Joy the reading wizard
Psychonaut Journaling

Hello, I'm Joy ✨

Reading the world,
one book at a time.

Join me as I read my way across all 50 states and every country in the world.

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Joy — your reading wizard guide

Hi, I'm Joy

I'm a Pacific Northwest bookworm on a mission to read a book set in every US state and every country in the world. I journal every single read — by hand, in the margins, in my bullet journal, everywhere.

This space is where I share the books that move me, the journaling supplies I can't live without, and the slow, cozy joy of reading your way through the world.

Come read along with me

Daily bookish content, journaling spreads, and reading life — five platforms, one cozy corner of the internet.

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The Reading Challenges

One book per US state. One book per country. It's a long game — and I'm loving every page.

🇺🇸 50 US States

35/50

70% complete

🌍 195 Countries

49/197

25% complete

See the Full Map →

Currently Loving

Three books I keep pressing into people's hands.

Cover of How to say Babylon Jamaica
★★★★★

How to say Babylon

by Safiya Sinclair

How to Say Babylon is Safiya Sinclair's memoir of growing up as the eldest daughter of a volatile reggae musician and mi…

Read review →

Cover of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow Syria
★★★★★

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

by Zoulfa Katouh

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow follows Salama, an eighteen-year-old pharmacy student who finds herself volunteering at …

Read review →

Cover of The Poet Empress China
★★★★★

The Poet Empress

by Shen Tao

In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, famine ravages the land and poetry magic belongs only to the powerful. Wei Yi…

Read review →

fresh from the pages

Recently Published

Souls in Ruin
Book Review Jun 15, 2026

Souls in Ruin

When Princess Mireille is married off to a foreign king with sinister intentions, she expects cruelty, not chains. Trapped within her own kingdom's walls and caught between two powerful immortal beings, she must reckon with her father's buried sins, her own dwindling soul, and the question of whether she was ever truly free to begin with.

The King's List
Book Review Jun 6, 2026

The King's List

Rylee and the Legends of Chaos thought the trials were behind them, but the Kings have one more gauntlet to run. The King's List sends the group back into high-stakes challenges designed to prove their worthiness to rule, all while new threats emerge, old secrets unravel, and the bonds between Rylee and her mates are tested in ways none of them saw coming.

Eve out of Her Ruins
Book Review Mauritius Jun 1, 2026

Eve out of Her Ruins

Eve Out of Her Ruins follows four teenagers in the impoverished Mauritian neighborhood of Troumaron: Eve, whose body is her only weapon; Saadiq, a poet in love with her; Savita, the friend who refuses to leave without her; and Clélio, a rebel with nowhere to direct his rage. Ananda Devi renders their interlocking lives with brutal, poetic precision, tracing what happens when survival and despair are the only inheritance a place can offer.

The Burning Side
Book Review Texas May 31, 2026

The Burning Side

After their house burns down the same night Leo asks for a divorce, April and their two young children retreat to her childhood home in Dallas, where her parents offer both refuge and complication. Told through alternating perspectives and flashbacks, The Burning Side unravels the resentments, guilt, and buried tenderness of a marriage coming apart, asking whether love is enough to rebuild what's already been lost.

The Stargazer of Nantucket
Book Review Massachusetts May 27, 2026

The Stargazer of Nantucket

A headstrong eighteen-year-old stows away on her parents' clipper ship and finds herself swept into a record-breaking voyage from Nantucket to Gold Rush San Francisco and on to the ports of China, where family secrets and the perils of the open sea force her to reckon with a world far larger than she imagined.

All posts in The Journal →