Best Books of 2024: 8 Great Reads for Homeschool Moms
This post shares 8 fantastic books that I read in 2024 – books that would be great for any parent, or anyone who has children in their life and loves to read. Book recommendations for homeschool moms!
One of my favorite January routines is to sit down with my planner from the previous year and count up all of the books that I read. It’s not so much the number that is meaningful (34 total for 2024, if you’re wondering), but the simple fact that each title brings back memories of stories read and interesting facts or lessons learned.
There was a time not long ago when I would easily read 60-80 books in a year, but this number has steadily dwindled as children grow and life gets busier. However, I firmly believe that even one great book can change your life, and that even just 10 minutes of reading a day can make a large difference in our emotional, spiritual, and intellectual lives.
So, with that thought in mind, I will continue to squeeze reading into the cracks and crevices of my days, and continue to write down the books I read – whether that end-of-year-total be 5 books or 50 books.
Pro tip: if you want to take your reading life one step further and really remember what you read about, take a few minutes to tell someone else what the book was about. Perhaps you could tell your mom, or your best friend who loves to read too, or your husband, or even your kids – but when we do this it forces us to think, recall, organize, and then put into words the main points of the book (or the storyline).
In short, when we do this we are practicing narration, and though it is not always easy, it is a fantastic tool for solidifying the ideas that we learned. Narration is not just for children!
However: I will now climb off my narration soapbox and move on. Here, for your reading inspiration, are my eight favorite books that I read in 2024, in no particular order! Some are non-fiction, some are fiction; some were new to me while others I had read before; some were quite long, and others were fairly short. Each one on this list stands out to me as a favorite that I think any mom would enjoy, and that I hope to re-read sometime in the near future.
8 Best Books of 2024 (from one busy mom to another)
1. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I’ve been on a bit of a Dickens kick for the past few years (ever since I finally grew up enough to understand his humor and enjoy his story-telling) and this one is an old favorite. Another one that’s been on my mind lately that I’m hoping to re-read in 2025 is Hard Times.
2. Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich. I’ve read enough books about the value of outdoor time that I was uncertain whether this book would actually have anything new to contribute to the discussion, but it turns out it did! I loved it, and it encouraged me to be more intentional about what we do with our children’s time each day.
3. Range by David Epstein. On the surface this does not appear to be a parenting or education-related book, but the subtitle – “why generalists triumph in a specialized world” – has everything to do with our education choices. It’s actually an indirect critique on the public school system and our ideas of what it means to be successful in life. It made me re-think my ideas on college and high school, which is well worth doing in the years before we get there!
4. Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge. Another little “kick” I’ve been on for the past year or two has been Goudge; I’ve re-read a few old favorites and also found some new novels to try, and each one has been fantastic. Even though this one is the middle book of a trilogy, I jumped in without reading the first one (after seeing this one recommended by a source I trust) and found that it stands alone quite well.
5. House Rules by Myquillyn Smith. I don’t know about you, but I love the idea of having a cozy and welcoming home. However, I don’t always know exactly how to go about achieving this vision, and hiring an decorator is not exactly a priority in our budget right now. My favorite house-decorating books that have been most helpful have all been by Myquillyn Smith, and this newest one is no exception. She shares decorating “rules” that help you make good decisions, no matter your style or budget!
6. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This book has gotten a lot of press, some good and some bad, but I thought it was well worth reading for any parent or person who spends time with children. It’s just one more stone in the mountain of evidence that technology, as a general rule, is no friend to our children.
7. Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis. I’ve read this one a few times before and it’s turning into one of my favorites by Lewis. If you want to make it even more interesting, read the book of Job right after this (as I happened to do accidentally this year).
8. Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel-Early. This book manages to be wise, humble, and practical all at once – a rare feat! I appreciate his real-life examples and practical ideas, and also his perspective as a dad since it feels like the majority of parenting books are written by women.
There you have it – eight books that I read and loved in 2024! What have you been reading lately? If you have a book recommendation to share, please leave it in the comments!
“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself… Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” – C. S. Lewis
