Your Mama Book Basket!

“Reading just ONE good book can change your LIFE!” 

I JUST HIT 20 BOOKS IN 2020! 😍📚 & want to share some secrets with you! Monday, it was the life changing way of using book baskets for your kids, today something better – your MAMA BOOK BASKET! I discovered this magical practice in the mama blogger world years ago @wellreadmom @annebogel& @jenmackintosh label of making your “mama book basket.” Hooked. 

They’d organize and share their personal reads online, and like @readaloudrevival says, there's power in keeping track. Almost every recommendation I've loved came from an online recommendation! I started using a Microsoft word document, sorting favorite categories, & watched my average grow to 20-30 books a year! Tracking has allowed me to quickly recommend and reference something to others. *my reading lists linked on the blog!

Tips for #yourmamabasket: 

1. Start small. “Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book!” Saint John Bosco 

2. Claim your mama basket spot. Your bedside table, living room coffee chair, kitchen counter. One predictable place you keep your current read, stack or mama basket.

3. Find your reading tribe. Follow similar tastes or topics you love, @goodreads 

4. Don’t compare. Your pace is your pace. One book a year, a month, a week matters less than how that one book has touched your soul. Remember no one is doing it all - I’d rather read than cook dinner, and I’m not currently working outside the home. 

5. Keep track. It empowers and encourages the habit. Allows you to more easily reference and recommend to others. You’ll watch your 2 books a year turn into 20 ;) 

6. Use social to share! Sharing your reads online allows you to connect with like-minded readers, get new recommendations, and pass on inspiring reads to others! *this comes in seasons - I was in a season of watching for years, before I felt comfortable sharing, wait for the timing that works for you 😘

How do you keep track of your personal reading? Who do you love to follow? What's your favorite read from this summer or 2020 year so far?? 

#yourmamabasket
#favorite2020read 
#shareyourbooklist

2020 Book-List 

1. January – Take Back Your Time by Morgan Tyree 

2. February – Caught up in a Story by Sarah Clarkson 

3. February – Make your Bed by William H McRaven 

4. February – The Ministry of Ordinary Places by Shannan Martin 

5. March – The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith 

6. March - The Anti-Mary Exposed by Carrie Gress 

7.  March - The Way, Furrow, The Forge by St. JoseMaria Escriva 

8. March - A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille 

9. June – Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman 

10. June – Mothers and Sons: The Respect Effect by Emerson Eggerichs 

11. June – The Book of Wisdom & Book of Proverbs

12. June – Grace & Gifted by Kimberly Hahn

13. June – Kind is the New Classy by Candace Cameron Bure 

14. July - Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg 

15. July – Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo 

16. July – Present over Perfect 

17.  July – The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen 

18.  August – Own Your Everyday by Jordan Lee Dooley 

19.  August – In Praise of Stay at Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger 

20.  August – Tribes by Seth Godin 

In Joy,

Alex