The trees are starting to bloom, my backyard is full of lilacs, my lawn is finally flourishing, and there’s a vase of sunflowers next to me as I write this. It’s the perfect time for this tag, which I saw Tracy @ Truffle’s Literary Wonders do, and which was created by Amanda @ Between the Shelves.

One. Getting started:
A book series you’ve been wanting to read.

Gosh, there are so many series that I want to read, but there are also so many that I’m currently in the middle of, so I’m going to take this opportunity to call myself out!

I’ve been eyeing the rest of the Asylum series from Madeleine Roux for a while now because I own all of them, and they’re such quick reads, I really need to get my butt in gear. I also bought the rest of the Winterhouse series by Ben Guterson, and I absolutely adore those, so I’m not sure why I haven’t powered through them yet. And, uh, yeah, The Shadow Hour is becoming a problem where I fury bought it and then never read it?

I just got The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs for my birthday in March, but I’ve also been wanting to read it for way longer than that, and I keep letting “other obligations” get in my way when it comes to reading the books I want to, so I haven’t picked it up yet. AND I KNOW, OKAY, THESE LAST TWO ARE TERRIBLE, I’VE BEEN SAYING I WAS GOING TO READ THEM FOR LITERALLY FOREVER.

Two. Cleaning/organizing the closet:
The best way to organize books.

I’ve done a lot of different ways–alphabetical, rainbow, a whole shelf of favorites–but my favorite is my current. It’s broken into genres like you’d see in a bookstore, and then alphabetical after that. It’s a bit chaotic since fantasy is also broken into subgenres of urban and high, plus I separated my young adult between romance, regular, and space, and all of those are just sporadically dashed through the shelves because I don’t like having books I love a lot (ie: YA) on the bottom shelves where I can’t see them. But I really love being able to turn to my last full shelf and just see all high fantasy.

Three. Getting rid of unnecessary things:
Book/series you no longer need.

I do this a lot, actually! I’m gearing up for another one because my shelves are getting a bit out of control, and taking pictures for my bookshelf tour has become something of a challenge. I definitely want to unhaul my Tolstoys because I’m finally being honest with myself about what books I’m actually likely to spend time on, and those just aren’t it. I’m sure there are others, too, but those are just the first that come to mind.

Four. Get some air:
Your favourite light-hearted read.

Look, I don’t know what to tell you guys, I’ve read this book so many damn times.

It’s definitely one of my favorite comfort reads. And I don’t know if I’d really consider it light-hearted, given that it deals with a lot, but it’s something I turn to when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

Five. Clean out the kitchen cupboards:
Favorite food-themed read.

WELL, what do you know, I just wrote an entire post about this. One of my biggest pet peeves is people not eating in books because about 80% of characters have definitely died of starvation within the first 50 pages of their book. If I had to pick my favorite food-themed one, though, it’d definitely be With the Fire on High. I want to say the Paper Magician series, but they’re not actually food-themed, so we’re going with Emoni!

Six. Dust the shelves:
What’s the fifth book on your bookshelf?

Hold, please! I’ve got to go look.

IT’S MY BOY!

My first shelf is all nonfiction, and because I’m me, I’ve just got an entire stack of astronaut memoirs, and Mike Collins’ Carrying the Fire is the fifth book on that shelf. (Yes, he is my favorite astronaut.)

Seven. Wishing for the end:
A 2020 release you’re really excited about.

Look, we all know I’m excited about the Chakraborty finale, but do you also know that I am absolutely going to lose it when the new David Mitchel comes out? BECAUSE I AM NOT PREPARED, UTOPIA AVENUE WILL KILL ME.

Eight. Long but satisfying:
The longest book series you’ve read.

HECK YEAH, of course it’s Cassandra Clare. I haven’t read all of these (yet), but my goal is to get through almost all of them by year’s end. I’ve got the last TID book to read, plus the entire TDA trilogy, I don’t own Red Scrolls or Shadow Market yet, and I need to read Chain of Gold, but this is definitely the longest series that I own and have read.