As I looked back over our list of books for this year, I could hardly believe it. Our family shared over 48 books together as read-alouds this year! (This doesn’t count the personal independent reading of each of our children.) How on earth did we manage close to fifty books together?!?
Well, I attribute it mostly to many hours in the car due to our hour drive to church, and the Libby app (which is likely available to you if you have a library card; some libraries also participate in Hoopla which provides an even larger selection). We’ve had a lot of listening time in the mini-van this year, which we nicknamed the Black Carriage last year (a reference to an all-time favorite family read-aloud, The Wingfeather Saga).
We’ve read an assortment of genres and wanted to share a bit about our favorites. For the complete list of books we read this year, click here.
As you sort through that entire list, feel free to give us a shout to ask our thoughts if you have questions about the ones not featured on this post. And… if you’d like to keep track of what we’re reading in 2023, click here for our 2023 Reading List!
The Favorite Family Favorite
The Lord of the Rings was a re-read, but it was SO good read by Andy Serkis (who plays the voice of Gollum). Still a favorite family favorite, along with The Wingfeather Saga and The Chronicles of Narnia.
This was our longest read-aloud, as the audio is over 20 hours long for each book. But it’s so worth the time investment!
Favorite New Series
Our older boys had enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society a few years ago as independent reads, but we finally listened to this series together and loved it from start to finish! It features the adventures of four children with different strengths and weaknesses, learning to work together to go on an important mission to solve a mystery. The benefit of these books is that there’s closure at the end of each story (unlike the next series we’ll be listing as a favorite).
We loved it so much that we continued reading other books by Trenton Lee Stewart and landed on another favorite: The Secret Keepers.
Another favorite series was The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. It took a long time for me to be willing to try this series out because I don’t much care for books that are riddled with disrespect. But this series is nothing like that! The incorrigible children are actually rather endearing but have been raised by wolves, so they’re just a bit… awkward. A young governess, Penelope Lumley, arrives on the scene as a type of Mary Poppins or Fraulein Maria, and the adventures begin! The audiobooks for this series (aside from the final book) were narrated by the late Katherine Kellgren, who was one of the best female narrators we have ever heard.
Now, this series requires a commitment. There’s no closure at the end of each story, so you’ve got to keep going or go crazy. And… we really did not like the final book of the series. We felt it would have been a better overall story for the whole thing to be wrapped up in Book 5. Nevertheless… the journey through these books was delightful for ages 7 through adult.
Top Church History/Missionary Stories during 2022
Our favorite church history and missionary stories this year were Trial & Triumph, which includes short biographical sketches of over 40 people from church history, and Paul Brand: Helping Hands.
Both of these were re-reads. Trial & Triumph is assigned during the fall semester of our Mission Faith Forgers curriculum (showing the church history connections for historical figures such as Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and Henry VIII) and Paul Brand is a recommended replacement read for families going through our Mission: World Wonders curriculum a second time. If I had been introduced to this book earlier in life, I might have gone into medicine instead of engineering.
For the past five years, we’ve studied history, religion, cultures, and geography through inspiring true stories of missionaries, and I can’t tell you how much these stories have impacted our lives! (We’re heading into my absolute favorite semester of Mission Great Commission, so this list will be a bit longer next year.) For a complete list of our favorite missionary biographies, click here.
Most Unique Storyline
The Phantom Tollbooth is a classic in our home, but it’s the first time we’ve shared it together. The story is a bit like Alice in Wonderland (or maybe… if Amelia Bedelia wrote a book, this would be it?). The word play is simply fantastic – and funny.
And a few other favorites from Our 8-Year Old
Our whole family enjoys listening to the short (1-2 hour) I Survived… historical fiction series, which is a favorite series for our 3rd grader. It’s a great way to reinforce history – and remember it long-term. We listened to several this year, but his favorites are I Survived the Joplin Tornado of 2011 and I Survived the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. (If you’re studying the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression, this would be great to add to your reading list!)
In addition to the I Survived… series, he also loved the fictional tales, The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes. He loves anything to do with science, so his favorites are usually geared towards that.
Other Thoughts and Personal Reading
As for other thoughts regarding our reading for this year, we only consider one a real flop: Mary Poppins. None of us liked it, which is saying a lot. It’s the only book we tried to give a chance the whole way through and decided our time would have been much better spent.
In addition to all the preview-reading we do for our Mission: Great Commission curriculum program, I’m compiling a list of my favorite books for my own personal reading. There aren’t as many here because I spend a lot of time reading and re-reading and studying and writing quotes and thoughts. And I’m only including my favorites on this list. Click here for my ongoing list of favorite reads – some on education, some on parenting, some on faith.
Now it’s your turn. What were your family’s favorite read-alouds in 2022? Do you have any recommendations for what should be in our queue for 2023?
Or… do you have questions about reading aloud to your family? Or questions about any of these books? If so, we’d love for you to hop down and leave us a comment!
You may also be interested in our favorite read-alouds in 2021.