Episode 5: Spring Cleaning My Home Library

It’s time for a different kind of spring cleaning.

In this cozy, reflective episode, Lara Ashley takes you inside her home library, shelf by shelf: sharing the stories behind her collection, what she’s loving, what she needs to read next, and where she’s learning to slow down.

From a romance shelf that’s almost full (and a reminder to read before buying more), to banned books, graphic novels like Lore Olympus, and nostalgic favorites like Harry Potter and Amari and the Night Brothers, this episode is a personal walk through a reader’s life.

Lara also shares her love for cozy fantasy (Legends & Lattes), thrillers, holiday reads, and the books that have shaped her, including memoirs like The Truths We Hold and her own unpublished novel, which holds a special place on her shelf.

This episode is about more than organizing books; it’s about reflecting on identity, growth, and the stories we choose to keep close.

If you’ve ever looked at your bookshelf and seen a version of yourself staring back, this one’s for you.

Grab your favorite drink, settle in, and come spring clean with me.

This episode was lit. ✨

Transcript

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Hey friends, and welcome back to Lit with Laura Ashley. This is your cozy corner of the internet where we talk about books, stories, and the moments that shape us one shelf at a time. So wherever you are, maybe you're cleaning, organizing, walking, or just relaxing, go ahead and grab your favorite drink, light a candle if you can, and settle in. Because today's episode is a little different and very fun. We're doing a spring cleaning episode, but instead of closets or kitchens, I'm walking you through my home library. Yes, every shelf, every genre, every chaotic, beautiful corner of my reading life. And honestly, this is me cleaning, reflecting and reorganizing my reading habits in real time. Spring always feels like a reset. Not a pressure-field reset, but a gentle one. It's where I look around and ask, what do I actually want to read? What have I been holding on to? And what needs to shift? So as I walk you through my shelves, I'm also sharing what I want to read more of, what I need to stop buying, and where I need you to help me. Let's start with my romance shelf. She is almost full, like dangerously full. And this is my first moment of honesty. I need to read more of these before I buy anything else. Because why do we do that? Buy books faster than we read them. One book I know I need to read is The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen Clover. This was recommended to me by a local author here in Raleigh. So that's officially on my spring reading list. This shelf is giving love, chaos, soft moments, and a little delusion. And I love that for me. Next shelf, my band books. And if you know, you know. This shelf is actually one of my favorites because it represents freedom to read, freedom to think, and stories that challenge systems enough to be restricted. And honestly, my 2026 mission is to grow this shelf even more. Next up, my graphic novels. And let me just say, I am a huge fan of Lore Olympus. I want to reread the entire series this spring. There's something about graphic novels that feels immersive and relaxing at the same time. It's storytelling in a completely different form. And I love that. Now, under that, I have my nonfiction and rewritten classics. Books like Be Muse, which rem which is reimagining the muses from Hercules. And I love a good retelling. It makes something old feel new again. And that's something I'm realizing I'm drawn to more and more. Then we have my Harry Potter collection. I am a collector and a proud Hufflepuff for life. I still need to get the fifth book to complete part of my collection, which feels like a personal mission at this point. Next are my memoirs. And one that I could not put down was The Truths We Hold. I read it before attending her book tour. And when I say I was locked in, 10 out of 10. Memoirs just hit differently when you're in season of growth. Then I have my Celtic tale shelf. And honestly, I need more. So if you have recommendations, please send them my way because I want to build this out. Under that is the School for Good and Evil series, which is my second favorite series of all time. And I'm actually attending an event next month where I'll meet the author at BookCon in New York City. And I'm so stoked. If you're going, let me know and we can meet in IRL. Then we have fantasy with a little spice. You know what I mean. I already have the fourth wing series, but I'm always open to recommendations here. My holiday shelf is giving Hallmark energy, Christmas, Halloween, cozy vibes. This is my comfort zone. I read books like Good Spirits for Christmas last year, and 10 out of 10, having that with a nice cup of coffee and Christmas cookies was the best way to enter the holiday season. And then the pumpkin princess and the forever night and the pumpkin princess and the buried castle. I can reread every Halloween and it will never get old for me. I need to, of course, continue that. Stephen Banbury, love you. And surprise, I have a full thriller shelf. Last year I really stepped into my thriller era. And honestly, I'm proud of that growth. I mean, I have done a lot. Thank you to Book of the Month and a lot of authors that shout out it to me to read their series. I mean, The Dead Queen's Club by Hannah Kappen. If I'm saying it wrong, I'm so sorry. C-A-P-I-N. We'll do that over and over again. And Looking for Smoke. Oh, yeah. I gotta read that. I gotta read that book again. My middle grade shelf, Amari and the Night Brothers, makes me feel like I'm 13 again. And I love that feeling. Also, the Wicked Witches series. I mean, 10 out of 10, it makes me feel like I can conquer the world and just put spells on people, which, hello, don't we all want to do that? And a random find that I had in uh Books and Barnes Noble, so sorry, was the Ravenfall series. I got all three books, and it was really random, just me running around in Barnes and Noble, randomly going to this and was like, oh, this seems interesting. Bought all three, bought all three books. Like, not even a question. My favorites bookshelf, you can probably guess what's on there. So you let me know what you think. And right under that is my cozy fantasy shelf. Listen, I can read legends and lattes like a hundred thousand times without stopping. Next under that is my nonfiction book bookshelf. Um, got some rock sand gay, but obviously I can fill that up again. Then I have my witchy era shelf, I like to call it. My friend Sabrina Ward actually wrote a book called The Awakening. Y'all have to read it. It's so good. Under that is I really, if anything, I just needed just to clean it, just to get the dust off, but I don't need to add any other books. It's my Artemis Fowl and a series of unfortunate events series. I have the entire all the series, all the books on the shelf. It's full, obviously, but I my inner child just wanted to have it and to read them over and over again. And you know, it's hard when you want to read a series and you have to like go back to um the library and see if they have it. And if they do, you have to wait for forever, and it's just not fun. So I was like, let me just get the whole thing and let me just reread them. And thank you to all local bookstores who have these type of books and they sell them for like two bucks or buy one, get one free, because that's exactly how I was able to get all of the books and not make my fiance go crazy of how much money I was spending. Because honey, it racks up. Um, my next shelf is kind of like a random shelf. I haven't really figured out what I'm gonna call it, but I have a book, uh Apprentice to the villain. I actually need to read that book. That's one of the books I need to read, and an old school book, The Lady Rue. Um, once again, a series of books that I need to read that are just kind of like my rando shelf, but you know, I'm here for it. And then I have my shelf that I'm like, these are the books that I'm reading currently, and one of them is Lilith by Nikki Marmory. I heard so many great things about this book. I'm still reading it. So sorry. I'm one of those people that reads like 10 books at one time. Um, but I absolutely love it, and it's so good, and I definitely need to like get back and read that again. Then we have my classics, including uh Jane Austen and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I have two books that are all of the books in one book, so obviously it's thick. Um, that's one of the reasons why I love it. And then, of course, I have The Secret Garden, which for me was like one of my favorite books as a child. There was a cell going on at a local library in Raleigh where you can fill up a tote bag for 10 bucks of however many books you can fit in there. Girl, I went in. Actually, I got two bags. Um, and the secret garden was one of them, and I was like, ugh, so happy. Gone girl was two. Now you let me know. Tell me in the comments. Do you feel like Gone Girl? To me, Gone Girl is a classic. Like I could never, that's just one of those books like I will remember for the rest of my life. But if you think different, you let me know. Oh, another book that I forgot about I got for five bucks in New Orleans, the complete fairy tales of the brothers Grimm. You already know. Like, I love a good fairy tale, I love the true stories of those fairy tales, like back in the day. So I had to get that. I'm so happy I did. And then something that was like another random find in in New Orleans was the Jack and Jill book. It's like 1890 kind of book from uh Louisa Mae Alcott, and it's it's so old. You can tell it's old, but I got it for like 50 cents, and I was like, it's just it's a classic, it's just one of those books. Like I want it, it looks really nice on my shelf, and I'm so happy I was able to get it. Uh, and then I have my shelf of the books that I read with my um sorry, I drew a blank. I have my shelf that I had for my um book clubs in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. One of those is the uh my friend Lindsay Duga. She had the Royal Heirs series. Y'all need to read this. This is a duology, so good, could not put it down. Hashtag Emilon is my queen. Then under that, I have my cozy fantasy series. I can read Legends and Lattes all freaking day. Um, one of my favorite books, love it so much, along with the Enchanted Greenhouse. I actually need to get the second book that is in that series by Sarah Beth Durst. So I'm happy I'm doing this because in real time I'm really looking at these and like, oh, I need to get like the next one. Also, Rebecca Thorne um can't spell treason without tea. I know that she has more books in this series, and I also need to look into that too. Once again, my my bank account is really getting upset with me that I'm looking at this and thinking about spending more money. Um, after that, I have my cozy mystery. So I don't know if you're really big into it. I love me some cozy mystery books. Um, one of them is Murdered by Cheesecake. It's a Golden Girls mystery series. I know there's a second one out too, and I need to get that Love with a Passion. Another random find that I did was um the Avilene Jones series by Phil Hicks. I actually got it on Amazon and it was so random. Once again, saw this and was like, okay, seems interesting. I think it's a middle grade book, but it's like goosebumps, but not as scary, but it's freaky, and I love it. It's so good. And then, of course, the Thursday Murder Mystery Club. So good. I know there's a Netflix series on it, but the book series, y'all, y'all have to read it. It's so good. I absolutely love it. Um, and then after that, no one really knows. I don't talk about it, but actually, back in 2023, I wrote a book, um, a fantasy book. It was supposed to be like a fantasy middle grade book. And I queried and sent on a bunch of stuff in 2024, could not get anyone to even look at the book, honestly. Um, fellow authors, I love y'all because y'all are the truth. I could not even, it was too much. It was a lot going on for me. But I did write a book and I couldn't get anyone to publish it. So my fiance uh actually published the book for me, just one book. Um, and I kind of made it this shelf into the shrine of the book that he, my book that he published. So love him so much. And so one day he'll be published, but until then, I got like a cute little shrine. Speaking of my fiance, I have his shelf right under here. He's a surgical tech, so I have a lot of medical books on this shelf. No, I do not read medical books. No, I'm I'm too grossed out, needles scare me. He also has like uh The Gucci Man, I guess autobiography. I really don't know what's on here. Uh White Rage, the unspoken truth of our racial divide. Yep, that's that's that's my fiance. So yeah, and then under that I have some fashion books, so like Soul of a Nation, The Look, the Michelle Obama book, which I actually talked about in the last, in the previous episode. So good. Uh Coco Chanel Stepping Out, really good. And then after that, I have fantasy. So like Babbel, uh, the latest book that just came out for Book of the Month, and the Reese Book Club, I think. Lady Tremaine, I got that as soon as like that wasn't even. Um, oh, another Victoria Avar. She also is gonna be at BookCon in New York. Um, the King's Cage series, Red Queen, Red Queen, 10 out of 10. If you have not read it, if you've never heard of her, y'all need to go back because it's great. Under that is my Christian devotional um shelf where I have a lot of Lisa girl, I can't pronounce your last name. But if you know her, Lisa with all of her devotional rewritten books for like women. I have that. And I guess it's so appropriate. I have just regular smut right under that. Lights out was probably one of my favorite books last year. Actually, when I went to Tulum, I read this while drinking a margarita on the beach, and I recommend that to anybody. And then under that, I have my poetry uh shelf. My cousin actually wrote a book, Casey Richardson. She wrote prayers and poetry. I think you still get it on Amazon or her website, but it's so good. I love it. And then finally, I have a travel shelf. So, like, I have a friend that actually gave me a travel journal journal. I love traveling, I love doing adventures. So this shelf is really good for that. But I do, I think I want to start collecting books talking about different states and countries that I visit. So I can always go back because I travel a lot and I kind of yeah, take pictures and I have moments, but I kind of forget like what I learned or what I saw or anything like that. So I'd be kind of cool to do starting this year, you know. I would really, I would really love that. But yeah, that is my home library. I'm so happy I did this with y'all because I'm able to kind of look and be like, okay, there's some that I none that I need to take away, clearly, because I I did that before, and that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But more that I need to add to the collection. But thank you for walking through my library with me. If you have recommendations, especially for Celtic tales, fantasy, or romance, send them my way. I'm Laura Ashley, and this episode was so lit.