This book contains a great deal of encouragement for mothers who want to raise children in joy and courage, rather than fear. The author draws lessons from various books that she read during her homeschooling years, that impacted her life. She has several good reading lists sprinkled throughout the book, some of which I have previously read and enjoyed. She has many helpful quotes pulled from other great authors, such a Sally Clarkson and N.D. Wilson. There were some theological points that I don’t quite agree with. But, on the whole, it was a good book and I found it to be an enjoyable and uplifting read. I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher, but all the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’d heard of Mothering by the Book from a homeschool moms’ group that used it for their book club. I hadn’t participated in the club, but when a few months later I saw the book was available on NetGalley as one of their “Read Now” books, I decided to give it a try.

I tend to be a pretty slow reader when it comes to non-fiction. And I often find myself stopping mid-book, losing interest or just finding something else that interests me more. Although this was a really slow read for me, I persisted and finished!

Some of the chapters were interesting and I felt like I was getting some value out of my reading time. A few chapters felt like I could just about have written them myself! But several of the other chapters either didn’t pertain to me in my life-season or felt like the author was just sharing a lot about her own life experiences, many of which I just didn’t relate to.

For a Christian nonfiction book on how to fight fear, I would have liked to see more Biblical examples alongside the author telling us about her life experiences and how reading books helped her fight fear. Although some of the example books were quite familiar to me, several others were not and those chapters were much more difficult to connect with because I didn’t have any real understanding of the story as a reference.

Overall, for me, this was a just-okay read. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t feel like I came away from it with much of value either. I’m sure I’ve probably gleaned a few useful things. I know I was reminded of some of my own life-lessons and experiences that have helped me fight fear in similar ways, but I guess I was hoping for more.

I was able to read Mothering by the Book free via NetGalley. Thanks to the publisher for making it available. All opinions expressed in this review are my honest thoughts about this book.

I loved this book! A book about books and the treasure they are…what’s not to love?!

I thoroughly enjoyed how Jennifer used her personal stories of how the books she was reading brought here through life’s ups and downs and taught her many lessons. Now I’ve got a longer “to-read list” but I’m not complaining!

I appreciated how although many of the books mentioned are not Christian books, there are plenty of Biblical concepts to draw from them. I also appreciate how Jennifer sprinkles Scriptures throughout the book and gives a specific verse to focus on relating to each chapter’s theme.

*I received a free digital copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed this read. As a mother and a bookworm this was right up my alley. It’s easy to read and full of wisdom. I will definitely be looking to add this to my keeper shelf and revisit.

For the mamas who are, or desire to, home educate their children with life giving books...here is another book to add to your growing bookshelf. Author Jennifer Pepito provides the encouragement you need to read classic literature to your children without fears or worries that you are doing a bad job.

But here's the thing - this is not a step-by-step guide on how to read aloud to your children, this is a slow and steady inward-journey where we tackle the fear of educating our children. For the mothers that sit with their children, reading stories with noble characters and lovely settings, we hope that by reading these books, we can help shape our children to crave what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. What if we opened our hearts to be shaped as well? How can we use these classic books we are reading to our children to change how we mother?

Jennifer says early in the book that "Fear looms large in our mothering journey. It comes in so many different packages, but when we fixate on fear, we become blind to the beauty around us." and ironically enough, that is a fear of mine. That my own fears will blind me to the beauty, goodness, and blessings that I have right now.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwBX5U6Of8W/

Mothering by the Book by Jennifer Pepito was a memoir about her life as a homeschool mom and her fears as she’s raising her children and the books she used to help with those fears. This wasn’t what I was expecting when I picked up the book and kept finding myself skimming it as it’s fairly depressing and repetitive in places.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.

The information provided for mamas who are feeling alone or stuck is amazing! Highly recommended! Will be sharing with my other mama friends and recommending to new mamas who are looking for a relatable read!

I just finished Jennifer Pepito's Mothering by the Book. I thought from the subtitle the book would be focused on literature and incorporating it into your homeschool life. It was more a memoir with stories of her marriage, and life struggles. Some of the theology felt flawed to me and it was more focused on self than I think is biblical.. For example, suggesting you write a letter to yourself from god and the ideas of finding your "true selves". The part I was most interested in were the short lists of book recommendations at the ends of the chapters. She provides lists that are good for read alouds and books that are just for mom.

I personally wouldn't recommended this book. 


Thanks Netgalley for a copy of the ebook.

This would have been a book that I would have appreciated in my children's younger pre-teen years. Jennifer Pepito does a good job sharing her own experience as a mother, and how through God's prompting and through books that she was reading helped to guide and shape her parenting philosophy. I really appreciated the chapter study guides at the end with questions, a bible verse to memorize and more books that you can read on the topic of the chapter. This would make for a great read in a Mom's group!

I did feel that the subtitle was a bit misleading... I had anticipated the book to be more instructional about reading aloud to kids, suggestions on how to do so, and the benefits of such. For me, it's just a simple thing, but could confuse a reader who was looking for this topic, and not the one of generalized motherhood that the book is about.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bethany House Publishers for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love the chapter categories. It made me excited to dive into this book.
The book itself is uplifting and encouraging. I’ll be buying a hard copy of it to mark up and have at home to reference.
Thank you Netgalley!

Super cute book!! I loved the different stories told by the author and her family....how one manages with that many kids, I will never figure out! But I enjoyed the stories, her writing style, the use of scripture etc. I didn't think it was super intense but more light hearted which is why I enjoyed it so much!

A really worthwhile perspective on mothering and all that it entails: the ups, downs, highs and lows. This book meant a great deal to me as I read it as a mom of two after living through possibly one of the hardest years of my life, coming to terms with my own struggles with postpartum anxiety and depression. To hear my story validated in the stories of others is immensely helpful and I know this book will be a blessing to many others! Moms need to know that it is ok to not always be ok and that there is not just one way to do things and to raise your kids. Moms also need to know that there are good and bad days, and that they are not alone in any of it.

Review: Mothering by the Book
Author: Jennifer Pepito

Rating: ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️4/5

This book was definitely different than I expected. I was thinking that I would be mainly advice on what books to read your kids at different age groups, as they grow- and while that can be found in a smaller degree in this book- what it turned out to be is actual encouragement and direction on how to mother using the lessons that classic books have taught us.
Beloved stories such as Charlottes Web, Pride and Prejudice, and Little house on the prairie.

Though this book was not what I expected, I enjoyed it. I felt encouraged in my motherhood and my love for books!

I enjoyed this book, it is a good book to read if you have fears in regards to raising and/or homeschooling your children. Even if you don’t have fears about doing enough, teaching your kids enough, training them enough, it’s a great book to read! I loved the literature references throughout the book, being a avid reader myself! The author has a great way to explain her story and fears humbly and help remind us all to turn to the Lord to help us with our fears. Definitely recommend this book!

Wow, this book could/should actually be a series. This one focused on overcoming fear, but I actually think she could go on to do all sorts of things that we mothers face and are able to learn about in reading. “Books are always informing our lives, even when we are unaware.” There were some points that just hit me so deep. Specifically the chapter on the words we speak over our child. As someone who has heard and studied a lot on our words, the way she put it just hit different.
Although I expected it to talk on a bunch of differing topics—not only covering different areas of fear—I highly recommend this one!

Through a series of beloved literature, Jennifer Pepito shares that literature expanded and encouraged her life towards hearty flourishing. Personal, gentle, thoughtful, and authentic, Jennifer does not shy away from reality but gently shares an active practice of reading on a personal and family level. A delightful, afternoon read to encourage, always forward, the reading life!

For anyone who is a mother, or homeschooling their children read this book; I loved it from start to finish. I will be buying a physical copy to annotate some information on this book. The author touched on many issues moms face and gives tips on how to deal with them.

This is a quote i loved...
“We can teach our children to laugh in the face of fear, to find joy even when the days are dark, and to live for a purpose that is higher than themselves.”

The subtitle to this book (The Power of Reading Aloud To Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy) is misleading. I spent most of my time with a furrowed brow, expecting the book to be about the act of reading aloud and its benefits when in reality it was a memoir about how the author fought fear in her life as a mom and how certain books provided lessons for her to glean from.
Each chapter deals with a specific fear, a synopsis of a specific book and lessons she gleaned from it with alot of her own story. The books felt secondary. Each chapter ends with book recommendations as well as a study guide in order to personalize the experience for the reader.
If you struggle with fear in motherhood or just life in general you may find encouragement, help and hope in her story and may even find yourself looking for lessons in your own reading but if you are looking for a book highlighting the benefits and power of reading aloud with your kids you might want to pick up something else.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I was really intrigued with this book and the concept of using literature in mothering/parenting. While the author did tie in lessons she learned from specific books, one book for each of the 14 chapters, I didn't personally grasp a ton of how to incorporate literature into my life, as it came across mostly as how she used it her parenting journey with lots of examples, which are great, but I wanted it to tie in more of "this was my experience, here's how you can incorporate that into your life," which it only did minimally, and not as much as I was expecting, I guess. There are questions at the end of each chapter to the reader answer for expanding on what the reader learned in that chapter, as well as a suggested bible verse for memorization and other suggested books to read to tie in with the theme presented in that chapter. There are lots of spoilers for each book used as examples, so if you haven't read each book used, be prepared that there are spoilers for each story. The variety of books used were interesting as well. I enjoyed seeing which books the author mentioned and how she would tie them in to the topics, but, as I said, there are spoilers and I wasn't prepared for having the endings of some of the books spelled out in this book. (Yes, I know what happens to Wilbur and Charlotte in <i>Charlotte's Web</i>, but I haven't read a lot of the other books used and those endings are still mentioned in this book.)

There were a lot of great examples used for struggles Pepito faced as a mother, some used multiple times, but, again, I felt like this book didn't necessarily teach me as the reader how to incorporate the concept presented in the title of the book for myself, just focused strongly on the author's own journeys and didn't always incorporate the mentioned novels in the way I personally expected from the title/presentation of the book. Still, there are a lot of great encouragement and uplifting for mothers/parents to learn from, so I did round up to 4 stars instead of 3.

A "real life" book....from one Mom to another.

I appreciated the author's humor & real-life approach to things. Great words of wisdom from a veteran Mother & homeschooler.

The book is laid out very well & easy to read. Each chapter is related to a classic book & quotes from them, such as "Pride & Prejudice", "The Railway Children", "Charlotte's Web" & much more.

Lessons from each book can be applied to our lives as Mothers, Wives, Teachers, etc. I look forward to rereading many times in the future & sharing it with my kids & grandkids.

(I was able to preview this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.)