Sometimes, poetry is waiting right on our shelves—no pen required! This week, on September 6th, we observe Read a Book Day. With that in mind, I bring you Book Spine Poetry. I know I have done it before on my blog, though not for Poetic Sundays but as a response to prompts elsewhere.

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Poetic Sundays: Tales Our Book Spines Tell Us: Book Spine Poetry

Who knew our books could whisper secrets? In book spine poetry, the titles on your shelves line up to tell playful, surprising, or even magical stories. Each stack is a little poem waiting to be discovered—let’s peek at the tales our book spines have to share!!

So What is Book Spine Poetry?

Book spine poetry is a creative way to make poetry using the titles of books on your shelf. Instead of writing new words, you stack books so that their titles read in sequence like lines of a poem. The titles themselves form the words of your poem, and you can optionally add small connecting words to make it flow.

In Other Words:

• You stack books so their titles, read top-to-bottom, create a “poem.”
• The titles do the heavy lifting—you don’t write new words, you just curate and arrange.
• It can be short and snappy or surprisingly deep.

How to Do Book Spine Poetry

Step 1: Gather Your Books

• Pick 5–7 books (or more) from your bookshelf.
• Don’t worry about genre—mixing serious, whimsical, and odd titles can create interesting poems.

Step 2: Arrange the Titles

• Stack the books so the titles read from top to bottom.
• Try different orders to see which “story” or mood emerges.
• You can also write the titles in order if you don’t want to physically stack the books.

Step 3: Read Your Poem

• Read the titles aloud or in your head.
• Does it tell a story, convey a feeling, or make you smile?
• If needed, add small connecting words like and, the, in, while to make it flow.

Step 4: Finalize & Share

• Photograph your stacked poem or write the titles as lines on a page.
• Share it with friends or on social media!

Tips for Success

1. Start with a theme: love, adventure, memory, childhood, humor—this helps guide your choices.
2. Experiment: move books around to see how meaning changes.
3. Use contrasts: serious vs. silly titles can create surprising humor or depth.
4. Optional words: a few added words can smooth transitions without taking over the poem.
5. Keep it short: 3–7 books is usually enough to make a clear “poem.”
6. Play with line breaks: even a single title can become two lines if it has multiple parts.

h/t, References, and Further Inspiration

• For more book spine poems,
  • check out these galleries at 100scopenotes
  • or this cool book: Spine Poems: An Eclectic Collection of Found Verse for Book Lovers by Annette Dauphin Simon 

My Book Spine Poem (or Attempt at it)

Seriously, I’m Kidding: A Spine Poem Adventure
Hello
(From Here)
Where Good Ideas Come From
Bird by Bird
Out of the Box
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Seriously… I’m Kidding
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Book spine poetry reminds us that stories are everywhere—sometimes they just need to be stacked in the right order. So go ahead – try it yourself. Pick a few titles from your shelves, and see what new poems emerge. You might be surprised by the stories your books have been waiting to tell

Recently

On My Blog and the Homefront

I’ve been away for a little while, starting a new chapter in my life and balancing work and classes. Things are a bit busy as I adjust, so my posts will be more sporadic over the next few months. I’m excited to be back and to share whenever I can, and I appreciate you sticking around!

Here are the posts that I posted here since my last Sunday Scribblings:

• Lessons that Last: 13 Wonderful Teachers in Books
• Sunday Scribblings #233: How to Make Happiness Happen With Poems

Upcoming

On My Blog and the Homefront

Hopefully at least one post this coming week. As for the homefront, I am glad my children are still here for a few more weeks before they head back to college. I am cherishing the time with them!

Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Dushyant Kumar, and Timothy Zahn on the 1st of September; Allen Drury, Tripura, and Eugene Field on September 2nd; Jenny Han, Roshanara Begum, Kiran Desai, and Malcolm Gladwell on the 3rd of September; Joan Aiken on the 4th of Sept; Sam Hamill and Paul Fleischman on the 5th; Alice Sebold on 6th Sep; David Levithan on the 7th of Sept
• Sept is Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
• It is World Letter Writing Day on the 1st of September as well as National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day
• National Read a Book Day is on the 6th of September (well, for me, it is daily!)

Foodie Celebrations

• We have National Burnt Ends Day on the 1st of September to remind us it is ok to burn toast every once in a while, and it can help too. The 1st is also Cherry Popover Day and National Tofu Day.
• September 2nd is World Coconut Day and National Blueberry Popsicle Day
• Followed by National Welsh Rarebit Day on the 3rd of September, which, well, has no rabbit in it at all! It is just toast with hot cheese.
• Then we have Eat an Extra Dessert Day and also National Macadamia Nut Day on the 4th of September, so maybe desserts with macadamia nuts?
• Next up, on the 5th, it is National Cheese Pizza Day and World Samosa Day
• Followed by National Coffee Ice Cream Day on the 6th of September.
• And lastly, the 7th is National Acorn Squash Day and National Beer Lover’s Day.

Other Celebrations and Observations

• We celebrate a cool woman pioneer on the 1st of September with Emma M. Nutt Day. She was the first female telephone operator ever (on the 1st of September 1878)
• And then we celebrate one of my favorite beings on September 2nd – it is National Hummingbird Day (!!)
• Followed by National Pet Rock Day on the 3rd. Do you have one?
• The 4th is ​National Wildlife Day
• While the 5th of September is International Day of Charity as well as National Be Late For Something Day (but let us not be late to be charitable!). And India observes Teacher’s Day on this date in honor of the birthday of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
• Being late is followed by – ironically – Fight Procrastination Day on September 6th!

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon