. I write notes throughout the week but Tuesday evening is when I’ve been making the final touches and scheduling my post. What was I doing last night instead of writing? Mushing up the 11…

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Good Morning Joyful Stackers!

This past week was jam-packed with so many fun things, I almost didn’t make the time to sit down to recap all of my adventures. I’ve truly been enjoying writing this weekly blog post and I hope it helps you find inspiration to create joy in your every day lives too!

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If you’re an online shopper …

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Good Morning Joyful Stackers!

I know Summer’s not officially over until late September but for us SummerWeen folks, it’s officially Augtober. I keep seeing the most amazing Halloween things and I’m 1000% here for it!!

Every time I log into social media it’s filled with Halloween ads and it makes me so happy. It also makes me want to buy a TON of new thing…

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Good Morning Joyful Stackers and welcome to my new weekly blog series!

As life goes on I’ve had a continued desire to read, write, and share more. Perhaps it has something to do with getting older (hello late 30s). Or maybe it’s something that happens to new parents as they see their children experience things for the first time, with wide eyed wonder a…

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My kiddo just turned 9 months and it’s surreal to think that she’s been out of the womb and in the land of the living for as long as she was growing in my belly. Being a new mom has continued to be the highlight of my life and I…

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Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending my first in-person author signing and in-conversation event at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing!! The featured author was Rachel Lynn Solomon and the discussion was led by author Alison Cochrun. I’ve been to a handful of events where the author was there to sign books but this was the first time I …

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