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I thought it might be sort of interesting to share some of the books that I’ve enjoyed reading over the past decade. I restrained myself from sharing about homeschooling or parenting related books, in the hopes of encouraging other parents to read beyond those genres, eventhough those I consume a much larger volume of those kinds of books. I did read some other books that I have chosen to exclude from this list because they weren’t particularly interesting or I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them.
In light of everything else that I have going on, which includes: homeschooling 5 children, volunteering on a homeschool legal team, working various blawging jobs professionally, and everything else that comes with running a household and raising children as well as trying to actually have other hobbies, I have set a personal goal of reading 10-12 books each year.
When I had babies, I did not set goals for reading books, as I didn’t think it was fair to put excessive expectations on myself. However, I was able to fit books in during particularly intensive times– such as listening to The Fountainhead on my headphones each night while trying to get my 5th child to sleep– and I would recommend this kind of creative problem solving as a way to find workarounds and read more non-parenting books (to the extent that it’s feasible in your situation).
It feels quite silly to fess up to having read some of these books (cough Twilight series cough), but I can’t tell you how glad I am to have read them (as well as the dystopian serieses) ahead of having a teenage girl! It has made the task of determining what is age appropriate & when much simpler to figure out.
I hope you enjoy my list, and feel free to drop your favorite books from the past 10 years in the comments, I’d love to see them!
2010
no books recorded.
graduated from law school, took & passed Bar Exam, relocated.
2013
The Giver Series (The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, Son)
The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family
2017
Back from the Land: How Young Americans Went to Nature in the 1970s, and Why They Came Back
(I read a LOT of parenting/education related books this year!)
2018
The Fountainhead (audio version, narrated by Christopher Hurt, 32 hours)
(more parenting/education books)
2019
Present over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living (started in 2017)
26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis– and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance (started in 2017)
The Millionaire Next Door (+ 4 related, finance titles)
(several new homeschooling books)
2020
Born to Win Find Your Success Code
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (started in 2014, yikes!)
My Beloved World (started in 2019)
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism (started in 2019)
Me & White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become A Good Ancestor
The Decline of the Individual: Reconciling Community with Autonomy (started in 2017, yikes!)
The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (started in 2015!!!! Biggest YIKES!)
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (The Hunger Games book #4; pre-read for kid)
Phew!
One thing you’ll probably notice is that it can take me a long time, or a super short time to finish a book. I usually have 5-10 or so going at the same time, and they get finished in the order of how much time I have and which is the most compelling. I probably have at least 20 titles that I am currently working through, but nothing is particularly holding my attention. I have begun a practice of promising to lend a book to a friend as soon as I finish is as one strategy to get me to actually do it!
I have purchased, and been gifted, several more anti-racism titles that I hope to get to soon. I also have several Early Childhood Education textbooks that I purchased in anticipation of courses that I ended up dropping, so I am hoping to be able to work through those at some point as well. In addition to that, I’m just over here trying to keep my mind sharp and learn new things written by other people.
I hope you enjoyed this list!