Favorite Read Alouds & Read Alones in 2025

I've kept a reading record since 2013—a list of all the books I've read for the past thirteen years. It's nothing fancy, just a handwritten inventory in a journal I found haphazardly tossed into a clearance bin years ago. But whatever it lacks in form, it most certainly makes up for in function. Each entry includes the title, author's name, dates I started and finished the book, my star review of the text, and any thoughts I want to remember when recommending it or discouraging others from reading it.

Favorite Read Alouds & Read Alones in 2024

In an essay for Collected Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote that books should be like mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Certain books should reflect the reader's life, others should give him a peek into someone else's life, and still, others should fully immerse a person in a brand new experience by allowing him to enter the story.

Favorite Read Alouds & Read Alones in 2023

According to a recent report from the Washington Post, nearly 50% of American adults read 0 books in 2023. 33% finished reading at least 5 books. And sitting at the very top, 1% of the population read 50 books or more. The 1500-person test group represents a very small cross-section of humanity, in my opinion. Nonetheless, the statistics are disheartening and bear severe implications for the dwindling vocabularies, attention spans, and overall knowledge base of our citizenry.

Favorite Read Alouds From 2022

In years past, this annual read-aloud round-up consisted of the top books we enjoyed together from the previous twelve months. However, this year, I'm mixing things up. A large portion of our read-aloud time was spent enjoying the Chronicles of Narnia. Since it's difficult to rank books in a series, as they are best read in sequential order, I've decided to throw in some of the books that my kids have read individually.

What We're Reading in November 2022

Last month at my book club, I was handed a title that I knew nothing about. Since I'm not in charge of choosing our monthly selections, I'm usually ignorant about the novels until cracking them open. 

While I was not familiar with that particular book, I did recognize the name of the author. She had written a middle-grade fiction a few years ago that had garnered multiple awards from the ALA (red flag #1--I don't let my kids read most modern award winners.) Her second title was also a middle grade and one that I had decided against when vetting it for my other book club, a tween/teen group I lead for my son and his friends. If memory serves, it included inappropriate language and lots of cultural name-dropping (red flag #2).

What We're Reading in September 2022

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We're one month in and we're just starting to get back to a regular school day rhythm. The death of my sister at the beginning of August and the launch of my new book Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow at the beginning of September weighed heavy on every part of our lives, including our reading efforts. 

While we may not be flying through books just yet, we've finally returned to our much-loved habit of reading each and every day and are turning pages, albeit rather slowly.

What We're Reading in June 2022

Reading is important. In the schedule of our daily homeschool, it's second only to our Morning Time when we open God's Word and grow in our knowledge of Him. 

That said, in the summer months, reading is still important, but it often takes a back-burner to outdoorsy activities.

What We're Reading in May 2022

We're heading into our summer schedule. In the next few days, we'll set aside our formal academics and take a looser approach to learning. But while we'll ignore the math sheets and grammar pages, we'll still make time for reading. 

We'll keep our regular weekly visits to the library. We'll stay up late reading under covers. And we'll continue to enjoy a chapter or two from a read-aloud after lunch. 

12 Clean New-ish Novels for Middle Schoolers

There's an unwritten rule imposed upon homeschool families that would have us all believing new novels are bad. Always. We're supposed to stick to classics, books written before the 1960s, and titles produced by Christian publishing houses. Only.

Trouble is, even some classics and older books have gruesome scenes, disparaging language, and questionable content. And on the flip side, there are many new-ish and contemporary works that are perfectly appropriate.

What We're Reading in March 2022

A few months ago, I put in several Requests to Purchase at my local library.* I had heard about many soon-to-hit-shelves books that were coming out from interesting authors and I wanted to read them all. So, I hopped onto my library website, filled out their short RTP form for each title, and waited.

March arrived and so did all the books I had requested. All of them. At the same time. Needless to say, I have a giant stack of just-released books stacked up on my nightstand and spilling over onto the floor.

What We're Reading in February 2022

Confession time: I experience an embarrassing amount of satisfaction when one of my kids is reluctant to read a book that I've suggested only to admit later that I was right--that the book was indeed as great as I said it would be. 

I never "I told you so" them to death, mind you. But I'm always secretly doing a touchdown-style celebration dance in my mind, knowing that because of this one successful selection they'll be more apt to heed my recommendations in the future. 

What We're Reading in January 2022

We're only three weeks into the new year and I've already bought four new books. I might have a book buying addiction. Then again, since only one of them is for me, it could be argued that I'm more of a  book dealer than a book addict. 

Either way, January has been a month of books in the Erickson household. We've cracked into several new-to-us titles, have revisited a beloved classic, and have been pleasantly pleased by our book club picks. 

20+ Christmas Chapter Books to Read Together

The crackling of a cozy fire swathed with red and green stockings, the warmth of an oversized cup of cocoa, the comfort of your children nestled beside you--it's a picture torn right from the pages of a Norman Rockwell calendar. The only thing missing is a book placed gently in the center, captivating the listeners and drawing them closer together through the experience of a shared story. But not just any book, mind you. A book that conveys the sentiments of the season. A book draped with the wonder of winter. A book that echos the joy of Christmas.

30 Best Thanksgiving Picture Books

With Thanksgiving nearly here, I've got my book basket filled and overflowing with some of our most favorite seasonal living books. Some of these are about the first Thanksgiving that took place 400 years ago and the rest are about how Americans have celebrated the day ever since. Many of the titles are thoughtful. Others are silly. But they are all treasured family favorites that my kids and I have enjoyed for years.

What We're Reading in October 2021

Libby has been a kind companion to me this past month. Even during a rather busy season, I've been able to slam through a handful of titles that I've been wanting to vet for the tween/teen book club I host for my son and his friends. Listening to these middle grades on the free library audiobook app has allowed me to save my focused reading time for print books of my own choosing.

A Christian Mom's Guide to Choosing Clean Books for Kids

Since they were very little, I’ve always allowed my kids to select picture books at the public library. Before checking them out, I quickly sift through the stack they’ve culled and weed out any books that may not be appropriate, briefly explaining why a book doesn’t make the cut. 

With novels, I take a slightly different approach.

What We're Reading in September 2021

This past Thursday, I hosted the first meeting of the year for my son's tween/teen book club. Since there are six new members, we used quite a bit of our time to get to know one another. It was an hour of introductions, kid-lit trivia, and general chatter among bookish people. We had not yet voted on a book for the month, so after selecting one, we focused our discussion on how best to give a book recommendation and how to know if a recommended book is right for our own personal reading lives.

What We're Reading in August 2021

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All month, I've been sorting through and vetting titles for the tween/teen book club I host. I was especially focused on one title, A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. It was a new-to-me book from a new-to-me author. But I'd heard good things and wanted to give it a quick once-over to see if it might make a good selection for our group. 

What We're Reading in July 2021

July is a month on the go for my family. In the next few weeks, some or all of us will go from Minnesota to Arizona to Pennsylvania to Washington D.C., and back again. Many days on planes and in the car will add up to hours upon hours of reading, reading, and more reading.

In related news, I've joined a book club. As a work-at-home, homeschooling mom, my life can feel rather insular. I have to be extra intentional about the Biblical command to "go into all the world" in order to build relationships and spread the Good News.

What We're Reading in June 2021

Late spring was no friend to my reading life. While I was busy trying to wrap up the school year--speak at my last homeschool conference of the season, close out co-op with a flourish, host one final tween book club, organize an end-of-the-year field trip for my kids and a few of our homeschooling friends, and celebrate my first homeschool graduate--I was also juggling some summer activities that were already getting underway--baseball practice, softball games, and driver's ed. It was a collision of seasonal activities and the fallout was not pretty.