A Booklist for Mama

Here at Read-Aloud Revival, we focus on helping our kids fall in love with reading… but what about our own reading life?

Too often, we let ourselves slide into a habit of not reading.

Maybe we feel it’s selfish to indulge ourselves in a good novel… or maybe we just really find it difficult (impossible!) to find the time.

Reading for the joy of it

But that’s just it, isn’t it? Our kids need to see us reading.

If we want our kids to love reading, after all, they’ve got to see us doing exactly that. Otherwise it’s all lip service.

This is your permission slip, then, to make your own reading a priority. Do it for pleasure. Do it for relaxation. Do it because reading makes us healthy, happy, and whole.

In fact, according to a study conducted by the University of Sussex, those who read for a measly six minutes exhibited:

• slower heart rates
• less muscle tension
• reduced stress levels

And what mama doesn’t need a little more of that in her life?

A booklist for Mama

Need some recommendations for what to read? I thought you’d never ask. 😉

I’ve assembled some of my own very favorite reads into several booklists for you. Click the categories below to see them.

Important note: these are books I’ve enjoyed myself (not that I’ve shared with my kids), so they aren’t all suitable for kids. Read the descriptions provided to see if I recommend each title for teens. (If you don’t see the descriptions, click on the book cover.)

Struggling to find time to read?

If you can’t find enough time to read, I suggest choosing a time of day where you assign yourself the task of reading for 15 minutes. Let’s say you choose after lunch, around 1pm.

Let your kids know that 1pm is time to D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read!). Everybody gets a book. Pre-readers can flip through picture books or listen to an audiobook (it counts!) while playing with legos or coloring at the table.

Here’s the kicker:

You read during this 15 minutes, as well.

In fact, you aren’t allowed to do anything else until those 15 minutes are up. Not the dishes. Not moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Not anything at all.

15 minutes. First.

You may be surprised at how this simple practice can ramp up your reading life. The more you read, the easier it is to find time to make more time for reading. It’s a happy little cycle that feeds itself.

And don’t worry if you’ve fallen out of the reading habit and have trouble concentrating on long-form narrative. There’s nothing wrong with you! It happens.

Just stick to reading for 15 minutes each day, and that attention span will strengthen once again.

More tips for finding time to read

If you’d like more ideas for finding time to read as a busy mom, listen to Episode 70 of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast.

And hop on this email list, while you’re at it. I’ll keep that booklist for mama up to date with the best books as I find new ones to share: