Must Read Books for Moms this Year!

It’s no secret around here that one of my biggest budget weaknesses is books. I LOVE to read! And several years ago, I discovered while doing an Annual Money Review that I had spent over $250 on books in one year! That was totally crazy to me especially since, you know, the library is free…

Anyway, since then I decided to get more organized with what I will read and the books that I enjoy. So in an effort to help fellow mamas out there, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite books to read across multiple categories. And please, if you have a favorite read that you think I should read in 2020, please leave a comment with it! Oh, and if you’re on Goodreads, let’s be pals. 🙂

Marriage

These are some of my favorite reads on everything marriage and relationship building!

The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work by Dr. John Gottman

This is hands down the BEST BOOK on marriage that I have ever read! Seriously, doesn’t matter if you and your husband have the greatest marriage ever, I still encourage you to give this book a read! It’s absolutely fantastic! 

Crucial Conversations by Vital Smarts

This one isn’t a marriage book per se, in fact, it’s listed as a business book. However, the content in this book is fantastic for navigating all sorts of difficult conversations whether they are within your marriage, with your kids, or with co-workers. 

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Okay, so this one is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. So you’ll definitely need to read through the reviews to see if this is one that you would enjoy or not. But for me, this one had some gut-hitting punches that I needed in order to realize where I’ve been overly selfish in my marriage. 

Motherhood

Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime by Dr. Ray Guarendi

This is an older book, so the references are a little dated, but I really enjoyed this book. It is a Q&A style book, but put a lot of stuff in perspective for me. Dr. Ray talks a lot about how we’re the parents and we’re the ones that get to decide the right way to parent and discipline our kids – not the “experts”. It was just the book I needed to read. 

The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Dr. Meg Meeker

I really enjoyed this one! It was a great reminder of what makes us great moms and how to make sure we cultivate those things so we can be the absolute best that we are (because we are pretty amazing!). 

Last Child in The Woods by Richard Louv

Okay, so this book will probably make you want to cry and run outside. But this book is fantastic for challenging us parents in the digital world to allow our children to reclaim the natural wonder of being outside in the dirt. I know for me, there have been full days that have passed where I haven’t spent more than 5 minutes outside. 

P.S. Did you know that if you have Amazon Prime, that you can read books for free? They usually limit you to 1-2 books a month, but hey, I’ll take free read any time! Check out Prime Reading here.

Financial

This wouldn’t be a blog about living life on a budget if I didn’t include some financial reads!

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

The “OG” debt-free living guide! If you want to make this year the year that you’re family finally becomes debt-free, go read this book! This is the book that started our family’s debt-free journey (almost) 7 years ago and we wouldn’t be 100% debt-free (yay for no longer having a mortgage payment) if it wasn’t for this book! 

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley

If you want a book that’ll motivate and inspire you to save for retirement, then this is the book for you! It’s a classic because it’s over 20 years old but the research still holds true today! Did you know that America’s average millionaire has never made a six-figure income? Yep. That just goes to show you that most millionaires aren’t who you think they are. 

Investing Made Simple by MomandDadMoney.com

Okay so this is a .pdf download but it’s the BEST guide to investing that I’ve ever come across! This is the exact guidebook that I used to set up and buy my mutual funds. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. 

Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach

Okay, so I haven’t actually read this one yet but I hear amazing things about it and it’s on my 2020 to-read list! I wanted to recommend it since it is highly praised and if you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it in the comment section!

Organization

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana White

Oh, I loved this book! It was a completely guilt-free approach to figuring out how to manage your home! Seriously, if you’ve been struggling with organization, home management, cleaning, all that jazz, give this book a read. 

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

One of my favorite books about all things “getting life in order”! Seriously, I love this book and re-read it every year as it’s an action-orientated book. 

Spiritual Reads

The Year of Living Happy by Alli Worthington

Okay, so this isn’t an actual book but a journal. I have loved going through the prompts and scriptures in this journal!

Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst

This one was just what my Enneagram 8 self needed. Anyone that knows me knows that I have one hell of a temper. I’ve worked hard over the last decade of my life to reign in that temper and I’m proud of how far I’ve come. However, there is still a lot more work that needs to be done. Unglued is a practical and helpful guide to helping mamas like myself that tend to lose their cool a little too often. 

The Next Right Thing by Emily Freeman

This was a quick and easy read but I appreciated the nuggets of power tucked within the pages of this book. I wrote several of Emily’s pieces of wisdom in my journaling Bible because they struck such a chord with me!

God is Not Nice by Ulrich L. Lehner

I absolutely loved this book! Something that has been driving me crazy in the Christian realm of the world is that it seems there’s this “grandpa in the sky” mentally of God instead of viewing God as the Great I Am that He is. This book packs a punch and isn’t afraid to bring us all back to reality on what Scripture says that God is. 

Self Care Reads

Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud

I HIGHLY recommend this book for everyone. Yes, it quotes scripture in it and I get that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but religious beliefs aside, it is a fantastic read for setting up boundaries that are healthy for you and your relationships with others. 

The Road Back to You by Ian Cron

If you keep wondering what the whole Enneagram fuss is all about, read this book. I not only learned so much about myself but I learned a ton about the people closest to me and how/why the issues in are relationships are there. This is a very eye-opening read!

Fiction Reads

I’m not the biggest reader of fiction but I am planning on changing that in 2020. I just tend to get too sucked into the story and then can’t do anything until the story is over…so everything tends to pile up around the house. 😂If you have a must-read fiction recommendation, I’d LOVE to hear about it in the comments! 

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Fair warning that this one is part of a trilogy that I didn’t realize until after I had read it. These are also very meaty books so I recommend getting the audio version from your library to listen to so you can still function. 🙂 If you like apocalyptic stories then you’re going to LOVE this one! I will say that there are few pretty graphic spots in the first book (The Passage) of this series, but other than that, fantastic story! 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I absolutely adored this story! You will laugh until you cry and cry until you laugh with this beautiful story! There is a fair amount of cursing in this one. Just FYI.

The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff

If you love Historical Fiction, you’ll love this story. The author did a fantastic job of taking 2 true stories and interweaving them into this World War II Historical Fiction novel! 

Okay, so those are just a few of my favorite reads! Do you have a favorite read that should be added to the list? Let me know! I’m always looking for new and exciting reads to check out at the library!

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