I am always looking for ways to increase bookish joy in my reading life and the best way to bring myself reading joy is to have a set of carefully curated books that I absolutely positively cannot wait to read. 

It’s the best feeling ever. 

That’s why I love the idea of book flights to bring us bookish joy. 

What's a Book Flight?

I first heard the idea from Anne Bogel from the What Should I Read Next podcast. Now, a beverage flight is a set of drinks that complement each other so you can develop your tasting palette. Think coffee, wine and beer flights. 

But why not extend that metaphor to books and create book flights to develop our reading palettes, too? 

We should. 

So, a book flight is a carefully curated collection of books to go wide and deep in a particular topic, genre, author or format. We gather and pair books together strategically so we can go all in on something we love and develop a stronger sense of the concept. 

Let me give you a few examples:

Food & Family Book Flight

This is one of my favorite book flights to recommend because books like this are filled with human experiences that sparks reflection about your own connection to food and family. Here are three books to help you dive deep:

Tackling Anxiety Book Flight

This one had my name written all over it and I turned to these books in succession when I needed to feel seen. If anxiety is something you struggle with, check out this book flight of books. And yes, I know two of them are middle grade novels. I find comfort in reading these books as they soothe my inner, anxious child:

Female Friendships Book Flight

It can be hard to make and keep friends in adulthood, can’t it? We are all so busy and life is complicated. These books will remind you to stay close to those that matter and make time to cultivate adult friendships.

I bet your TBR stack has just grown after seeing how enticing it is to pair books together strategically to bring yourself bookish joy. 

So, here’s your challenge:

Think of a concept you want to explore in the pages of your books: an author, a genre, a topic, a setting, a theme and more.

Google that very concept and browse the book lists you find. Listen to podcasts (like my Get Lit(erate) podcast where I share three books you need to know about every week!) and ask your fellow book lovers for recommendations. 

Curate the books together, purchase or borrow them and set your new book flight somewhere you can see it every day…and then get reading and revel in the bookish joy. 

What book flight will you create? Share your topics and titles in the comments!