While I know my personal reading lists are always overambitious, I love making them and I find that I DO read more when I have a list. It's like my own little personal syllabus (because you don't have to be in grad school to have a life of the mind, right?) But whenever I post a yearly reading list, I get a lot of questions asking, "how do you get so much reading done?!" Because yes, there are … [Read more...]
My Reading List for 2016
Happy New Year, sweet readers! I've finally put together my 2016 reading list. I didn't finish my 2015 list (although I read 24 books, so that's not bad!). I always start out planning to read two books a month, but then I add all sorts of books spur of the moment because if you can't read what you want when you want, what's the point of being a grown up? I always try to tackle one big classic a … [Read more...]
10 MORE Books You Must Read to Your Daughter (Semi-Inspired by Kathleen Kelly)
"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does." - Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail Three years ago one of my posts went viral for the first time. I shared about using good literature to raise strong daughters. I featured heroines that had a lot more backbone and a lot less vampire-obsession than Twilight's Bella Swan … [Read more...]
It’s May! Let’s Celebrate!
It's the month of May when we especially honor Our Lady. And lucky for you, the beautiful book I got to contribute a chapter to, Rosaries Aren't (Just) for Teething, is being released and I have THREE ecopies to giveaway! So enter with the rafflecopter, it's open until Wedneday night at midnight, EST. All ya gotta do is leave a comment and the winners will get a PDF of the book in their … [Read more...]
13 Reasons Why This Is Awesome
*Oops! Looks like you missed the 2015 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle! To find out about future bundles click here. Well, this is it. Less than 24 hours to go. The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle Sale--a library of homemaking resources, ebooks, and ecourses--ends tonight at midnight (Monday, April 27th)! It’s been awesome hearing from readers about how much you … [Read more...]
When You Feel Like You’re Drowning in Survival Mode (And a Library for a Song)
I got married at age 20 the summer before my junior year in college. I accepted a full-time job in publications at the university just before graduation and found out a couple of weeks later that I was pregnant with our first child. Two years later we tacked on a cross country move, a brief stint in grad school, two more babies after increasingly debilitating pregnancies (hyperemesis … [Read more...]
My Reading Goals for 2015
Every year I love creating a reading list for the new year. I'm not by nature a list maker, but book lists are the exception. This year my main goal is to finish two giant classics. This is the THIRD YEAR that Les Mis is on my reading list and, although I'm almost halfway through, I can't believe that it's taken me this long. Anyhow, I'm giving myself several months to read the last 700 pages … [Read more...]
What I Read in 2014
I don't know why I'm so nosy about other people's reads, but...I totally am. And since some of you might be fellow bookshelf snoopers, I thought I'd share the books I read in 2014. In exchange, you have to tell me all about your favorite reads of 2014 in the comments! The one thing I hate about making these lists is that I always feel like I've missed a book....or ten. Non-Fiction I am … [Read more...]
10 Books That Have Stuck With Me
The other day a friend tagged me in a little Facebook literary challenge. You've probably seen it. You write down 10 books that have stuck with you and share then right away. They have to be right off the top of your head. You can't hem and haw and try to pull out the fancy classics you haven't thought of since college. And it was fun! So, I'm sharing my list. Although, I did change one thing … [Read more...]
27 Books for Your Mass Bag (And Tips for Dealing with Little Ones in Mass)
After I posted about how my kids didn't ruin Mass despite their best efforts, I often get emails wondering how we deal with having small children in Mass and what we do to get them to behave. Don't get me wrong. I'm not an expert and oftentimes our two youngest still give us a run for our money on Sunday mornings, but we have learned A LOT over the past five and a half years of parenting in the … [Read more...]
