This week a friend asked me, as she looked at my very full bookcase – Which is your favourite book?  No-one has ever asked me that question and it made me stop and think.  Which is my favourite?  How would I determine a favourite?

I decided that I would have to have a favourite for different areas that I have read – eg  being a godly woman, homemaking, parenting, homeschooling, being a Christian, etc.  To be a favourite the book would have to have an impact on my life – so here are a few of my favourites:

Being a Godly Woman:  Beautiful in God’s Eyes by Elizabeth George.  I have read a lot of Proverbs 31 (and though this could also fall in the Homemaking category) this book is my favourite.  It was real, and encouraging.  I particularly enjoyed the cultural contexts that were given to the verses in Proverbs 31 and then finding modern applications.

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Homemaking:  Another topic I have read extensively on, with Emily Barnes being a favourite author.  I also enjoyed Edith Schaeffer’s The Hidden Art of Homemaking when I was a teen, but would love to read it again now as an older woman.  I think my favourite, the one that has had the most change to my thinking and practices is The Family Manager by Kathy Peel.

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Parenting:   I have read books and led courses by Growing Families (Growing Kids God’s Way, Childwise etc) but I think the resource that has affected our parenting the most is Character First.  It gives me the tools to explain the values that I want my children to understand.  Another book that has been very mind-opening is Good and Angry by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller.

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Homeschooling:  I saw the Angel in the Marble by Chris and Ellyn Davis brought Peter and I to the same page (though we were always in the same book!)

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Being a Christian:  Not really sure which book to choose in this category but I’ve decided on one that has challenged me to align the use of my time with God’s values:  Making Room for Life by Randy Frazee.

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But maybe if you ask me this question in a month’s time I may have a different favourite!  That is the thing with books; they meet you where you are at, and as life takes you along things look different one day to the next!  But whether these books are my all time favourite or not – there is no doubt that they have been significant books in my life’s journey.