Learn how you can get your home organized with my easy step-by-step organization course. My course is full of organization ideas as well as home organization tips and tricks to get your life and home organized and keep it that way.
ONLINE DECLUTTERING COURSE
For the past several months I have been putting together my Online Organization Course, The Balanced Home. I am excited to teach you my decluttering and cleaning process. These processes also teach you how to create simple routines and cleaning schedules which allow you to naturally maintain your clean and organized home.
No need to hire a professional organizer, or live with the clutter because you will have the skills and learn how to overcome any mental barriers or fears you might have to get started!
Stop Drowning in Household Clutter
Transform your space without the overwhelm. Join The Balanced Home Course for a step-by-step system to get your home organized and keep it that way for good.
Learn More & Join Today →
WHAT DOES THE ORGANIZATION COURSE COVER?
The Balanced Home Organization Core
($1,000 Value)Contains my core Decluttering and Organization Processes, which shows you how to:
- Learn how to declutter and organize your home–by learning processes and techniques that really work!
- Deal with stuff you don't know how to get rid of
- Understand what qualifies as hoarding
- Understand how to overcome hoarding tendencies
- Deal with your junk room or junk drawer
The Tools
- Workbook, Resources, Labels, and More ($250 Value). Contains everything you need to help guide you through each lesson, including:
- An easy-to-follow workbook to guide you step-by-step through the lessons
- Printable Labels
- A vision sheet for your home
- A working checklist of tasks you can accomplish in 30 minutes or less
- Shopping and To-Do Lists
- Monthly Calendar and Weekly Schedule
The Mental Foundation
The best processes to overcome mental barriers from Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi's Mastermind Course ($200 Value). Helps you to find the time, the energy and the motivation to organize your home by:
- Discovering your “true, internal why” -> what motivates you to want an organized home
- Helping you clearly identify what is holding you back from success
- Teaching you how to organize your schedule to create new pockets of time
- Helping you discover what is most important for you to accomplish with your time, as opposed to just urgent or habit
- Helping you cut out the things that aren't important and identify gaps in your schedule you can dedicate to working on your home
Your Ideal Home
The best processes to set and achieve your vision by breaking it down into actionable steps ($300 Value). Teaches you how to break down an overwhelming project into small, manageable steps, by:
- Clearly defining your goal and vision for your home
- Learning how to evaluate specific rooms and identify what you want to be improved
- Identifying specific, easy to complete tasks in each room that will contribute to your overall goal without overwhelming you
- Getting your family or others involved in the process
Cleaning and Maintaining
The best processes to clean and maintain your home after it has been organized ($200 Value).Teaches you how to maintain your home once it is clean and keep it organized, by:
- Providing you with the basic cleaning routines you need to naturally stay in control of your home
- Teaching you my amazing “Ten-Minute Clean-up” process, which allows you to clean an entire floor / room in ten minutes or less!
- Showing you how to establish routines with your kids and other members of the family
- Sharing important resources such as chore cards, favorite cleaning products, and a deep-cleaning checklist, and more
- Explaining the laundry routine we use in our home to get our laundry done every week without even thinking about it
- Teaching you how to deep clean your home after it has been decluttered and organized
- Showing you how to help the other members of your household be on the same page and not “unclean” your home
During the course, we will:
- Show you the process of how to go throughout your home decluttering, cleaning, and organizing. Then you can take this process and go throughout all the rooms in your home–including the bathrooms, kitchen, craft room, home office, basement, entryway, playroom, garage, attic, and all other rooms in your home–cleaning and organizing.
- Clean out and organize not just the rooms themselves, but organization spaces such as closets, shelves, drawers, and bookshelves.
- Learn how to properly use organization equipment, such as bins, drawer organizers, storage bins, food storage containers, lids, and baskets.
The Private Balanced Home Community
(BONUS – Priceless). Provides a community that you can go to whenever you need a place where you…
- Seek inspiration and ideas from others
- Receive support and motivation from others
- Share your successes and see the successes of others as we all work towards finding balance and clarity in our homes.
- Can ask questions and let me know what you may still need help with so that I can continue to cater the course to your needs
What Do People Have To Say About My Organization Course?
“This course was instrumental in helping me organize my space as well as my time. As a busy mom, I have a better grasp on what my days need to include so that I can enjoy my family rather than spend my time spinning my wheels cleaning up after everyone.”
“The Balanced Home Course helped me to be the “professional organizer” for my family! Simple steps to follow, check lists, printable labels, suggestions and worksheets will keep you on track to successfully maintain your own balanced home.”
“I am pretty sure I have solved more issues with the seven layers and clarity tool than I have in 6 months of therapy!! I think this course is going to help much more than my home. Thanks Amy!!!!”
When I realized I had been overcomplicating the idea of organization, that simplifying was a key component, then things really started to fall into place!”
When I realized I had been overcomplicating the idea of organization, that simplifying was a key component, then things really started to fall into place!””
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO ORGANIZE YOUR HOME
HOW TO OVERCOME FEARS AND MENTAL BARRIERS
I asked and these are the things that are holding you back from getting started! I made sure my course helped you overcome your specific fears and developed processes to address each of the concerns below. Have you ever had any of the same concerns?
- “I don't have the time.”
- “I don't know how to break it down into manageable chunks.”
- “How do I balance other activities?”
- “I don’t have enough energy / motivation.”
- “I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to start.”
- “I'm scared / unable to commit.”
- “I don't trust myself.”
- “I don't have the confidence I will finish.”
- “How do I maintain / keep on top of it?”
- “I have a hard time with inconsistency / finding balance.”
- “I'm afraid of quitting too soon and having it be a mess.”
- “How do I build the habits and routines?”
- “Keeping it clean and organized”“Staying focused and not getting distracted.”
- “What if I have physical limitations.”
- “I don't have the supplies / resources / money (i.e. containers etc.) / storage space.”
- “I don't want to part with things.”
- “What Do I do with all the stuff? Donate? Kids?”
- “What if I need it later?”
- “My family has stuff they want to keep.”
- “Family is not being helpful or even counterproductive… How do I get my family on board?”
- “No sense of design / vision for what I want.”
- “Lack of knowledge.”
- “Afraid of not doing it right.”
- “Being okay with not having it perfect.”
STILL NOT READY TO BUY?
Because I know that sometimes it can be difficult to take that initial leap of faith, I wanted to give you something that would allow you to get your feet wet a little, something that you could access RIGHT NOW. I think you'll like it. I've opened up a “sneak peek” section of my course, where you can access one or two of the lessons that are a part of The Balanced Home Course. If you click the button below you will be able to create your own personal account / log in for the course and access the “sneak peek” videos.
OTHER ORGANIZATION PROJECTS
If you are interested in taking a deeper look into some of the spaces in my home, check out the following posts!
oh my goodness, we must have been sisters separated at birth. Many of these are my favorites too!!
kisses
heather
haha! That explains alot. Must be why I liked you so much when we finally met in real life!
I’ve read all of them but Sarah’s Key-I heard it was really sad. You should read the “Extra’s” by Westerfeld. it was my favorite of that series and reminded me a lot of trying to get “followers” and pageviews in the blogging world.
Sarah’s Key is really tragic but if you can push through it, I loved the message of the book. I have to get through Specials first…but have it on the list for summer…but this time I will read it so the voice is my own and not the annoying one :) Extras sounds like I would enjoy it…thanks!
I just finished “The Forgotten Garden”. Excellent!!! Esperanza Rising is an excellent simple book like Shannon Hale’s books. I loved it too.
Oh…thanks. Added it to my list!
I recommend Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors.
I loved this book. I recommend it to everyone whenever I’m asked for suggestions!
I also love anything by Jane Green, I really love her wit. And if you haven’t read Water for Elephants then that’s a must read as well!
I have not heard of that one. It is now on my list. Thanks so much Mallory. I will also check out Jane Green. Love when I find a good author. I have read Water for Elephants and liked it and actually liked the movie better than the book. Which is unusual for me.
Didn’t you know?!?!?!?! Goose Girl has a 4th book: Forest Born. It’s all about Rin (Razo’s sister).
Thanks for the list. I’m just finishing a series of books (Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series. So awesome!!) and need some more to read.
What??? How did I miss that? I must read that NOW! Adding the library to my to do list today! My son and husband have read all of the the FableHaven series together and loved them too.
Read all 4 books and LOVED that series!!
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Thanks Tanya. I have not seen this one.
Thanks sooooo much for this! I’m always looking for good reads!
Just read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton — it is excellent. It is from a few years back, but one of my other favorites is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and then recently Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Honestly, many books I have liked are also on your list!
Another recommendation for The Forgotten Garden…I will move it to the top of the list :). Thanks for the others. Great minds think alike.
snow flower and the secret fan is a GREAT book!! loved it!!
Thanks so much. I have fallen out of reading lately but with summer coming and summer reading instituted for my kids, I need some good reads to dive into.
I’ve been reading more teen lit lately, too, for the same reasons. I loved Hunger Games and Goose Girl and Potato Peel Pie and The Help…My favorite recent adult lit is a book called Love Walked In, by Marisa de los Santos. Its a beautiful story–the kind where you wish you could be friends with the characters, and its more than just a romance…I always recommend it!
Just added that to my list. Thanks Robyn!
Oh my gosh I’m glad someone else has read Sarah’s Key…I felt the same way you do about that book. It was a wonderful book!
I have a ton of favorites to share! I also reallly really liked The Help. It was fabulous! Other faves are Little Women, Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield, The Boleyn Inerhitiance by Phillipa Gregory, Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Series by Stieg Larrson, Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and lots more…
Oh…Great list. I tried to read the Girl with the Dragon tattoo…maybe I better make a better effort.
The Book Thief, The Help and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are some of my new favorite books!
“The Forgotten Garden” by Kate Morton is pretty good. I love “These Is My Words” by Nancy Turner. Such a great book! The first 50 pages are pretty sad, but stay with it. It’s a great story.
Oh yeah! I have heard of These Is My Words. Thanks for the reminder! Added.
Oh I forgot to mention a series that I love called “Abram’s Daughter’s” by Beverly Lewis. There are 5 books and I zipped right through them. It is about an Amish family and I really enjoyed the story and learning more about the Amish people.
You have good taste in books. :) A few I’ve recently read and enjoyed are Stolen: A letter from my captor (Lucy Christopher), Wednsday Wars (Gary Schmidt), Prayers for Sale (can’t remember), and Matched (Allie Condie). I’m adding some of your books to my to-read list. Thanks!
Oh good! My list is getting very long!
I LOVED The Help by Kathryn Stockett! My other favorites include: The Twilight Series, Pride & Prejudice, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Series of 3 books), The Da Vinci Code and The Other Boleyn Girl. Thanks for your list, there are some new books for me to p/u this summer!
I did read the Twilight series and liked them too. But I wasn’t a crazed fan! haha…unlike me sister :) I did read the Da Vinci Code too and enjoyed it, but I haven’t read the Other Boelyn Girl.
That is a really great list. I love so many of them. The other commenters have also included a lot of great books. Here are a few more: Rebecca Rasmussen’s THE BIRD SISTERS just came out in April. Fabulous. If you like SARAH”S KEY be sure to get your hands on SUITE FRANCAISE. A NORTHERN LIGHT, THE LADIES AUXILIARY, and DIGGING TO AMERICA are all good reads too. One of my very favorite books is PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Lief Enger. Have a great reading summer!
Oh Thank YOU! I also enjoyed Peace Like a River! Forgot about that one! I did enjoy it too.
Great List – I have read quite a few and will check out some of the others! One of my all time favorite books (up there with The Book Thief) is The Red Tent – A-mazing book!!!
Oh! Thanks. Adding to my list. I do remember seeing that one and was wondering how it was…
I just started The Book Thief so I’m excited to really get into it. Also, by recommendation of a friend I have Jane Eyre waiting for me at the library. I will have to add Sarah’s Key to the list. I just recently finished Uglies as well and LOVED The Help! On my ipod, I’m listening to Born to Run and it’s quite fascinating. Anyone with any desire to run should read it. I checked it out from the library then downloaded it to my computer so I could put it on itunes – probably against rules but it worked. I will recommend Something Borrowed (and the other other three) but it’s full of that adult garbage you don’t like yet the movie just came out and the writing is really entertaining. You can repent afterward:)
Oh! I have been wanting to read a book about running. I will definitely look into that. Thanks Natalie.
Funny, I am so with you about all the extra junk! I loved The Help as well? You must add The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews to your list! It was amazing!
First of all…I love your name. I almost named my daughter Jaycee. ;) Thanks for the suggestion for Heart Mender.
Room, Matched and Delirium are some of my most recent favorite reads. They’re gonna be long waits at the library, but SO worth it. The Weight of Silence is another great one…really makes you think. The Mortal Instruments series is a favorite too!
My sister loved The Mortal Instruments too. Guess I better add it to my list. I tried to read City of Bones and couldn’t get past the first few chapters for some reason. Maybe I should give it another try.
I’ve read several of the books you mentioned and LOVE them which means I’ll probably try some of the other books you recommended since I like your reading style. Thanks for the book ideas!
I actually read Princess Academy to my 4th grade class. The boys almost mutinied in the beginning but they ended up loving it too. Now my husband, who’ll normally read anything, was a harder sell. He loved it too.
I love Goose Girl as well.
Have you read anything my Robin McKinney? “Beauty” is my all time favorite book.
Haven’t read anything from her…but have now added her to my list! Thanks!
I am also a huge fan of series books. My all time favorite is “These Is My Words” by Nancy Turner (followed by “Sarah’s Quilt” and “The Star Garden) AMAZING!! Also from the young adult genre try “A Great and Terrible Beauty” by Libba Bray (also a 3 book series with “Rebel Angels” and “The Sweet Far Thing”)
Oh! I have seen some of those. Thanks for the great suggestions.
Thanks for the book post! I’ve been craving a good read! A recommendation for you and kids if you haven’t read it, would have to be “A Year Down Yonder” by Gregory Peck. It’s interesting and hilarious.
Also, my favorite books of all time are:
“The Fall of Lucifer” by Wendy Alec It is an awesome book, a little heavy on the imagery side which I usually enjoy but this one learned pretty quick when I could skip a few lines. I get it already. Otherwise, it reads like a movie!
“The Master Potter” by Jill Austin is a great book. It’s an allegory and it takes 30 or pages or so to get used to it but then you’re entrenched. It was life changing for me!
Connie
Don’t forget A Long Way from Chicago it is a fab companion book to a year down yonder:) I love them both!
Great thanks! I have not seen any of the ones you mentioned! Oh my goodness! I am set for a long long time! :) I might not get to my blog if you keep suggesting great books people :)
You have some of my all time favorites on this list!!! So the ones I haven’t read I am sure I will love. Have you read any of Kate DiCamillo books. They are fab, my favorite is The Tale of Desperaux. The Tiger Rising, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Because of Winn Dixie are all very good as well. Also the Fablehaven books are really good. And my favorite non young adult fiction series I have read recently is Mistborn. Thanks for adding a dew to my list to read:)
Sorry just thought of a couple more, Star Girl and The Thief (not the book thief but The Thief).
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Mistborn and anything written by Brandon Sanderson. My 11-year-old and I loved the Alcatraz series written by him, and I really enjoyed Warbreaker, Elantris, and his new series opener: The Way of Kings. Excellent author!
Thanks for the boys suggestions. My son too is an avid reader and I can barely keep him in books to read!
Ooh, great list! I have read about 3/4 of them and also loved them, so I will be checking out the others that I haven’t read yet! A couple recommendations:
Matched by Ally Condie — similar genre to Uglies and The Hunger Games, but I liked it MUCH more than Uglies and I can’t compare to The Hunger Games until the Matched trilogy is finished :) which unfortunately won’t be for another year and a half – second book out this November and final book out next November :( Don’t get the audio book though — my SIL said the main character’s voice drove her nuts!
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn — a cute and fast (yet profound and so discussable) read about a society where they gradually make it illegal to use certain letters.
Ella Enchanted — if you loved Goose Girl and Princess Academy and haven’t yet read Ella Enchanted, I think you’d love it. I re-read it at least once a year :)
I will definitely look at Matched! I have read Ella Enchanted and enjoyed it too! My daughter is reading it right now :) That one could have made the list too!
I loved all of your books. If you liked Graceling then you should check out The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima. I also love her series that starts with The Warrior Heir. Scott Westerfield has a new series, the two books so far are Leviathan and Behemoth. Loved these books. Another great book is Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt, about the same time period of The Help but a little lighter in tone. It is full of wonderful eccentric women. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas, When Crickets Cry, The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen, … I could go on. Take a look at my blog: stakerfamilycircus.blogspot.com and I’ve got great lists of some wonderful books.
Oh yes! I forgot about Saving Cee Cee Honeycut! I really enjoyed that book too! I will definitely take a look at some of your book lists. You have some here I have not heard of. Thanks!
I love a good book….YA are some of my favorite also…You should give Cassandra Clare a try. Love my genres….western, detective, Austen…Will add the ones I haven’t read on your list to my TBR list….always on the look out for new stories….
Authors
Carrie Bebris, Stephanie Barron, Rosamunde Pilcher, LM Montgomery, I could go on and on..
Thanks for a great post…..
Thanks Stephanie! Love when I find a great author!
Woohoo! Seven of those books are some of my faves too, so I’m excited to try the other recommendations since we have similar tastes. I also love Angry Housewives Eating BonBons, The Infernal Devices series, The Mortal Instruments Series, I Am Number Four, Night Trilogy, Ender’s Game, The Color of Water, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, My Sister’s Keeper.
I have read a few of the ones you have mentioned too (the memory keepers daughter and my sisters keeper and enders game) But not the other ones. Thanks for sharing. I have never heard of Angry Housewives Eating BonBons…but I like bonbons…soo so far so good right? :)
Another reader suggesting you give Cassandra Clare a try. I love her books. I am reading one now. I think since you liked the Hunger Games and liked (but did not love) Twilight you will enjoy these as well. I am going to check out The Uglies. I loved loved loved the Guernsey book. On my to read list is a book called Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. I was told if you liked Guernsey you would like it as well. The Help movie is coming out in August – really excited about it. Happy reading!!
Oh…I was actually told about major Pettigrew too but must have not written it on my list! Thanks!
Oh, please tell me you have read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant!!!! You and I share similar taste in books and The Red Tent is my all time favorite book ever. And I love that you LOVED The Book Thief. What a book! Thanks for sharing your favorites!
Well, since the Red Tent has been mentioned a couple of times it must move up to one of the top next reads! Yes! The Book Thief was a good one. Just started rereading it again! My hubs loved it too.
I love many of those books as well! Others I’ve read and really enjoyed recently are the Flavia de Luce mysteries, starting with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Also Ella Minnow Pea is a great one. I would love to be friends on goodreads with you!
I forgot to mention the Tending Roses series by Lisa Wingate is a great series. In fact, I enjoy any of her books. And I second Forest Born–it’s my second fave of Shannon Hale, right after Goose Girl. Another fun read is Sorcery and Cecelia or the Magic Chocolate Pot, (yes, the entire thing is the title).
Ah so many great books to put on my list now, Thanks!!! I have read so many book series to my kids, I don’t think they are ever old enough to stop. My son is an avid reader at 13, and I have a hard time finding books to keep him supplied. Thank you for the recommendations.
I read the Sister’s Grimm series to the kids and they Absolutely loved them. We have been waiting to get our hands on the last book. I think there are 9 in the series. We also read Twilight series, Hunger games series, Candy shop wars, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.
I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series and LOVED it. The only thing is that it is pretty raw if you know what I mean. A lot of heavy subject matter.
Loved Water for Elephants.
The most recent that I have read, Learning To Swim, by Sarah J. Henry (very good book)
Currently reading
The Sweet By and By, by Todd Johnson (so far it is great)
Thanks Stacey! I actually tried to read the first in the dragon tattoo series but could not get into it. Maybe I will retry it. Added learning to swim and the sweet by and by to my list. Thx!!
I LOVE Orson Scott Card’s ENCHANTMENT … it’s a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Just recently read ENTWINED, which is a retelling of the 12 dancing princesses. My daughter and I really, really love Shannon Hale’s BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS … also a retelling and excellent. I also really liked Shannon Hale’s AUSTENLAND, and THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE. The ARTEMIS FOWL series is a good one for both youth and adults. THE IRON KING, THE IRON DAUGHTER, and THE IRON QUEEN series by Julie Kagawa is also YA that is good. Maggie Stiefvater’s SHIVER and LINGER are kind of Twilight-esque, but equally good. And, if you’re ready to stomach a huge, epic fantasy series … I would totally recommend Robert Jordan’s THE WHEEL OF TIME series … he died before finishing, and Brandon Sanderson is ghost writing the last books (13 in all); it’s excellent!
And, of course, classics like LES MISERABLES, LITTLE WOMEN, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY, MAN IN THE IRON MASK, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO are all fantastic.
Oh, I forgot: THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY … also a really cute YA book.
Great list! I love so many of those! Between your list and the comments – I am set reading for the summer!
The Poisonwood Bible is one of my all time faves, and if you like classics I read The Count of Monte Cristo almost every year.
I LOVE Orson Scott Card’s ENCHANTMENT! Most of the books by Shannon Hale and Gale Carson Levine. Also the Five Hundred Kingdom and Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey.
I LOVE all those books too except I haven’t read Graceling. But now it is definitely on my to do list for this summer. Thanks for sharing!
I just posted my list of books here today: http://beinglds.blogspot.com/2011/05/month-of-me-reading-list.html
great minds… :)
I have read the Goose Girl books myself, and only just discovered that there is in fact a little known 4th book in the Bayern series! I haven’t read it yet (I’m waiting for the paperback that is set to come out in October according to Barnes and Noble), but it is called Forest Born and it is Rin’s story. You should definitely check it out!
Never mind, just saw that someone else let you know about that book… hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is a must read!!! It is a little bit long but it is a childrens book yet very detailed and advanced. The books in the series…
!. The Mysterious Benedict Society 485 pages
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey 440 pages
3. The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner’s Dilema 391 pages
You may be overwhelmed by the page numbers but I read this in about a week even though I had school and I am 11 years old!!
Oh and one more… The Giver by Lois Lowry
YA dystopia One of the best books ever!
Well, we have very much in common then. Love of reading and love of these books! If i haven’t read the book, then I have it on my list. I just started Sarah’s Key last night. Have had it on my shelf for 2 years and 3 different places on my “to read” list. I was almost bawling at the beginning, but I have a bizarre obsession with WWII, Holocaust, etc. So looking forward to getting to the rest of my books this summer!! Love your site.=)
actually there is a 4th in the goose girl series called forest born. just thought I’d mention that!
Some of your favorites are apparently my favorites so I feel quite qualified to give you a few suggestions.
MOST IMPORTANT SUGGESTION: Melina Marchetta
She is my YA queen right now. Cannot go wrong. Her books are poetic & beautiful, sometimes confusing at first but always worthwhile. Some examples of her books: Jellicoe Road, Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, FInnikan of the Rock. Jellicoe is confusing for about 100 pages but my favorite book of all time. You could start with either Finnikan or Francesca if you want to ease into things.
This one I’m in love with by I’d be curious to see your take. It’s light & fun YA with a sarcastic sense of humor: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
This book is everything I want in YA – a smart heroine with a sense of humor, laughter, magic, drama and it never takes itself so serious. The voice just grabbed me.
For your Dystopian tastes I’m not sure what you’ll think of this one but I adore it. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (the series is one that grows on you with each book).
Some other suggestions:
Poison Study Maria Synder
A Spy in the House by YS Lee
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marrilier
Your reading is so diverse it’s a slight challenge, but I think Melina Marchetta will hit the spot just right. I’m completely obsessed with her. It’s to the point where I’d almost buy people Marchetta books just so they experience her.
:D I love The Princess Academy! It makes a great read aloud too. I read this to my girls cabin at camp a couple of years ago. They emailed me after camp asking me for the title so they could finish it!
I have a book club on my blog and we are reading Uglies for May. I would love to have your thoughts at our meeting if you are interested. It will be the end of this month. You can check it out here http://www.measuredbytheheart.com/p/book-club.html. I have read so many of the books you chose and loved all of them. Some of them are on my list for book club selections over the summer. I can recomment Hotel on the Corner of BItter and Sweet. IT’s a great great read!!–connie, measuredbytheheart.com
I love Shannon Hale too, but Book of 1000 Days is my favorite of hers.
I also love Ella Enchanted, they really slaughtered it when they made the movie. It reads a lot like Shannon Hale.
I also loved The Help, but it had a little too much swearing for me.
I highly highly highly (yes! It deserves three!) recommend The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers and also Redeeming Love by her as well. You will LOVE them!!!
Okay, I’ve seen The Giver on there a few times. It is a fabulous book. It is by far, one of my favorites. Also, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is great, too. Cassandra Clare’s series is really good. The fourth one just came out and I can’t wait to get my teeth into it. The Immortals series by Alison Noel is pretty good, not fabulous, but pretty good. I assume of course that you’ve read the Harry Potter series and the Chronicles of Narnia series. Also, Ender’s game is a great YA sci-fi book, the Little Princess is a gem, and the His Dark Materials by Pullman is really good. In my junior Honors class, I read Beloved by Toni Morrison, and to this day it is, by far, my favorite novel ever!
The Mortal Instruments series is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!
I would Recommand the “Wings” series by Aprilynne Pike. It is an easy YA read. I love the Fairy world she created.
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry is really good and I think you would I like “Matched” by Allie Condy.
Great list! Make sure to check out Alan Bradley’s series, beginning with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I also adore Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks series.
I loved the “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”! My sweet mom gave me that book after Brooks was born to read while nursing :)
And here are a couple of my favorites:
“The Last Lecture”
“The Wednesday Letters”
“Recovering Charles”
And thanks for sharing yours! Yay for summer reading!!
thank you! thank you! thank you! I’m always looking for good CLEAN books! Since I loved a couple of them on your list I’m looking forward to checking out more of them! Loved UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand! A must read!
Hey, you should be on Goodreads.com. It’s a website that you can add your books to shelves (To-Read, Read, etc.) and rate them and comment on them. It’s a little community, so you also have your friends and see what they think about books. You have great taste in books, so please add me as a friend: AnnaMarie Ferrell. Thanks!
great books! thanks for the reccommends. one i read recently from shannon hale is book of a thousand days. i didn’t know i would love a YA book so much!
love the Help. one of my favorite books. also favorites, glass castle, still alice, safe haven.
I have seen a couple of recommendations for Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. We read one chapter a night as a family and each chapter ends with some suspense. The kids would beg us for an extra chapter each night. It is one of my all time favorite books.
If you like Shannon Hale (I love her books), you might want to try Jessica Day George she has written several books, one trilogy (Dragon slippers) here is a list of her books! A good book is like a great friend!
Princess of Glass
Dragon Spear
Princess of the Midnight Ball
Dragon Flight
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Dragon Slippers
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (also known as The Mortal Instruments series)
The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (with a 3rd book, The Death Cure coming out in October!)
Here’s a series you might like. I am on book two and so far I really like them:
A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
If you have an updated list of suggested books that everyone has added to, feel free to share it :).
You listed some of my favorites as well! Here’s a few that I think you’d like, Falling Angels (Chevalier), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Briar Rose (Yolen), and The history of Love. Happy reading!
Wow! Thanks everyone for your great suggestions! I tried to keep up with replying…but there were too many :)! I appreciate every single comment! And have added your suggestions to my list. I now have a very long list! Thank You!
“Dairy Queen” by: Catherine Murdock That’s the first of a three part series. Great books! Also I just read “The Girl Who Chased the Moon” by: Sarah Addison Allen. Another great book. I think you would enjoy these books just by seeing the others you like. All these books are very clean too!! Which are hard to find!
Will you let us know your list for this summer?!
I bet you would like The Hiding Place, if you haven’t read it before.
Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors & I’ve read a lot of his works but haven’t read any of that series yet. I’ll have to check out those & some of the others you mentioned. (Ender’s Game is awesome and you might like Enchantment.)
Well, I think I just found my summer reading list…thank you for sharing!!! PS One of my favorites is “The Princess Bride.” It travels with me everywhere.
Hopefully I am not repeating book title ideas but one book I really liked was “Shattered Silence” by Melissa Moore. While it is a heavy topic I found it inspirational.
I’m so excited about your list! I too love good, clean literature. I adore YA fiction and my 12 yr. old son and I often read the same books. I just wanted to add one more to your list. It’s The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I liked her Twilight series (did NOT allow my 12 yr. old to read it) but I loved The Host even more! It’s one of those books that you keep thinking about for weeks after you read it.
This was a good, motivating post. I’ve been wanting to read the Uglies, I just need to reserve them at the library!
I pretty much stick to fantasy books, which makes me a total nerd probably, but I really like action and magic stuff. I avoided fantasy for a long time because of those strange folks in mideval dress on BYU campus… I have to be careful though, since a lot of fantasy has those unnecessary additives, but Brandon Sanderson has fun books, and I’ve read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan 3 times… yes, all 13 books, with one more to be published- it is super clean. I’m crazy! Not many moms are into it, usually I find husbands of friends who have read and loved that series as much as me :)
Did I just reveal my dork side, or what???
Such a great list! I’ve read many of those, Hunger Games being my favorite.
If you like Hunger Games, I don’t know if it was suggested already, but The Maze Runner is awesome too. Same type of theme, sort of. It’s also a series of 3.
And I’m just now reading Brandon Mull’s the Beyonders. It’s a fun book. I loved his Fablehaven series.
I just love it when people share their favorite books. I’m always on the lookout for a good book. Many of my favorites are on your list. Any you listed that I haven’t read I added to my “to read” list.
I would recommend to you (if you haven’t read them) These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner, A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter, and if you haven’t read Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) it is certainly a must!
You might try The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books (there are quite a few of them) by Alexander McCall Smith. They are set in Africa and I just LOVE the no-nonsense protagonist!
If you liked The Hunger Games, you will like this new series. The first book is called Divergent and was just recently released.
Also, Night Road by Kristine Hannah. Awesome book. Very emotional book. If you are looking for good books- try the website http://www.goodreads.com great book resource.
Jen lancaster books starting with Bitter is the new black, liked the whole series except the pretty in plaid (she recalls her childhood, which I didn’t care about) This is a HILARIOUS series u will LOLFR! Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs (unless you have a problem with people being gay) HILARIOUS as well but just get past 1st chapeter! Left behind series by Tim LaHaye. the true blood series by charlaine harris, the host by stephani meyers, and another future based one is Soul Identity and Soul Intent by Dennis Batchelder
You girls should read, “Little Britches,” by Ralph Moody. It is an autobiography I read to my kids when I was teaching. It’s one that stays with you. Lovable and character-building;
Forest Born – 4th book In The Books of Bayern series (my favorite one)
The Evolution of Calpernia Tate
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger (all time favorite book along with Anna Karenina)
The Kite Runner & A Thousand Splendid Suns – tough but important books
What Alice Forgot
The Secret Garden
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
Great list!! Thank you for sharing! There are several here I have not read yet!
I loved the Kingdom and the Crown trilogy by Gerald Lund. It includes Fisher of Men, Come Unto Me and Behold the Man. Really good series and I’ve recommended them to several people who also loved them.
Yes! I have read those too! Liked them a lot!