17 January 2025
After a very successful 2023 list (20/24, by far the closest I’ve come to completing one), I faltered a bit in 2024, finishing 16 of 24. Part of that was due to the library holds system – The Power of Moments just arrived, and I’ve been waiting weeks for Delicious! and The Measure to be delivered – but I suspect I also fell victim to a defect I noticed in 2022: placing books on the list that I wasn’t absolutely chomping at the bit to read. That’s the bar I’m using this year (absolutely chomping at the bit to read), and I’m also making one other change: I’m putting some of the books I’m most eager to tear into in the last quarter. If I get to them sooner? That’s quite alright. I’m guessing I’ll just be grateful to have read them at all :) (If you’re new, this is the very lowest-key of book clubs: I consider it a delightful exercise in thoughtfully planning my reading a year at a time (12 fiction, 12 non-fiction), and though I’m often at the whim of my library holds (ahem, see above), it’s helpful to always know where to turn when I’m ready for a new book!) Without further ado… January:The Unmaking of June Farrow | I love a well-done time travel escapade and this 2024 NYT bestseller, set in North Carolina and recommended by Janssen, has all the makings of a hit: “a woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love.”Well-Lived | This is Sally Clarkson’s newest book, undoubtedly filled with her wisdom on family, hospitality, discipleship, and cultivating joy – and this time, accented by her time living in Oxford with her daughter’s family. February:Gilead | This Pulitzer Prize winner has come
26 October 2023
I read Hunt, Gather, Parent almost a year and a half ago, and the fact that I’m still motivated to chat about it after all these months should tell you something! While it did take me some time to move this post to the top of the queue, it’s not for lack of enthusiasm. This is one of the most interesting, unique, and actionable parenting books I’ve read in awhile, and one I still think about often in our daily interactions as a family. And it’s one I regularly reference in conversation, so this post feels like a natural extension! A brief summary for the unfamiliar: the author, Michaeleen Doucleff (with her three-year-old daughter!), visits three of the oldest cultures in the world: the Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula, Inuit families in the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe families in Tanzania. All have found success raising happy, helpful, well-adjusted children, and her mission is to understand why by living with families – and applying their techniques to her own daughter along the way. She shares her findings (including lots of practical takeaways) with the goal of resetting the American paradigm, restoring sanity to parenting, and creating better outcomes for our kids. The Maya culture, with their unusually helpful, generous, and loyal kids, is the one that inspired Michaeleen to write the book. It’s the section I got the most out of, too – when I went back to look over my notes to write this post, I had far more starred and underlined ideas than I had room to share! Here are five that have particularly stuck with me: 1. Quit entertaining and instead invite. This starts from the beginning and continues until the teen years. “Toss out the idea that you have to ‘entertain’ the baby with toys and other
26 June 2023
If you have a voracious reader at home, you know at this age it can practically be a part-time job to keep him or her in books: chatting with friends about recommendations, scanning book lists, vetting new titles, making requests at the library (or sometimes putting in a materials request!), picking up holds, returning piles of completed books, oh my. It can be a lot to keep up with, but as a lifelong reader who hopes to kindle the same in her kids, it’s also a true joy. To hopefully make one part of the process a bit easier for you, I present to you 12 book series for kindergartners and first graders that June has loved. (I’m planning to do another post in the future on her favorite individual books at this age, but series are an excellent time saver so we’re starting here!) Where I could, I’m sharing a picture of the interior pages – hopefully that will make it easier to see if a particular title is the right fit for your little reader. KINDERGARTEN: These are all series that June read independently and loved in kindergarten. She still reads and enjoys most of them now, having just completed first grade! The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne | A brother-sister pair travel back in time to ancient Egypt, the Civil War, Pompeii, Imperial China, and just about everywhere else in time and space. This is apparently the number one bestselling chapter book series of all time, and with 38 titles to choose from, there’s lots to explore. The Princess in Black series by Shannon and Dean Hale | Perfectly-pink Princess Magnolia has a secret, monster-defeating alter ego. Funny, action-packed, and with colorful illustrations throughout, there are 10 books to enjoy. Magic Treehouse on the left
6 January 2023
Today’s post marks the fourth yearly reading list that I’ve shared here. It has been a delightful exercise in thoughtfully planning my reading, which makes a certain amount of sense given the vast number of good books in the world and the relatively few I’ll be able to read in my lifetime. Over time, though, I think I have leaned a little too heavily into curating a list that looks good and checks a lot of boxes rather than a list of books I’m chomping at the bit to read. That’s okay – I think choosing an elevated list of aspirational reads is its own worthwhile pursuit, and I may return to it. But this year (perhaps in tandem with my 2023 goals), I am craving a ready list of books I can’t wait to read, and so that’s what I’ve compiled. My main criteria, after vetting them in my usual ways, was simply: would I want to dive into this book tomorrow? After completing 18, 16, and 15 of 24 in the last three years, I’m aiming for 24/24 in 2023 :) In most months I chose one fiction and one non-fiction book, but you’ll see I took a few liberties, as well. If you’d like me to join me for any of my picks, I’d love to have you! January:Becoming Mrs. Lewis | Once I knew Mere Christianity was going to be my January pick, it was only too perfect to pluck this one from my TBR list.Mere Christianity | One of my favorite books of all time. I read it every few years. February:Remarkably Bright Creatures | Described as a love story with a giant octopus, this novel has been universally adored by everyone whose opinions I trust. Love that it’s her debut.Deep Work | I have