In the last months, I had a 6-week hiatus from social media which allowed me to evaluate my time. Moms don’t really have that much free time as it is, there’s always something else to do, it seems. So, with the little time we have, we need to use it wisely! Reading good books is a great way to gain understanding and insight and I think it is one of the best ways to use our free time. I wrote about how to find the time to read here, but if you are looking for something to read, then you are in the right place. Here is a list of each book I’ve read in the past 6 weeks and a short summary of each.
*Reading so much like this is new for me (I’m usually doing well to get in Bible reading and a commentary, much less fiction!) and while I want to share it with you, I want it to be helpful! Please let me know if this list is good or if there is a better way you’d like to see book recommendations in and I will do it that way.
Being There by Erica Komisar
Mothering is a difficult job, especially when you have another job outside of the home. You really only have so much time with your littles and much of it can be squandered by working outside the home. Komisar gives excellent documentation as to how this happens so easily in America. She is a human psychologist and, therefore, has good insight into how mothers being gone affects their children. And she recognizes that time with your child is VERY important until they are 3-years-old. She even advocates for mothers to leave their work, if possible, and be home full-time until their child is 3. But along with this encouragement, she gives very good points for working moms… ideas for coming home and reconnecting with your children when you’ve been gone.
This book was an encouraging read for me. We really do only have a little while that our children are so small and it made me want to take advantage of any time I can spend with them. It’s definitely an interesting read for any mother or soon-to-be mom!
Hannah’s Children by Catharine Pakaluk
The birth dearth in the United States is a dire situation. We are currently at a level of irreplaceableness! There are many factors to low birth rates, everything from wages to religion can change those numbers. In this book, Pakaluk relates the conversations she had with women who are currently raising the birth rate in the US by, you guessed it, having lots and lots of children. All of the moms she interviewed had at least 5 children!
The author balances the facts of her research with the heart-warming, raw conversations she had with the mothers themselves. They shared their love of children and family in convincing and relatable ways. Personally, this book only increased my desire to have more children! And it reinforces the Christian value of children as blessings from God that we find in Psalm 127. I highly recommend this one for an encouraging, motherly read!
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Reading a Jane Austen book is never a bad choice. They are novels about love and marriage, yes. But her wit and irony are so engaging and refreshing that you’ll find it hard to put one of her books down. Her first piece, Sense and Sensibility, follows two sisters of opposite personality as they navigate love, life, heartache, marriage, all within the social protocol and rightness of the regency period.
This fun book kept me happily awake while nursing my son this month. The moments of sadness are tempered by the laughable looks and conversations described within. I highly recommend this novel to read as it’s a story you won’t soon forget!
Persuasion by Jane Austen
This is the last novel that Jane Austen wrote and the style and level of wit in her writing only increased as she wrote. This is a story of unrequited love in the life of a woman in the Regency era. She deals with quite a lot after the death of her mother and lack of help from her father and sister. Everything seems to fall on her shoulders and the novel takes you along seamlessly.
I truly enjoyed this story… It’s simply so well-written that it keeps you guessing (and turning pages) until the very end. A must-read!
These are the titles I’ve enjoyed over the last month or two. And this extra reading is becoming a habit of mine, so be sure to subscribe below and you’ll get the next list of books to read! Happy Reading!
