This is where I tell you about my all time favorite website. . . .www.goodreads.com .  A place to catalog your reads, see what your friends are reading and score suggestions!  It is a great way to keep track of what you have read and what you might like to read.   This has been revolutionary and magical for our family.  For the past two years, I have been keeping track of what everyone has been reading in addition to gaining fantastic suggestions from fellow reading “Friends”.  It does not matter if you read a little or a lot but if you find yourself stumped for that next book or your kids are coming to you what seems like every few minutes for book suggestions, this site will be a blessing to you and your family. . . .They also make suggestions based on what you have read (if you liked this, you might like this). If you are already on goodreads,  and would like to share books to read or books to skip, I am always up for help!  Come say hello!  Here is the link to my page.

A top notch blog for book suggestion is that of the talented Melissa Wiley. . . She has given us a multitude of treasures over the years. Lucky for her, she would not know me from Adam but we have been on the same wavelength for years (back in the days of egroups like Catholic Charlotte Mason).  Over the years, she introduced us to many family favorites, e.g. Rowan Jacobsen’s Fruitless Fall, Helene Hanff”s 84, Charring Cross Road and probably about a billion others.  Here is the link to her site www.melissawiley/blog She has a section on her blog of “book recs” which will bring you many hours of joy and delight! Go here for a quick peek to get the drool dripping.  The reason that I like her so much is that I am quite honestly, a book list snob.  I wish that I had the time to read as I did when my first two were little.  I felt like we read for at least 2 hours a day.  Now, things are different, much different but we have stacks at the ready in most rooms to pounce on when we can.  I am much more selective about what I read because I want to make sure that I get all the gems in. She keeps me abreast of worthy new picture books, early readers and big kid treasures.

I often look at the book lists for schools and I’m consistently impressed with the reading lists for the Heights School. In fact, it is the only school list that I would recommend in its entirety.   They frequently update their lists and have suggestions for parents and students.  Don’t be deterred because it is a boys school.  This is a great source for the well rounded reader.  The link is here.

If you have any other sources, I would love to hear about them.

My apologies for the long blogging hiatus!

I am a sucker for book lists.  With a family of voracious readers, I am constantly on the prowl for good books.  Often I see lists on Pinterest or some other website and I am disappointed with what is being touted as the best.  I do not mean that to sound snobby.  I just think that there are fantastic books out there that are possibly forgotten or not talked about.  I remember being about 12 or 13 and thinking that there was nothing left to read, that I had read all the good books already (HA!).   I was a public school kid in California and had never read ANY classic literature and did not know it existed.  (I still cannot believe it myself!).  I had a teacher read The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe aloud in 4th grade.  I was captivated.  We bought Scholastic books from the onion skin fliers that circulated the classroom but I was truly a ghost ship when it came to selecting good reads.  I remember books such as Catcher in the Rye, Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man, all the racy Judy Blume books as well as the what I now recall as horrific V.C. Andrews book (gross!).  Too bad that I had never heard of Jane Austen!  That being said, I really do think that my love of books saved my life.  It is what led me to question God, perceived truth and what was truly beautiful. That is another post for another day though.

Our favorite book list is The Mothers List of Books by Theresa Fagan.  Theresa is a mother of six and scouts out good books like an archaeologist.  Her criteria for a good book is that it should be a reflection of the good, the true and the beautiful.  Filled with fun, edifying and inspiring books, her list does not disappoint.  The list is sectioned according to ages (very helpful) and she paginates any questionable content so that you can decide if this is acceptable or to wait on that particular book.  If you are in an area that has a wonderful inter library loan system, the reading world is your oyster!  (Low taxes mean no ILL’s for us). Many of her books are older but worth the search.

If you are looking for books that you and your children will enjoy, here are the books or lists that have provided our family with hours and hours of entertainment and delight.  Any of these books would make a great baby shower gift too!

Honey for a Childs Heart

Books Children Love

A Childs Delight

A Readers Delight

Mothers List of Books 

The MLOB is linked to amazon.com but a  less expensive way to order the book list would be to mail a check payable to Theresa Fagan: $7.50 total ($6 for the booklist + 1.50 shipping)

Her address:
8801 Kensington Parkway
Chevy Chase MD 20815

Also, Sonlight Curriculum catalog is a wonderful book list.  We have never used their curriculum but have read nearly every book that they suggested.  When the kids were younger and the catalog arrived, the children would circle the books that they were interested in reading and I would work on finding them.

Do you have any favorite lists?  I would love to hear.