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How to Find Good Books


Every month I do a post about books, books I've read, books I recommend, non-fiction, novels, adults books, children books, pictures books... how do I know which books are the good books? How do I always have so many good options? I'll tell you...

Book Lists 

The number one way to find a good book is to have a friend with similar values and taste to reccomnd a book to you, the second best way is to find a book list compiled by someone with similar values and taste. 

1) Read-Aloud Revival with Sarah Mackenzie 
Sarah Mackenzie is becoming a leader in books. She has an amazing blog, podcast, and community. I highly recommend listening to all of her past podcasts. You will get to here so many tips and ideas about reading with your kids, you will hear interviews with authors and book lovers, and you will get a ton of book recommendations. You can also send your e-mail address to receive FREE access to her very, very large online book list. 
If you do all of that and still haven't gotten enough of her, you can sign up for premium membership and become a part of a vivacious, book loving community. You will get to be apart of LIVE Master classes, LIVE author events, book clubs, chat in the forum, and of course there is a ton in the archives of membership as well. Hours and hours of information. 

2) The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
Sarah just released her new book, "The Read-Aloud Family" which is full of great information, but also has a book list of over 400 books broken down by age. So if you need a hardcopy booklist, this is a great one.


3) The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease 
This book is study upon study of why reading with your children is the very best thing you can do for them. The research is astounding, and the fact that it's from the 90's and we still aren't doing it is even more astounding. Just under half of the book is a booklist broken down by age. Another great way to get a hardcopy list of excellent books to read.

4) Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt
If you've ever heard of a book list in a book, this is probably the one you've heard of. It's an old standby and full of great recommendations.


5) Sonlight Magazine by Sonlight Curriculum 
The last and most recent book list I've found is large booklist organized by grade in Sonlight's curriculum catalog. You can go to there website here and request a FREE catalog. 



A great place to shop for some of the older books mentioned here or any books you read and fall in love with is Thriftbooks.com  You can get free shipping after $10, After you spend $50 you get $5 for free next time you purchase. Many books are only three and four dollars. 

What are some great books you've found recently? 

Sarah 

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