Reflections, Myths, Tips and Tricks for Re-reading . . . and why you should do it this year!

Given that not a lot of people read quantities of books per year, period, why am I making the case for re-reading? Especially to you, dear reader, whose to-be-read pile of books you haven't read yet is probably around 20-100 titles?

During the first few months of 2023, when I'm indoors and at home more, I figured it would be a great time to revisit some books that have been helpful to me over the years. As you've been seeing from my reading list posts from 2021 and 2022, I've biased myself towards books that are new to me. Not necessarily recently published, but plenty that I haven't read before and some that I don't care to read again.

Why Me?

Why am I setting this goal of specifically re-reading a few books first? There are a couple of reasons:

1. People change and grow as they work through life. I am no exception, and I'm interested to see how my thoughts and emotions react to a book years after the first read.
2. The mind forgets things if not regularly reinforced and tested. This is a pretty basic concept in neuroscience, psychology, and many other fields. I don't want to forget the best stuff.
3. I feel less guilty about the vast areas in our home library that I haven't read, once I can pinpoint on the shelves books that I'm familiar with. (Side note: of the 1000+ books we own, I brought in maybe a quarter of them to the marriage. Someone in the family is a librarian familiar with all the titles, and it isn't me.)

However, I'm only one person, with one person's opinion. Why should you think about rereading this year? According to Alison Doherty and Basmo, there are several strong reasons to selectively re-read some books, at certain times.

Why and How Should You (Not) Reread?

Benefits of rereading books include better reading fluency applicable to other material, deepening our understanding of the original material, improving our memory for the material (I'm looking at you, students), rekindling our love for reading after a dry season (I'm looking at you, self), and giving ourselves comfortable feelings.

There are a few drawbacks to rereading as well. When I was reading these in the Basmo article, these helped me formulate the how of rereading so that it wouldn't set me back in my reading and knowledge goals that are always burning in the back of my mind.

The first drawback is the time spent rereading. This cannot be spent reading something new at the same time. Therefore, I would spread out and punctuate my new reads with rereads. (While I'm rereading the 5 in my list below one right after the other, I am simultaneously working through some new books like The Robe.)

Second, excessive rereading means that all the new books on the shelf stay there. While they're pretty, that makes me sad. I'm using the same strategy, being selective about what I want to reread, and keeping that ratio rather low, to avoid this pitfall.

Third, people change over time, and thus might not enjoy a reread that they enjoyed the first time, whether for knowing what will happen (and not being surprised), being distracted by children and work in a later stage of life, or something else.

Given those pros and cons, Basmo recommends a five-part strategy for how to reread:

• Choose high-worth books, not just the easy ones.
• Allow yourself to skip very familiar passages.
• Slow down and ponder the details.
• Analyze the particulars of the language the author used.
• Keep track of what you read and reread.

What Should I Reread?

What am I rereading for the year? At this point, here's my short list, with reasons for each:

1. Holy Bible (New King James Version). I am a Christian, and have read the Bible roughly once per year since 7th grade. I see no reason to stop. 😊
2. Structure of Scientific Revolutions (T. S. Kuhn). The first time I read this book--in the previous edition (there are 6!), it was required for a class. That was approximately 5 years, one marriage, two job changes, and one baby ago. Because of the philosophy-related reading over the last few years, plus more research experience, I wanted to see the book with fresh eyes. Hopefully I'll finish it this week. The first time around, I found using an outline really helpful. 
3. Mama Bear Apologetics (H. Ferrer). As this one was a lot newer, I first read this on the recommendation of a few friends. In the intervening time, reading Carl Trueman brought history and apologetics together in a much sharper light and broader perspective. I want to see how Ferrer's book compares, given it was written for a similar audience.
4. The Charlotte Mason Companion (K. Andreola). I can't remember how old I was when I first read this book, but the bottom line is that my education was a hybrid of Mason's principles and a classical model. Now that I have a little pre-student of my own, it's high time to reevaluate and formulate my educational philosophy.
5. Wheelock's Latin (F. Wheelock). I think I went through the 6th edition of this around when I read the previous book on this list. Not to be outdone by my husband who is reviewing his Greek and learning Hebrew, I need to refresh my language skills.
6. Update 1/31/23: I usually don't count audiobooks in my reading or re-reading. However, Husband and I are far enough through Out of the Silent Planet (C. S. Lewis) that I'm going to count it. Technically, the only book of the Space Trilogy I've read before is Perelandra. More to come . . .

 

Beyond my picks, here are the top 10 classics that Goodreads recommends for re-reading.

1. Pride and Prejudice (J. Austen). I read this back in college on the recommendation of a strong Jane Austen fan, can't recall liking it very much, but have been assured that it is worth re-reading for the veiled sarcasm alone. Adding it to the list . . .
2. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald). I haven't read this, period. Oops!
3. 1984 (G. Orwell). I've read this twice, I think. Scary dystopian novel. Done!
4. Jane Eyre (C. Brontë). I can't remember whether I've read this, which probably means I haven't. 2 for 2 so far.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird (H. Lee). Haven't read this either, but based on what I've read about it, I probably should before my little reaches high-school age.
6. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger). Haven't read this one. My batting average is down to 0.33.
7. Sense and Sensibility (J. Austen). I may have read this, but can't remember.
8. Wuthering Heights (E. Brontë). I did read this one once, and somewhat enjoyed it. Given that Jane Austen has 3 books in the top 10 list, I should probably prioritize her instead.
9. Brave New World (A. Huxley). I've read this once, as an adolescent. Quite scary. Maybe again later.
10. Emma (J. Austen). Since I felt I had done my duty by reading Pride and Prejudice, I know I didn't read this one ever.

Conclusion

Re-reading a book every once in a while, even with a long to-read list, is a good thing to do. I've prioritized five somewhat-related re-reads for early this year. How about you?

Audiobooks: Fitting Reading In the Crevices

Can audiobooks legitimately be used to help a busy mom who wants to read physical books, actually read books? Come along with me on a short journey to discover some answers!

This post is somewhat outside my comfort zone and expertise to write, since I strongly prefer physical books. I've been easily distracted by auditory input for most of my life, and have difficulty understanding and paying attention to a speaker unless I'm taking notes or performing an activity directly related to what is being said. However, my husband is a big fan of audiobooks to supplement his reading habit.

Have you met a bibliovore before? Now you know someone who's married to one! 😆

What is an audiobook?

Taking the word apart, an audiobook is a voice-recorded version of a book. In the days when most of my (intended) readers were children, audiobooks were on cassette tapes and, later, CDs. Now, they're accessed through apps, so not in physical media. Maybe sometime I'll post about the human attention span related to the advancement of technology...

Can you listen to audiobooks for free?

Short answer: It depends on where you look.

Long answer (mostly from Bookriot): there are at least 6 paid and 8 free options, depending on the features you would like associated with your audiobook habit. All but one of these are associated with apps or other internet sources.

Where to get audiobooks I have to pay for

1. Kindle app. This is a service through Amazon (separate from Prime) and costs $10/month in the US. This one is popular because it is both flexible and comprehensive. You can have 10 books of your choice in the app at any one time. Some book options you can get through Kindle are . . .
2. Audible app. This is an audiobook-specific service through Amazon and costs $8/month up to $150/year. Recent changes for the better include an upgrade for every plan from 1 "free" (i.e., included) book/month to constant access to a discounted library of thousands of books. More expensive plans do include the "free" books that aren't really free. 
3. Scribd. I hadn't known before that this was the first site devoted to online publishing (2007); audiobooks were added in 2014. For the entire platform--including journals, sheet music, and other materials conducive to learning--the monthly cost is $9. While audio quality and overall quantity of written material are less than Audible, it's overall a better deal for most users.
4. Libro.fm app. This was founded to help brick-and-mortar bookstores compete with Amazon. In its business model, the subscription cost pays partly for the audiobook and partly for a donation to a bookstore of your choice. The account itself is free; you pay monthly ($15) or individually.
5. Kobo app. This service costs $10/month for access to one audiobook; additional books cost roughly that much extra (1 book per credit per $10).
6. Downpour app. This has a smaller library than Audible (as do most of the non-Audible services listed in this post) but is also cheaper at $13/month. Its biggest draw for me is the ability to listen to books later or earlier in the year, depending on busy seasons of life (e.g., academic semesters for a professor).

Where to get audiobooks I don't have to pay for

1. Libby app. This is a part of Overdrive, which is being phased out over the next few months. Libraries pay for actual borrowing of audiobooks or ebooks. If your library uses this service, you can have access to their audiobooks. You can use both Android and Apple products (iPhone/iPad) with Libby. (Thank you, Beth, for updating my knowledge about Libby and Overdrive!)
2. Hoopla app. This is another library lending service, allowing you to "check out" a finite number of audiobooks/ebooks/other digital media per month.
3. Librivox app. This is quite distinctive in that it uses volunteer readers to record chapters of public-domain audiobooks. Given that copyright generally extends to 70-ish years past the death of the author, I am quite curious to see the library of available titles.
4. Nook app. This allows you to read or listen to books specifically from Barnes & Noble.
5. iTunes and Google Play. These are free, but you pay for audiobooks within each app that you want to listen to.
6. Library! 'Nuff said.

What are the pros and cons of audiobooks?

I asked three of my audiobook-aficionado friends to gain insight on this question. Admittedly, I prefer making rubrics, or lists with point values, but for a blog post a paragraph form makes more sense.

One pro of audiobooks is that it allows the ability to multitask. It feels very satisfying to plow through (recorded) pages of a book at the same time as one is completing chores or exercising. (Clinical side note: I don't recommend trying to complete a more cognitively demanding task while listening to an audiobook, because there is a lot of research showing that this type of multitasking, particularly using multiple sources of media at once, is basically just switching attention back and forth repeatedly, costing your brain precious energy and making you less efficient at each task you're trying to do.)

Another pro is that the accent of a good reader can bring a story alive. One of my books-in-progress is a set of reflections on the use of the Charlotte Mason method. A central component of this educational method is the use of narration of "living" books--that is, books with realistic vocabulary, sentence structure, illustrations (if applicable), and a personal interest of the sole author in the subject matter. As an example, if you're learning about a 19th-century Scottish perspective on 12th-century British culture, an audiobook such as Ivanhoe read by someone with a true-to-life Scottish accent (who knows how to pronounce names and places) can put your imagination into the setting of the story.

A third pro, for some, is the ability to progress faster through books, period. The child of someone I know doubled her reading pages by listening to an audiobook on double speed while reading along with the same book. My husband uses this technique for easier books to maintain attention for longer reading sessions. Listening only to the book on 2x speed--although this matches my actual reading speed pretty closely--drives me slightly batty, but it might work for you.

Now for the cons. One is a corollary of the second "pro" above: when unfamiliar names of places or people don't make sense when one is listening to the audiobook, one needs to get the physical book from the library. Sometimes, too, I've heard a word pronounced for the first time on audiobook, and it takes me a while to understand what it's referring to--in cases of words that I've seen only in print and developed my own internal pronunciation for.

Another con is the cost. While the slight majority of audiobook options above are free, the higher-quality recordings with more features (like saving progress for a mom of a little who can listen to 3-5 minutes at a time, if that) generally come at a cost. I'm cheap, so anything I purchase needs to be an investment, in my head at least.

Finally, learning preferences can make a difference. Despite what you may read elsewhere, the educational literature has debunked the popular conception of "I learn best in my primary learning style" like auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. That said, using a mix of content delivery modes does make for more effective learning. Simply hearing something on audiobook doesn't guarantee retention even for someone whose preferred style is auditory. Seeing the text as well as hearing it helps things stick.

My final decision

Those of you who know me in person will not be terribly surprised at my twofold decision:

1. Keep physical books as my primary go-to and accept the consequent slowness of my reading progress compared to what I'd like it to be.
2. Sign up to be a LibriVox reader so I can expose myself and others to public-domain books!

All told, however, working on this post has helped me become much more aware of the audiobook options out there. Have you learned something new today? Are you still firmly in the "audiobooks rock!" or "never-audiobooks" camp? Let me know in the comments!

TBR Lists and the To-Do List: Why I Don't Have a TBR List This Year (Again) and Why

In the spirit of this month's blogging theme of Obstacles to Reading, this week I'd like to talk about the TBR list, or the "to-be read" list or stack of books, specifically as it relates to the never-ending to-do list. If you've read The Renaissance Biologist for any length of time, you've probably figured out that I love lists.

Let me start out with a disclaimer: while I am extremely goal-oriented, I am not a New Year's resolution person. Since right around this time, or sometime in the next few weeks, is when most people who make a resolution will fall off that train, I want to ask: is a TBR list worth it?

And a second disclaimer: I don't have a TBR list this year. I also didn't have one last year, or the year before. I do have an ever-fluctuating TBR shelf, but that does not include all the (dozens now) titles that my husband has suggested I might enjoy. It's certainly not a static entity, so according to some sources the shelf doesn't quite count as a TBR. Basmo defines a TBR list or stack as a set of titles that the reader intends to read through in a certain time frame. Contrariwise, I get through what I get through when I get through it.

Disclaimers aside, a TBR list, well-designed and followed, can be an excellent tool to increase your reading if that's a goal for you. Let's dive in to an analysis of the anatomy of a good TBR!

What Does a Great TBR List Look Like?

First, it's written down somewhere you'll see it frequently. For some people, that means a Post-It on the side of one's work desk. For others, it's a note in one's phone, or a spreadsheet. For me, if I were to make a TBR, it would be a bulleted list in the back of my paper planner. It's incredibly satisfying to physically cross off or check off titles as I complete them.

Second, it's curated for you. This means that you should be reasonably sure that you can and want to finish each book on it. Don't read something just because Five or More Friends recommended it to you. Full disclosure: All members of my household are bibliovores . . . so we don't follow this recommendation very faithfully.

Third, it's a just-right length. This means that you have a decent idea of how fast each book can/should be read, by you, at this time in your life; how much time you will realistically have each day or week to read with the attention each book deserves; and how sad you will be if for whatever reason you can't or don't finish a book. It's okay to have a DNF (did not finish) list too--especially if the book turns out not useful, too hard, or spiritually harmful.

For the math folks: Speed of Reading (pages/minute) x Time per Week (minutes/week) x 1/Length (1/how many pages in the book) = Books per Week. This may be a decimal. That's okay!

Fourth (in my unsubstantiated opinion), it's something you're flexibly committed to. This is based on my experience in goal-setting, including helping myself and various other people set and reach realistic short- and long-term goals.

What Does a Sub-par TBR List Look Like?

Based on my experience with goal-setting for self, students, and patients, a sub-par TBR list is one with at least one feature that will decrease your chances of successfully completing it.

For the items in the previous section, a sub-par list is one or more of: unwritten, unselective, too long, too short, or unrealistic.

A very common way of defining "good" goals is the acronym SMART. While physical therapist Christina Swann (2021) argues that this has been overused in the context of health care providers negotiating treatment goals with their patients, it's still helpful. The acronym, which originated in a 1981 business publication, stands for:

• Specific - for many people, writing down a specific task lets them know when it's done.
• Measurable - related to the above.
• Achievable/Assignable - you know who will be working on the goal (you)
• Realistic - essentially the same as achievable
• Timebound - depending on how well time pressure works for you, this might be an incentive to not let the work expand to fill the available time (Parkinson's Law).

In researching for this post, I dove down a small rabbit hole into goal-setting theory as something more evidence-based than SMART. If you're curious, the essentials of this theory that relate to list and goal completion include the following:

• Set a reasonably specific, somewhat challenging goal for yourself
• Be clear enough to know when you have achieved your goal (SMART is one way to do so)
• For team goals, make sure that everyone understands the "why" and is bought in
• Give yourself feedback (by reflection) and/or solicit it periodically from others
• Break down large, complex goals into smaller, simpler steps

What Reading Speeds are Best for a TBR? (i.e., what are the fastest and slowest reading strategies, and why should you choose them?)

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'm the daughter of a retired reading specialist. So, in the back of my mind, the emphasis in reading is in the balance of quality and quantity. As such, there are a range of reading techniques for various reading speeds that you can choose, based on what you're reading and what your goals are for that reading. If you're familiar with what you're reading, you will understand it no matter how quickly you read.

Fastest Reading Speed

The brain can develop thoughts at up to 3,000 words per minute (wpm). However, around 500 wpm is considered the upper limit for retaining some understanding of what you're reading. By training, I am a physical therapist specializing in geriatrics. So, for almost anything related to that (my area of expertise), I can use a very fast speed to scan, say, a journal article in 1-5 minutes, while remembering the main points and following the argument. I do this by eliminating subvocalization (saying words aloud in my head) and deliberately scanning down a narrow column rather than letting my eyes move from left to right for every single row of text. This speed is also useful if I'm looking through a text for a particular point.

Moderate Reading Speed

This speed is around 250-500 wpm, for material that is a little less familiar or a little more complex. Most reading adults hover around 200-250 wpm, while college students in the thick of assignments can consistently read around 300 wpm. The more difficult a text, the higher the likelihood that I'll need to reread at least part of it. Notably, I can't keep up this speed in a nonfiction book I care about remembering if Baby is needing a portion of my attention. One tip that several friends have recommended to maintain the faster end of this speed while sustaining attention is to play an audiobook at 2x speed while following along in a print or Kindle version of the book.

Slowest Reading Speed

This speed is less than 250 wpm (most people speak around 160 wpm). Reading aloud accomplishes the slowing down of one's speed. I use this speed for very difficult or unfamiliar material such as philosophy. To help myself pay attention because I don't normally like to slow down, I may choose to read aloud, copy text, or take notes to maintain this speed.

Finally . . .

How to Hack Your TBR

I started out this post referencing the To-Do List. How do you get through both the To-Do and the TBR? And stay sane while doing so? I have a few strategies from personal experience for both neurotypical and neurodivergent (specifically folks I know with ADD/ADHD). One tip for the To-Do list that I recently adopted is from this video from the Minimal Mom: prioritize the top 3 items per day, and do those. Since doing that, I have felt more mental space for both the to-do tasks and the reading.

Neurotypical Tips

These are from Bona Fide Bookworm, with my commentary.

• Make sure your home library is organized.
• Eliminate books that have been on your TBR an uncomfortably long time (recording when you added each book to the TBR if possible).
• Reevaluate each book that you're undecided on. Consider a rubric that assigns point values for each given attribute that's important to you.
• Be very selective about adding new books to the list. I've said it before, but it bears repeating.
• Have several books, from varied genres, in progress at any given time. My reading productivity and enjoyment skyrocketed as soon as I allowed myself to do this. That way, there's always something readable, no matter what my mood.
• Consider audiobooks too. I haven't counted audio-only books in my book completion lists over the last few years, mostly because I don't end up listening to a book in its entirety. A big part of that is my inability to focus on work with an audiobook on (or even really interesting music), so I don't foresee that changing with my current career. But if it works for you, use it!

Neurodivergent Tips

Most of these from this article are geared at children. Adult ADHD looks different, regardless of how old you were when you were diagnosed. Notice the amount of overlap with the tips in the previous subsection:

• Get in a small group of people who are reading at the same time (assuming they all prioritize reading over socializing at that time).
• Minimize environmental distractions in terms of noise, visible objects, availability of screens, etc.
• Consider judicious marking of the book while reading (e.g., sticky notes, underlining). Do not use if you are like one member of my family who gets distracted by non-text marks when reading! If you're not a book marker, take notes on a separate sheet of paper or notebook.
• Ask questions (e.g. the SQ3R method)
• Channel the excess energy and inattention by reading aloud, walking around, reading along with a faster-paced audiobook, and read during times when you have decent energy levels.

I hope this post has given you some actionable tips for your TBR and possibly your to-do list. Enjoy the reading year this year!

Reading with Babies . . . and More?

Whether you've had (a) child(ren) of your own or not, if you're reading this post chances are you want to spend more time reading, good books specifically. In this post, I hope to answer some of the most common questions, and a few uncommon ones, about reading + children.

As you may know, I had a baby in 2022. That changed a few things! Parenthood is still very much a work in process, but here is what I've learned from the experience of myself and others.

What are Benefits of Reading to my Baby? (Why do it at all?)

As the saying goes, you can't pour from an empty cup. So, if you have a newborn and are therefore suddenly deprived of unbroken sleep, the use of your second hand (except if baby wearing), and periods of silence for concentration, you need to benefit from what you are doing for your baby in order to be a better parent!

My husband and I have seen three benefits for ourselves, before and after our baby was born.

First, up to a certain age, babies genuinely don't care what reading material you pick. So, until your child is old enough to bring you a book and strongly request you to read it for the 17th time, you are (mostly) free to choose what interests you, or what you need to read anyway.

Second, you hone your ability to speak dramatically and clearly. This is sure to come in handy by the time your child(ren) is/are theater-aged!

Third, if you want to see how your baby will react to different accents or languages, infancy is a great time to practice your pronunciation of German, Greek, or Middle English. A friend of mine visited his goddaughter when she was 6 months old, and got a confused expression from her upon reading aloud a few paragraphs of Chaucer.

Research and experience show benefits for the babies as well (link here). Related to language, a child's language skills are strongly correlated with exposure in earlier life to spoken language. Specific language skills and elements that a baby learns from being read aloud to include: telling different sounds apart, hearing complex vocabulary, varying sentence structure and cadence, and rhyming. Additionally, reading aloud models standard and non-standard communication elements like turn-taking, gesturing, and intonation.

Babies gain non-language benefits from read-aloud too. They bond emotionally with whomever is speaking to them. One interesting other benefit I recently learned about is that attention span progressively improves as well, which is a prerequisite for building other habits (think Charlotte Mason). The rule of thumb is 2-3 minutes (some sources say up to 5) per year of the child's life, of focused attention.

When Should I Start Reading to my Baby?

Like many parents-to-be, I started talking to and reading to my baby before birth. It helped me bond mentally and emotionally, and familiarize my baby with the sound of my voice. After the birth, I would read aloud when baby was awake, and silently during naps. Due to our family work schedules and fatigue, I unfortunately lost consistency in this habit until baby was 6-8 months old (and started to show interest in books).

At this point, it was a mix of high-quality (read: interesting to adults!) board books and whatever I happened to be reading from my own list. More on those books below. Many good-quality research studies (summarized here) support reading out loud to one's children from birth.

How Can I Read After I Have a Baby?

How can you ensure you read for your own edification after the baby is born? I take these ten points of inspiration from Jocko Willink's podcast on the similar topic of keeping up workouts with a newborn:

1. Make it happen whenever you can. I am a creature of habit, but this has become a necessity. So many things I thought I could only accomplish at set times of day or on set days of the week, have been pushed into the crevices of time in a newborn's and now almost-toddler's routine.
2. Abandon thoughts of a set schedule. Same reaction as to the point above. This is harder for some than for others, and I credit my ability to follow this tip to mom brain.
3. Make sure you take the time to sleep and do other necessary life-sustaining things, too. I'm always eating, and will not refuse a nap when the opportunity presents itself!
4. Set up some home spaces with ready reading material. This ensures that you can make progress even if the baby has fallen asleep on your lap, in any chair in the house. It happens.
5. Squeeze in brief periods throughout the day. These can also occur at night, especially in the newborn phase with a first child when you can take naps in daytime to compensate for nighttime sleep interruptions.
6. While your children and family are first priority - and while life with children is (I think) better than life without - you have to stay healthy (mens sana in corpore sano) for them. By reading when they are very young and beyond, you provide intellectual food for them and set a positive example.
7. Accept that you won't be in the best shape of your life. This is actually reversed for some people I know . . . as a case in point, my husband's reading frequency skyrocketed with baby.
8. Tackle the priority of the moment at any given time (sleeping, eating, etc.). This means reading will fall by the wayside during some periods, especially when all the baby does is feed, poop, and cry.
9. Something is better than nothing. Every little bit adds up!
10. Lack of reading makes a habitual reader irritable. Your spouse will tell you to get back to that habit so you're more pleasant to be around. So true!

What Should I Read After I Have a Baby?

Very short answer: whatever you can!

My longer, subdivided answer, has Parent picks and Baby picks. My favorite books for myself after baby arrived were nonfiction related to my current pursuits (Anglicanism, homeschooling, and whatever philosophy I can understand without too much specialized vocabulary). Fiction picks have come from a box of Reader's Digest editions, so far, of 1700s-1900s novels, for when my brain can't handle nonfiction.

Baby picks have gotten to be more fun as the little one has gotten more interested in books. The picture below showcases the Christmas bookshelf, omitting some more fun titles (Veggie Tales devotionals, Quantum Physics for Babies, and Experimenting With Babies) that are nearer to the nursery. The overall principle is to follow Baby's visual and auditory development. So, the very first books will be high-contrast with black-and-white illustrations, particularly faces.

Here's what is featured in the picture below, left to right (most links are to Amazon or Concordia Publishing House):

• Spiro & Chan's Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering, Coding, Gravity, and Thermodynamics!
• Luther & Lukasek's Lord, Keep us Steadfast in Your Word
• Touch and Feel Baby Animals
• Babies in the Forest
• von Hayn & Klages' I am Jesus' Little Lamb
• Rische & Mayer's God Loves Me Dearly
• CPH boxed set of My Gifts from God (opposite, animals, colors, and sounds)
• Boynton's Blue Hat, Green Hat
• C. R. Gibson's Baby Jesus
• McBratney & Jeram's Guess How Much I Love You
• Boynton's Barnyard Dance!
• McMullan & McPhail's If You Were My Bunny
• Stohs' Hush, Little One
• Temple & Braun's God Bless You, Little One

Once we officially have a toddler on our hands, I look forward to revisiting some of my own childhood favorites:

• Berenstain Bears
• Boxcar Children
• Nancy Drew
• Chronicles of Narnia

I hope you enjoyed this post, for yourself, your child(ren), or friends with children. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

2023 Year in Preview: What to Expect Each Month

Welcome back, readers and writers-about-reading! In the spirit of setting goals for the new year, I intend to post every week to this blog, with quality content you can look forward to and gain inspiration from. Here's a sneak peek at what is coming up in 2023 . . .

👉 January - barriers to goals

💗 February - love(s)

💪 March - spring cleaning and self-improvement

🙏 April - Easter and other theology

👋 May - graduation and transitions

😎 June - the greater and lesser outdoors

🏰 July - history and politics

📓 August - more and less academic picks

🎃 September - autumn comfort

💧 October - options for drearier weather

🎄 November - holiday fiction and nonfiction

👈 December - year in review

Happy reading!