Winter Reading for Moms

motivational winter readingWinter in Georgia can be…unpredictable. Snow and ice one weekend, sunny and warm the next. But one thing has been true for us most winters with kids- it’s a bit of a slower season. The craziness of fall is behind us (along with the holidays) and the onslaught of spring extra-curricular activities has yet to begin. It’s also a time when we are planning, thinking, and resolving for the year ahead. You know where I’m going…it’s a great time to read!

Winter is one of my favorite times to read non-fiction, so I’ve chosen a few of my favorite “get motivated and make positive changes” books. But if you are have “read more books” on your New Year Resolution list, you may just need a great novel to sink your teeth into. So there’s one of those as well! Here are my recommendations for winter reading for moms:

The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. This book challenged me in the best ways. In it, Lahey talks about a topic we see everywhere these days: how we set our kids up for major issues if we do everything for them. She talks about how to give our kids the gift of failure at every age, both at school and home. Her words are really good to hear as we head into the second half of the school year.

Seven by Jen Hatmaker. If you are anything like me, January is the month where you want to get rid of ALL THE THINGS. The excess of Christmas has come to roost and it looks a lot like too much stuff. Seven chronicles Hatmaker’s (admittedly extreme) attempt to curb excesses in her life by conducting an experiment. She spends a month at a time reducing her options to seven- articles of clothing, foods, etc. Her writing is simultaneously hilarious and thought-provoking.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This memoir won lots of critical acclaim when it came out last year and for good reason. It is a beautiful and profound look at life and what it means- written by a dying man. Kalanithi was a brilliant neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at 36. Yes, it’s sad. You will cry. But you will also be amazed at Kalanithi’s insights and inspired by his and his wife’s story. It’s worth the tears, I promise.

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict. This is a fiction book based on a real person- Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife. The author attempts to bring Mileva’s story out of the footnotes and into reality. It IS fictionalized, mainly because there is very little information about her apart from Albert. But Benedict pieces together the information she could find and creates a heartbreaking and believable story about what it might have looked like to live in the shadow of Einstein’s genius. If you love history and girl-power, this is for you.

What are you planning on reading this season?