During our Georgia trip I mainly worked on knitting up a few smaller projects, including a spontaneous pair of baby booties for a friend’s baby’s upcoming baptism. I gave them to her after a Wednesday night holy hour and she promptly asked one of our priests to bless them as we were standing there. My first knitting to be blessed! It made me so happy.
I finished the first of Job’s St. Nicholas day socks the day after Thanksgiving, and the second on the Eve of St. Nicholas day. They fit, but only barely, really. I need to go ahead and knit him another pair, this time with a longer cuff and longer foot.
I’ve been thinking and thinking about my favorite books, and those that might be gift worthy. Books have always been my favorite gifts to give.
So, here are some of our favorites, and there is even a giveaway of A Mother’s Rule of Life included for those interested:
My favorite fiction:
Kristin Lavransdatter is one of my all time favorites. This edition is especially beautiful as well.
I love Rumer Godden, and especially In This House of Brede and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. Another favorite is An Episode of Sparrows (New York Review Children’s Collection).
Bel Ria: Dog of War is technically a children’s book, but I haven’t actually convinced any of my kids to read it for some reason. I read it last year (I think?) and loved it so much.
Willa Cather is probably my favorite author and I love these two volumes of her novels: Early Novels and Stories and Later Novels.
Katherine is sooo good.
And Wilkie Collins! I’ve been loving his work lately. The best so far that I’ve read is The Woman in White .
And finally, epic and beautiful if not rather long, The Betrothed: I Promessi Sposi (Penguin Classics).
Jonny’s favorites:
One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, and Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Seth read this one as well).
Jon Krakauer is a favorite author, Michael Perry is another.
Faith:
If you haven’t read A Severe Mercy, you absolutely must!
I find Mother Theresa’s writings to be very encouraging and recommend No Greater Love and Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta.
I also love St. Therese and while I have read her own Story of a Soul, I also really liked this little book: The Love That Keeps Us Sane: Living the Little Way of St. Therese of Lisieux (Illuminationbooks.).
Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry is lovely and so is A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul.
I read A Mother’s Rule of Life years ago, and recently Sophia Institute Press sent me a copy of the latest edition. If you’d like me to send it to you, leave a comment letting me know. I’ll randomly select someone later this week.
I’ve emailed the winner!
Photography:
I am often asked for camera and photography advice. The book I always recommend, and the one I used to learn how to shoot in manual mode from is Understanding Exposure. That book would make a great gift for someone wanting to learn. A similar book by the same author, that I also recommend (and possibly prefer) is Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera.
Nature and field guides:
For the tree lover, we are on our second copy of Remarkable Trees of Virginia (you don’t have to live here to appreciate this book.) I also really like The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups.
Some of our most used field guides include: North American Wildlife: An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals (we’re on our 3rd copy), Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia (Southern Gateways Guides), Caterpillars of Eastern North America, Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, and A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guides). I don’t have a favorite tree identification field guide, but have Native Trees of the Southeast: An Identification Guide on my wishlist.
Homesteading and Beekeeping:
The Heirloom Life Gardener: The Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally, Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening, and The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers.
The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally is our favorite beekeeping resource, though my favorite book about beekeeping in general is A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them.
Knitting:
Anything by Elizabeth Zimmerman is probably a good choice. I have and love Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac, Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes, and The Opinionated Knitter.
Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book really is a great resource.
And finally my favorite Stephanie Pearl-McPhee book is Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot’s Bag of Knitting Tricks.
For Children:
We have read several of the books in Tomie DePaola’s 26 Fairmount Avenue Series and I highly recommend them. Endearing stories of family life with a nice bit of humor, they make great read-alouds that will span a wide range of ages as far as interest goes. I also think they would make great first chapter books for young readers.
We have really enjoyed this Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales for years. You can’t go wrong with Beatrix Potter!
We also really like the Calla edition of Stories from Hans Christian Andersen. The illustrations by Edmund Dulac are some of my favorites. Many of the Calla Editions look really beautiful.
James Herriot is another favorite. This volume for children looks beautiful: James Herriot’s Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small (we have an older version of it.)
Picture Books:
(the images themselves are links to the books, more fun that way for pretty children’s books!)
(I better stop now!)
And finally, there are some good lists in my Amazon bookshop including my favorite books written and/or illustrated by Tasha Tudor, and some of my boys’ favorite chapter books, along with more favorite picture books.
I love making booklists!
My previous gift list is here.
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Kelli Wilson says
Hello Ginny! My name is Kelli Wilson. I’m a homemaker, and mom of two, from Walpole, NH. I just found your blog a couple of weeks ago and I have been reading back through all of your previous posts. Your photography is so beautiful, and your spirituality really shines through in each picture. I’m an Episcopalian, not a Catholic, but so much of your faith resonates with me, and the story of how you came to the Church reminds me a lot of my own journey. I was trying to decide which post to comment on, because they’re all so wonderful, but I settled on this one because Kristin Lavransdatter is my absolute favorite book of all time. My husband bought it for me for Christmas last year and I read the whole things over a couple of days and nights (was sobbing by the end). I’ve read a bunch of Sigrid Undset’s other books, too, but none were quite as good as Kristin. Next on my list is the Master of Hestviken series. In any case, I just wanted to say hi, and I look forward to reading more of your blog!
Ginny says
Hi Kelli! I’ve been trying to figure out my next fiction read, and you prompted me to order a copy of The Axe! Thanks for commenting, and Merry Christmas!
Emilie says
Oh my goodness, One Man’s Wilderness — way back in college my husband (then boyfriend) and I were enthralled with the documentary video version of that book, Alone in the Wilderness. Such great memories, thanks for the reminder!
Josie says
Ginny, I read A Mother’s Rule of Life years ago too (when I had only 2), and darn it, I was never ever able to implement things that way. I always thought the reason was that I nurse my babies so long and so much. If you have any secrets of how you implemented some of it, I’d love to take them because 3 kids later, I’m still longing for a bit more rhythm and Holly’s book comes to mind, but I’m still nursing babies:).
I notice you mention the walk to the lake you did everyday in Georgia way back when. I’m thinking it’s that sort of daily ritual that I’m not getting to. I circle the kitchen and laundry room all day, with breaks only for the car trips that I detest!
God bless you! I love this blog. It refreshes me every time.
Molly says
A mother’s rule has been on my list for a while! I’d love a copy.
Alana Rasbach says
I am reading A Severe Mercy now for the first time! Also, I love books too and book lists. Ox Cart Man is one of our favorites too. Have you read When I was Young In The Mountains? So good.
Erin says
That book keeps coming across my radar….I’d love to read it. It sounds like just the thing for this busy season of littles and homeschooling!
Chelsea c. says
I would love to win a copy! Reading books on motherhood is so encouraging!
Katie says
I would love a copy of A Mother’s Rule of Life. With 6 kids now, 7yrs and under, I desperately need order!
Laura says
Would love to win a copy. My first little guy is almost 13 months old so I have a lot to learn in the mom department!
J says
Thank you for the book list Ginny!! I’ve been waiting for this! love it!
Ellen says
I love making book lists, too, and I love yours. I’ve requested A Mother’s Rule of Life from the library, but of course winning a copy from you would be wonderful. I also requested Understanding Exposure. We bought a new camera for ourselves for Christmas this year, and I’m eager to learn. Thanks for this post, and for such good recommendations.
Sharon says
The peace and order books sounds wonderful!
Jamie says
I would love a copy of the book 🙂
Tamsine says
I would love A Mother’s Rule of Life – I feel in need of some peace and order!
s says
I could really use some peace and order in my home…would love to win a copy. I have some major purging to do here to reduce clutter and reduce stress. Books are my favorite gift!
Kelly says
*A Mothers Rule of Life* sounds like a great read for after Christmas! Would love to win it 🙂
Julia says
Would love to add “A Mother’s Rule of Life” to my book collection.
Holly says
Knitting for babies is the best!