Bookhousereads – Reviews
This House is Built on Books
Welcome to the corner where I share the latest books I’ve been reading.
Here you will find reviews of the books I gave three stars or more. A three-star review is a solid book I could recommend without reservations. I like a challenging reading level, so a three-star rating is a great YA novel or perfect for a new adult reader. Four stars are for books that I personally loved, maybe it was the genre or the setting, but it hit me right. If you see a five-star rating, it is because I think everyone should read this book, and if you did, I want to talk about it with you. Send me your favorite quotes, tell me who you loved and hated!
I want to help you get a great reading habit started! We can all use some help finding a few good books.
The truth is, I never loved reading as a kid. Being dyslexic and painfully shy made reading out loud a study in counting paragraphs and managing anxiety. It wasn’t until adulthood that I found a taste for reading. A teenager from our church knew I was home with the kids a lot. He would fill a sack of library discards and, probably, his own stash, and send them home with me on Sunday afternoons.
I was hooked from the first bag. I read every night after the kids went to sleep. I could consume a mass market book in one sitting, but Pillars of the Earth took me a week! Now, I drive a delivery route and LOVE audiobooks, but my book stack is still pretty tall.
I read about 100 books a year and discovered that I don’t have a type; they just need to be good.
To help our children love reading, I read for like a million hours! Nap time, bedtime books, and picture books in the afternoon. By the time we started homeschooling, I knew I wanted credit for doing exactly what we were already doing – reading as a family. We found a literature-based curriculum, and #thebookhouse was born. Now, we have over 150 feet of shelved books, curated over the last 25 years.
My two greatest pieces of advice for parents:
- Read as much as possible to your children for as long as you can. Help them LOVE books.
- Become a reader yourself. Let them see you actively maintain the reading habit.
Now, most of our kids are adults. I love reading their book recommendations and sharing my own. I read a broad spectrum of books. I love character-driven stories, fiction, historical fiction, philosophy, history, business, and self-help, too! I recommend good books, fun books, deeply wounding books, challenging topics, soul-searching books, and everything in between.
