Shelfie: A look into my reading journey!

Our bookshelves can tell us a lot about who we are. They express our creativity, our likes, our dislikes, our aesthetics, and our commitment to organization. My bookshelf is tiny, a hand-me-down that used to house some miscellaneous files in my dad's office. Because of its limited shelf space, I only display books that I really enjoy and small decorations or trinkets.

I organized my bookshelf relatively haphazardly, with various systems of organization. Some sections are organized by genre, others are reserved for hobbies and trinkets, while the rest are differentiated by how much I liked the books.

The right-middle shelf contains all of my favorite fantasy books that I've read- well, the ones I have a copy of at least. I am a big fan of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen and Realm Breaker series. I have always loved reading YA fantasy because it keeps me on the edge of my seat and captivates me with unique world-building. My favorite YA fantasy series I've ever read is the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. It has amazing characters, exciting action, suspenseful mystery through heists and swindles, and a well-developed, creative world I loved diving into through these books. A close second favorite fantasy series is The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black. This series also had great characters with satisfying development, and the intrigue and suspenseful politics of the world drew me in. I only have the second book of the series, The Wicked King, because I received it as a birthday present. I got the other two books from the library when I read them. My favorite book in the series was the third, The Queen of Nothing, because I really enjoyed the evolution all of my favorite characters had as well as the ending- which is rare for me. I also really enjoyed reading We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal and Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson. I didn't enjoy the sequels to either of these books very much, but Dance of Thieves can be read as a standalone.

The top-left shelf has all of my favorite historical fiction and realistic fiction books. I love historical fiction because it always feels so relevant to me. It details the human experience through tragedy, hardship, love, and loss in a way that readers can connect to even further through their prior knowledge of the impactful history that undercurrents the whole genre. My absolute favorite books on this shelf are Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, There There by Tommy Orange, and Atonement by Ian McEwan. The other books on this section include:

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

• James by Perceval Everrett

• The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

• If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

• The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh

This section of my shelf houses two featured books of the summer: Dubliners by James Joyce and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Dubliners has been a challenge for me because of the complexity of Joyce's short stories. And Then There Were None earned its place here because it got me into mystery novels and Agatha Christie in particular. I also have some copies of Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, Hamlet, and Macbeth placed here because they were given to me by my dad, annotated by him when he was my age. Not only did I enjoy them, but they have a special place in my heart because of their sentimental value. The camera was a gift from my mom, and the candles were gifts from my best friend.

This section also contains my favorite realistic and historical fiction books. These books had slightly less of an impact on me than the section above it, but I still love them deeply. My favorites of this section are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman, and Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I also store my sketchbook and colored pencils on this shelf. I love doodling in my sketchbook, and I have been trying to work more with colored pencils.

This last section, the bottom-left, is where I put books that I enjoyed, but less so than those on the levels above it. All of these books entertained me, but they didn't stick with me the way others did. They include:

• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

• Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston

• American Royals by Katherine McGee

• The Theban Plays by Sophocles

• The Essential Neruda selected poems by Pablo Neruda

I read most of these books a long time ago, which is part of why they retain less meaning to me. They are also meant for pure entertainment, excluding the works by Sophocles and Neruda. Neruda and Sophocles's works were given as school assignments, and despite finding them meaningful and complex, I didn't enjoy them. The GoGos CD was a gift from a friend. I have always loved their music, so despite the fact that I don't have a CD player, I keep it as a memento.

I hope you enjoyed my Shelfie. I truly encourage you to read any of the books I mentioned and take any inspiration you wish from the layout, organization, and aesthetics of my bookshelf!