My Favorites

Yep, I have them. Curious? Keep on reading.

(p.s. - This list is not exhaustive. I’ll keep on adding as I remember stuff + as new good stuff finds its way into my life.)

(p.p.s. - You’re smart and understand how this works… Most of these links are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, making your purchase through them helps support my work. I’ve also done my best to link to indie sellers like Bookshop because I believe it’s a good idea for all of us to not depend so heavily on behemoth monopolies that rhyme with Schmamazon. You do you, though.)

Books About Parenting + Family Life 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

  • The Life-Giving Home, by Sally Clarkson — Pretty much my go-to parenting role model, this book is the most comprehensive of her parenting wisdom.

  • Parenting With Love & Logic, by Foster Cline & Jim Fay — This has been my handbook during the “messy middle” childhood stage.

  • The Tech-Wise Family, by Andy Crouch — Such an important, practical book for our age. An annual re-read for me.

  • Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv — This book was a wake-up call on how much most of our kids suffer from nature deficit disorder.

  • Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne — A classic manifesto for why less is more in parenting.

  • Domestic Monastery, by Ronald Rolheiser — A short book crammed full of encouragement about why what we do in our homes matters for eternity.

  • Feeding the Mouth That Bites You, by Ken Wilgus, Ph.D. — The most practical book I’ve yet read on the challenge of raising adolescents.

Books About Faith 🍷

  • Confessions, by St. Augustine — I never knew a fourth-century memoir about a heathen-turned-bishop would apply so well to my own life, but it does. This new translation is outstanding and easy on our modern minds.

  • The Strangest Way, by Robert Barron — Possibly my favorite living theologian, Bishop Barron spells out the Christian life as a threefold path. His wisdom has changed my trajectory.

  • Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton — His most timeless, comprehensive work about why Christianity not only makes sense in spite of it all, but that orthodoxy is the only satisfying answer to our biggest questions about life. Witty as heck, too.

  • How to Be a Christian, by C.S. Lewis — A great collection of his best writing on the practical wisdom of living life as a Christian.

  • Life of the Beloved, by Henri Nouwen — A simple, short book written to a non-Christian friend about why life with Jesus is the best way to live in the here and now, and not just in eternity.

  • Head here for my recommended books and resources that specifically helped me on my journey to the Catholic Church.

Books About Living Well 💪

  • Atomic Habits, by James Clear — He’s not just a productivity bro on the internet, he has legitimately good ideas and shares them in an accessible, doable way. This has become an annual read for me, especially around the start of a new year.

  • The Simple Path to Wealth, by J.L. Collins — This is the most straightforward how-to book on investing I could possibly recommend, and it goes to show how overly complicated most of us (and money gurus) make this whole thing.

  • I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening), by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers — These ladies are real-life examples of how you can disagree politically and remain good friends, even while arguing well and with good intentions. A must-read for our times.

  • Essentialism, by Greg McKeown — This small book was ahead of its time when it challenged us to realize 99% of what we do doesn’t matter (in a good way). Reading this book the first time changed how I worked.

  • Deep Work, by Cal Newport — This book also changed how I worked because it gives us the why and how to organize our time so that we fully concentrate on only the stuff that matters. He asserts that only the people who can concentrate will be game-changers, and most people in today’s culture can’t concentrate. I agree with him.

  • Adorning the Dark, by Andrew Peterson — Why does making matter, and how does doing so align us more to how we’re fully made? This book explores what it means to do creative work in a sacramental way, and I nodded my way through it.

  • Your Money or Your Life, by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez — Not so much a how-to as a why-to, this classic book is the go-to for how to think about your money and why that matters so much.

  • The Grace of Enough, by Haley Stewart — Drawing from Laudato Si', Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment, Haley spells out what it looks like for us to overcome the effects of our modern throwaway culture.